This post is more than 5 years old
4 Posts
0
145496
September 19th, 2011 16:00
E6520 - Low sound volume
We're evaluating the E6520's as HP replacements in our office. These are solid, capable laptops. While there are a few minor issues that have work-a-rounds there's one major show stopper - the low sound volume. Attempting to have a few people in a conference room listening to a presentation is impossible. Even when alone, normal office noise can drown out a voice. It's the same on all the systems. Dell replaced the speakers, reloaded the drivers, bios, etc. but nothing changed. They basically said that max volume is low on this model and nothing can be done about it. Has anyone else run into this? Is there a fix - short of external speakers?
Thanks for you help.
No Events found!
BilgeBoy
4 Posts
1
October 2nd, 2011 11:00
I noticed that some of the sound adjustments on the control panel weren't working again. So I reloaded the driver from Dell - again. But this time just the audio driver. In the past we reloaded all the drivers. Now the control panel is working. On the Sound->Playback->Speakers->Enhancements tab, enable 'Loudness Equalization'. Low and behold, the sound volume increased with most audio selections to the point where it's usable. Music and music vids actually got lower however.
This finally made the laptop usable for us in the office.
BilgeBoy
4 Posts
0
September 21st, 2011 07:00
A little further digging and we found that this laptop only has a 1/2 watt amplifier. That explains it. It's too bad Dell provided a nearly useless sound system on an otherwise very nice system. Even the headphone jack is underpowered. Since we use these for conferencing, etc. it looks like we'll be looking at another brand.
Jim Coates
6 Operator
•
13.6K Posts
0
September 21st, 2011 08:00
I just looked in the Service Manual and that is essentially correct. It is actually 1/2 watt per channel. Most of the better Dell laptops have historically had 2 watts per channel, with some of the lower end models having 1 watt per channel (these are just generalizations -- there are plenty of examples of "better" models with only 1 watt per channel). Lately Dell has been offering some models with premium audio with much higher wattage. This is the first time I have ever heard of a model with only 1/2 watt per channel. No wonder the sound is low.
Thanks for posting.
rick2000
11 Posts
0
September 22nd, 2011 05:00
Hi Jim,
Probably a crazy idea... but would it be possible to upgrade this 1/2 watt amplifier somehow?
My E6520 is definitely too quiet.
Jim Coates
6 Operator
•
13.6K Posts
0
September 22nd, 2011 06:00
You can't replace the IDT audio system that is embedded on the motherboard. I looked at the Dell sales page to see if there were any upgrade options at the time of purchase, but I didn't see anything at all about the audio system except that the model has "high quality" speakers. Too bad it doesn't have high efficiency speakers which would be louder. Apparently Dell is pretty stingy with the specifications before you buy. You need the Owner's Manual or Service Manual to find the specs.
rick2000
11 Posts
0
September 22nd, 2011 06:00
Tsk. It's a cheek having such a poor audio system on such an expensive model. Have almost got used to it anyway now... bugged the hell out of me at first.
Cheers
Rick
BilgeBoy
4 Posts
0
September 23rd, 2011 23:00
We just found the amp docs at IDT. Low and behold the amp is actually a 2W/Ch unit. Why would Dell configure this for 1/2 watt? To save power? By mistake? To differentiate this sytem from a system with decent sound? Go figure....
IDT is under agreement not to supply drivers, firmware, etc to end users. Only to OEMs.
The IDT link: www.idt.com/?partId=92HD90B0X5NLGXYAX#
The Doc: 92HD90 Datasheet
The Data: "2W/channel Class-D stereo BTL speaker amplifier"
That said, there might be a way to fix this issue if it can be software controlled. How about it Dell?
Jim Coates
6 Operator
•
13.6K Posts
0
September 24th, 2011 06:00
Thanks. It says that the hardware has "4 Channels ... with ... 2W/channel..."
That comes out to 8 watts. What I suspect happened was that the person who wrote the specs for Dell divided the the 2 watts/channel by 4 (4 channels) and wrote the spec as .5 watt per channel. Just a mistake. You can't actually configure an amp to have less wattage than it has. However, they could have limited the volume which would have the same effect.
> The problem could be the driver. Has anyone tried to run the Dell Diagnostics audio tests or to use the basic Windows driver? If the volume were to increase while running either of those, it would demonstrate that the IDT driver is the choke point.
> It could be the speakers. When dealing with such low wattage the speakers have to have very high efficiency. However, high efficiency speakers do not necessarily produce the best sound. It is possible that the speakers were selected for high quality (Dell says they are) and that their efficiency rating was overlooked.
Jim Coates
6 Operator
•
13.6K Posts
0
October 3rd, 2011 08:00
Thanks for finding and posting that. I have just added it to my misc notes and see that it is the same workaround that given for the Inspiron 1525 and XPS 1530 models a few years ago. The 1525 was particularly notorious for low volume..