10.4.10 - Speakers crackling & popping

After installing the 10.4.10 update my external speakers crackle and pop before and after my computer makes any sounds.
I've noticed a lot of other people complaining of these same problems lately. I recommend everyone give a listen to your speakers after installing the update. Make a post here on this forum so we can keep track. I suggest the "Snap, Crackle Pop" thread. That one is popular for this problem
Anyway so far I've tried installing the combo update over top of the current one, and it didn't do any good at all.
Still crackling, popping, and driving me crazy.

That people aren't hearing the pops doesn't mean the problem isn't affecting them. Maybe these people still haven't plugged in external speakers. Maybe their speakers filter out the bursts, either actively or simply due to poor frequency response. Maybe they don't have subwoofers attached. Maybe their volume settings aren't set appropriately to aggravate the problem.
It's quite obvious, especially from the people that have watched the behavior of the optical output, that the audio circuitry is shutting off after several seconds of inactivity. It's also obvious in the initial delay before sound starts playing, as the circuity powers on. This is present even with internal speakers, although it may not be possible to hear the pops that you would hear with a subwoofer.
There are two equally-likely possibilities:
1. The circuitry always wants to shut down, but previously, Apple was (intentionally or otherwise) keeping the channel active, preventing the sleep, or
2. Apple broke the AC detection that prevented the circuitry from going to sleep unless the computer was battery-powered.
You can't chalk this problem up to "variations in components". Variations affect things like frequency response. Shutting off and on is a binary operation, and it's controlled by sending the chipset a specific opcode. Either you need to send an opcode to keep the chipset alive when it wants to shut down, or you send an opcode when you want it to sleep. Either the right opcode is not being sent, or it is being sent at the wrong time. This is a software problem. It's a driver problem. And I got my audio drivers from Apple. They broke this.

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