Sound disappears randomly. Dell Inspiron 13 5368 2-in-1

The issue seem to be similar with the following one: http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3517/t/19988554

Hello. In that thread, Alan_P_Rice  wrote: "I have not experienced this when using headphones. " I took that to mean that only the speakers fade out, while audio remains okay through headphones. I should have asked him for clarification about that. Is your issue just with the speakers, or does headphone audio fade out too?

Reinstalled Windows 10 using the recovery disk from Dell support website

Sound disappearing frequency is random, from one week to 1.5 months.

When an issue is not resolved by re-installing the OS, that is a pretty good indication that the problem is caused by hardware. However, if the issue did not reappear until weeks after the OS reinstallation, then can't tell if it is a software or hardware problem.

Reinstalled drivers from official Dell website;

In the thread referenced, celtic_mist reported fixing it with the Reaktek 2.81 driver. He linked to a third party site, however that is the driver which is directly available from Realtek's site, if you want to try it.

the suggestions didn’t help me to resolve the issue.

There are additional suggestions in the Recent Issues FAQ, under Inspiron (13") 53xx & 73xx, Issue 2, but that was an issue with only the speakers, not headphones., and it occurred much more frequently than yours does, so might not apply to your situation.

There are several interesting observations in your post, but first some questions..

Which version of Skype are you using and does this happen with more than one contact?  Have you changed or renewed your account since going to the new system?

Hearing your own voice could happen if the other end of the conservation is having a problem or feedback.  Does the other person hear you normally or what indications do they have during the problem times?

Have you tested using the local Voice Recorder for microphone operation?  Does local music play without the problems?

The next time it happens, try opening the Recording devices window from the speaker icon and just leave it open.

Try testing the ALC3253 driver directly from Realtek.

* Go here
* Click "High Definition Audio Codecs (Software)"
* Check "I accept to the above"
* Click Next
* Look to the right of "64bits Vista, Windows7, Windows8, Windows8.1, Windows10 Driver only (Executable file)"
* Click the Global link
* The file will want to download. Tell it where to save the file so you can find it
* Install the driver. Follow the instructions and restart the system when done. Re-test the audio when done

Hi Guys,

Thank you for the replies.

The above-mentioned driver was installed, however, the issue occurred again.

That time I connected standard mini-jack earphones and sound is present here. Therefore, sound disappears only in built-in laptop speakers.

Earphones appears in system as a separate device.

Therefore, workaround was found, however, it will be great to define whether it is hardware or software issue.

Thank you for the replies.

You're welcome, but did you try the suggestions?

From the Recent Issues FAQ:

Issue 2: Every few seconds, the audio through the speakers fades in and out, and becomes muffled. The audio through the headphones is not affected.

Solution 1a: Right click on the speaker icon on the lower right part of your screen and choose "Playback Devices", to go to the Sound menu. Click on the Communications tab. There you'll find a set of options to "When windows detects communication activity:" Choose "Do nothing". [This solution was confirmed by several owners, but did not work for others.] Solution 1b: Solution 1a worked for one owner until the battery got very low, then problems returned. Solution was to go to MaxAudioPro>Playback>Advanced screen. Uncheck "Switch to battery save mode when battery is low".

Solution 2a: Turn off the MaxxAudio Pro Speaker Enhancement. The fading in and out will stop, but the volume becomes much lower. Solution 2b: Keep MaxxAudio on, but go into advanced settingsand uncheck MaxxVolume. Doing so keeps the volume louder. Solution 2c: Keep MaxxAudio on, but go into advanced settings and uncheck MaxxLeveler. Solution 2d: Disable MaxxAudio and enable Equalizer.

Solution 3: one owner had muffled audio only when streaming. He or she bought a USB wireless adapter on Amazon, disabled the on board wireless adapter and added the USB one. After that, no more audio issues. Solution 4: Download Realtek driver from Realtek website and install with Windows 8.1 compatibility settings (right click exe file and troubleshoot compatibility, then select windows 8.1).

Hi jimco,

Thank you for the reply.

Issue 2: Every few seconds, the audio through the speakers fades in and out, and becomes muffled. The audio through the headphones is not affected.

If i understand correctly this statement, it means that sound becomes more silent or more loud. Am I correct?

In my case sound in laptop speakers just disappears. Volume doesn't change. It appears after the above-mentioned steps or sometimes by itself.

Solution 1a

Already done. Did not help.

Solution 1b

The laptop is connected to the power almost all the time. The issue happens when the power cable is plugged.

Solution 2

Tried all of them, however, no luck.

Solution 3

Unfortunately, I don't have external WiFi adapter to check whether the issue occurs in this case. 

Solution 4

Already tried. Didn't help

Has a solution been found on this problem yet?  I have the same problem with this same laptop.  Randomly the audio slowly turns down then off.  

Same thing happens to me. Changing from 24 to 16 bits worked for me! Thanks for that! Before I had to wait for it before it started working again.

Same thing happens to me. Changing from 24 to 16 bits worked for me

Thanks for posting your solution. Can you clarify which issue you have? The previous poster, bdslater, wrote, "Randomly the audio slowly turns down then off."     

The original poster had different symptoms. Usatank had written, "In my case sound in laptop speakers just disappears. Volume doesn't change."