Q:

Ubuntu 18.04 popping crackling sound when using headphones (recording provided)

To reproduce I go to:
Settings > Sound

or any program that makes use of the sound device. I guess the device then gets enabled/awakened and starts sending the noise to the headphones. Once I close the window the noise stops after a moment. It is quite loud and cannot really be masked by any actual audio being played. It is the same with all the headphones I tried.
Below is a link to a recording that I've done with a mobile phone. The recording is a bit bassy and with background hiss whereas what goes through the headphones has no hiss and is very crisp, with this uniform popping sound peppered with crackling noises, both can be heard in the recording.
https://youtu.be/idG64qg6RU0
Here is a snippet of lspci -v:
00:1f.3 Audio device: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-LP HD Audio (rev 21)
    Subsystem: Fujitsu Limited. Sunrise Point-LP HD Audio
    Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 32, IRQ 143
    Memory at c1340000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
    Memory at c1320000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
    Capabilities: <access denied>
    Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
    Kernel modules: snd_hda_intel

The solution suggested here only makes the noise stay on forever in my case.

A:

I listened to your recording.  To me, this sounds like a hardware issue, especially since you're having the same issue no matter what software you use.
With software, audio generally works or it doesn't.
There are many physical factors that could degrade audio quality in this way.  I would consider the possibility that this noise is resulting from a faulty cable, port, or component.  It's also possible that you could be hearing EM interference.  Crossed wires and unshielded components near strong EM waves are a few examples of situations that cause EM interference.

