Dell Inspiron 7000 7579 Headphone Left Right Bleed/separation

Hello. On some of the newest models, the headphone plug has to be pushed extra firmly into the jack -- as though the jack dimension is a little off.

Other than that, I would re-install the audio driver and if the problem were to persist, would contact tech support.

In Device Manager, expand the Sound...Controllers category. Right click on Realtek High Definition Audio, select uninstall. Do not check the box to remove the driver software. Restart. Windows will rebuild the driver -- it will be the same driver, using the same driver files, the only difference is that it will have default settings. The thing this does is to correct for misconfiguration of the settings, which is not something I assumed happened, but is just a normal step to take.

If you would rather use fresh driver files, download a fresh copy of the Realtek driver from your model's support page. Doing that will correct for corrupted driver files, and will likewise reset the settings to default. Usually, a fresh copy will install over the currently installed driver, but if not, then the current driver would have to be removed.

If you want to try an older version of the driver, uninstall the driver in Device Manager, but do check the box to remove the driver files, then restart. The point of doing that is to remove the files so that Windows will allow older files to be used. You can see  links to all versions of the driver on the Inspiron 7579 html page. The reason for trying an older version is to rule out bugs in a newer one.

Another thing is to "update" the driver and let Windows look for one, but Windows does not always install an appropriate driver that way.

Of the headsets you have tested, are they all the same configuration regarding the plug?  Would they all be considered to be normal phone type headsets or are there some which might be considered less sensitive or more substantial, like over the ear versions?

When the Waves popup happens, you can choose headsets and small, medium or large.  Do those choices make any difference with a particular headset?

What are you playing the music with?  The tracks are in sync so it could not be some sort of echo?

I am listening to my Inspiron 7779 right now and do not notice with my Store Bought music and iTunes what you seem to be hearing.  On one system using a headset I was able to hear all sorts of sounds such as something which could be considered a data transmission and background noises introduced during recording sessions..  Possibly that headset was very sensitive.

If drivers don't help, all I might suggest is going through the settings in Waves and if you have presets for your different outputs, perhaps deleting those and starting over.

Look in the hidden icons on the Task Bar.  You can start the Waves panel from there.

I've used Westones, and Shure SE-425. Both standard stereo mini plug (1/8", 3.5mm).

I tried different settings of medium, small, etc. Set to headphones, speaker, etc.

(btw, cannot find that screen except at plug in. Would like to find it in settings)

No presets being used for the headphone settings.

Playback:

I've used Windows Groove, YouTube on Edge browser, iTunes, Adobe Audition, etc.

I've played back various files that I know are setrictly Left or right. Can hear both signals out of both earphones.

Search YouTube for "left right audio tests" and listen to just one earphone at a time.

Thanks for the help.

As instructed by Dell Tech Support, I uninstalled and reloaded the Realtek Driers.

No change, but now when I plug in headphones, the pop up window does not come up asking what device I just plugged in.

I found the Waves software. When I go to "Dimension" it says no headphones are connected, and will not let me change anything. Though I do hear sound out of the headphones.

I bet the problem is a setting on this page.

If you look at the playback devices are you showing a Speaker device or a Speakers/Headphones device?  If it is just Speakers, you need to reload the driver downloaded from Dell.

If you playback panel looks normal, check the Task Manager to see if the Waves is listed in Startup and two (Blue and Green) instances in Details.

I've tried all the suggestions above, including disabling Waves app. I have the same problem on two different 7579 Inspiron 7000 laptops. Headphones are good. I've tried multiple sets, they all work correctly on other equipment/computers ( I do audio mixing for a living).

after multiple emails, I talked with someone from Dell support today. He went through many settings, all of which I am sure I had tried. He concluded I needed to send in the computer for repair. I was then very clear again that this was on two computer. One shipped from Dell, one purchased at Best Buy two weeks later. After 50 minutes on the phone, he said he was going to research and get back to me within 48hrs.

At this point, I am either convince Dell has a global issue with all 7579 units, or there is a software setting somewhere.

Jimco or Saltgrass, if you think you have any ideas, would love to chat with you on the phone.

At this point, I am either convince Dell has a global issue with all 7579 units, or there is a software setting somewhere.

Either a software or a hardware issue. Here are a couple of ideas to try to narrow it down to one or the other.

> Download Linux Live, install on removable media, and boot up to it. Doing this rules out Windows, so if you get the same problem then it is most probably in the hardware.

> An alternate idea is to switch from the Realtek audio driver to the Windows native driver, but I hesitate to suggest this because Saltgrass reported that the native driver would not install on one of his Inspirons, and that the attempt messed up his audio until he re-downloaded the Realtek driver from Dell., so it might be a wasted effort. There are a couple of ways of doing it that work on other models, and this is one of them. You should do this while disconnected from the internet, so that Windows Update cannot thwart the process.

1. Open the Device Manager

2. Expand the "Sound, Video & Game Controllers" section.
3. Right click on "Realtek High Definition Audio" and select to uninstall.
4. Put a check mark in the option to delete the driver software, and then ok.
5. Restart the laptop and go back to the Device Manager and check again for a Realtek driver. Keep uninstalling & restarting until Realtek no longer appears under Sound...Controllers and "High Definition Audio Device" appears in its place. "High Definition Audio Device" is the name of the native driver.

[The reason you might have to go through the process more than once is because the driver files for more than one Realtek driver could be on the hard drive. When a Realtek driver is removed, the next dated one gets installed if Windows can locate the files. Windows installs its generic driver only after all Realtek files have been removed.]

If you can get it installed, if the same problem exists then a strong probability that it's in the hardware, because the test rules out the Realtek and Waves configurations, and the native driver is more barebones and runs closer to the hardware. If the tests indicate a hardware failure, could be something as simple as a bad batch of headphone jacks got put on some of the motherboards..

I don't mind talking on the phone but don't really have anything else to add. Feel free to send me a p.m. if you want.

I like the Linix idea... if it will not mess up anything with my normal windows setup. Will have to do some research to make sure I understand all the steps.

I need to correct something I said about what Saltgrass reported. This morning I came across the thread I was thinking about, and saw 2 posts that I had not seen previously. Because I missed those posts, I had a mistaken idea of his experience. He was able to install the Windows native audio driver -- the opposite of what I said. The only problem was afterwards, after he was finished testing the driver, when Windows Update installed an incorrect Realtek driver. To fix that, he had to download the correct version from Dell.

Now that I have the full story, I am no longer hesitant to suggest using the native driver, in situations where it might help with diagnosing a problem.

I like the Linix idea... if it will not mess up anything with my normal windows setup.

While running it, you can access files on the hard drive, or create files, but I don't think it would affect Windows short of someone purposefully deleting or editing Windows system files.

Will have to do some research to make sure I understand all the steps.

It has been years since I messed with Linux Live, so this morning I experimented with it. I was amazed by the number of choices out there. If you want to copy my steps, here is what I did to run it after I wasted a lot of time narrowing down the choices.

1. Go to the ibiblio site, index of puppy slacko linux. I chose Puppy because of its small size, and friendliness for beginners.

2. Click on the file named slacko-6.3.0.iso. That particular one works with cpu's that have either 32bit or 64bit architecture. There is a different iso that works only with 64bit cpu's.

3. You may have the option to save the file or run it. On my laptop I had the option to run it with my Roxio cd/dvd burner program, which is what I did. After it finished downloading, I burned it onto a blank dvd-rw, after I set Roxio to its lowest write speed, to minimize errors.

4. After burning, I shut down the laptop (re-start might work just as well).

5. Start up the laptop with the dvd in the drive. I used the F12 key to open the one-time boot menu, and selected the optical drive.

5. That was it pretty much it. It took a couple of minutes for the bootup to finish. There are a couple of optional things to setup -- the time zone, the network connection. The only problem I had was finding my personal files on the hard drive. Using the default music player (GNOME MPlayer), I found my music files using this path:

File>Open>File System>mnt>sda1>Documents & Settings>etc. (from that point, it looks like the regular Windows file system. There is probably a more direct path that I haven't found.)

Here is a screen shot.

This morning I downloaded Linux Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. Created a USB stick boot drive. First tested one an older computer (that I have no important data on). Booted.

Moved over to the Inspiron 7579 (7000) problem child. Booted in Ubuntu. Headphone jack works perfect for the Ubuntu Settings test as well as other files and youtube videos.

So clearly it's a software issue, which is good news. Means no reason to send it to Dell. Dell support is scheduled to call me again in an hour. Will be fun to tell them it's not a hardware issue, so figure out what your software is doing. :)

Thanks for the help. If Dell support cannot figure this out, will explore drivers, etc.

sidenote: I may play with Ubuntu some more in the future, may make that old computer a "dual OS" computer able to boot in either OS.

So Dell just called (4/10/17, 11:10a CST). The tech first said he talked to the engineering department and they said it is by design. I literally laughed out loud. I told him that was a "cop-out" answer. Every song, music, video, movie, etc is designed with a Left/Right channel, much like we have a left ear and a right ear. (I know some have more than 2, some are 5.1 etc.).

I told him the jack works fine in Linux, so there is no hardware issue, and that his answer was completely unacceptable. He said he would take this information back to engineering and "escalate" the case and get back to me.

man oh man.

Dell now wants me to re-install Windows. Hesitant to do this.

I went to an electronics store today, 4 different model Dells, including AlienWare, all had the same issue. As did some Lenovo's, Samsung, etc. Starting to think this is a Windows issue or Realtek driver issue.

Interestingly, the MS Surface did not have this issue, though it said it's driver was a Realtek... (SST). Maybe different chip?