Sound output distorted/unusable with Intel Z97/H97

Problem:

Crackling and distorted sound on systems using the Intel Z97/H97 chipset.

Affected Distributions:

  • Ubuntu 14.04
  • Centos 7

Affected Models:

  • Marquis M524-T
  • Marquis C523-T
  • Marquis M523-T

Details:

The Intel HDA sound driver does not configure the sound hardware correctly.

Workaround:

Create the file /etc/modprobe.d/fix-sound-intel97.conf with the following contents:

options snd-hda-intel snoop=0

Then reboot the system.