UX6404VI Canadian Non-touch edition USB Sound crackling and cutting off on battery?!

[Toomuch_]

Hey Zen people!

I've had my ZenBook Pro 14 for 2 weeks now and I love it except that when plugging in a USB dongle DAC or USB APTX Bluetooth adapter I get constant crackling and sound dropouts when on battery power. I've  clean installed windows and reinstalled every single driver by hand, the problem persists; nothing changed. 

This only happens when I'm on battery. I've also checked with the app LatencyMon for audio latency issues and the laptop has drivers with very high DPC counts which can be a cause for these audio issues. Can anyone here attest to this, and or help with the issue. Should I write an email to ASUS maybe?

Thanks,

New Zenbook Pro 14 owner.

[Toomuch_]

I'm on the latest BIOS 302 running Windows 11 Pro 22H2 22621.2428.

I don't believe the issue to be Bluetooth related, it only happens when listening to USB Audio. It will sound like a crack or a clicking sound  with any USB device.

Whether I use my USB-C THX Onyx dongle DAC with any of the two USB-C ports on the laptop (https://www.razer.com/ca-en/mobile-accessories/thx-onyx) or my Focal Bathys in DAC mode via USB-C (https://www.focal.com/en/Bathys). It also happens with any generic Bluetooth USB-A dongles (USB audio to APTX Bluetooth) -- I am not using the built-in intel Bluetooth on my laptop.

I've used these devices with other laptops and desktops and have never experienced the popping and crackling sounds before.

I suspect it is caused by the CPU throttling down to save battery and/or somewhere in the very long audio driver chain: Realtek driver, windows USB driver, Dolby driver, Intel Smart Sound Technology driver.

Keep note that the stuttering sound happens at random moments but often enough that it completely ruins the listening experience. It will happen almost every time I start another app or that the CPU needs to burst to higher clock speed for any task.

I can try to plug a speaker into my THX dongle DAC and record it for you with my phone if it will help. However, I'm hoping that my description of the event and the fact that I've tried everything from reinstalling Windows to every single driver individually will be enough for ASUS to look further into this.

[Falcon_ASUS]

@Toomuch_
May I ask if the same issue occurs when directly connecting the headphones without using the dongle?
What I mean is, do you have any USB Type-C headphones to test with? 
Could you please provide a picture of your connection? 
I will forward it to the technical team for confirmation.
Thank you.