E6500 audio quality

Hmm...from what i read mostly on other forums about choping, skipping, crackling in the e6500/e6400 without any positive comments i'd rather expect that as a default position here...

but i have exactly the opposite experience actually i'm quite amazed with the sound it gives me through headphones, no crackling, skipping whatsover, no background noise whatsoever (in a completely silent surounding without sound playing i hear absolutely nothing, all other soundcards/notebooks/... i had to date had at least some even if almost inaudiable background static(?) if set to high volume). And the sound is clear and full to me... though that might be just my subjective impression and i can't think of a way to objectively understand your problem for me (without physical comparison).

And just in case that helps: I made a clean install of vista x64 with all updates but didn't install the dell/idt sound driver(after hearing many people having problems with them) and use the automatically installed microsoft hd audio driver without and effects or anything set in the sound options and it works just great.

Hi there

So, I see you are running Vista?  Perhaps thats my problem, I am running XP.

When you listen to a song, do you hear the bass drum?  On mine, it is very faint, you can hardly hear any bass.

I have same problem. :emotion-39:Sound quality is tinny.without any bass note. (XP32, all actual drivers)

Ruda.M,

This thread was started by Jonathan Bell in the old Dell Forum. Last week Dell initiated this new Forum that we are in now, but not all of the messages were transferred over here. Here is a summary of the parts of the thread that were left behind.

liebmann wrote:

"...I'm not sure though how xp handeles sound differently then vista between the drivers and the app, are there actually microsoft hd drivers in xp? "

I replied:

"In XP the audio was closer to the core of the operating system. In Vista audio is more at arm's length -- further removed in the architectural hierarchy -- supposedly so that if the audio driver were to crash it would not take down the rest of the system. As a result Vista is not as audio friendly as XP. I don't know of any HD drivers within XP (there are AC'97 drivers built in), but Vista does have native HD drivers."

 Then Jonathan Bell posted:

"Oh my, I have found the problem!!!!!!!

1. Go to your volumn control

2. Click the Advanced button by the main volumn

3. Check "PC Spk Mute"

4. And thats it

I noticed a massive difference, audio quality is worlds apart now.

Thank goodness, I am so relieved. But no output to the PC speakers though, but hey, I don't mind."

Maybe Jonathan Bell's solution will work for you too.

Jim

Ruda.M,

This thread was started by Jonathan Bell in the old Dell Forum. Last week Dell initiated this new Forum that we are in now, but not all of the messages were transferred over here. Here is a summary of the parts of the thread that were left behind.

liebmann wrote:

"...I'm not sure though how xp handeles sound differently then vista between the drivers and the app, are there actually microsoft hd drivers in xp? "

I replied:

"In XP the audio was closer to the core of the operating system. In Vista audio is more at arm's length -- further removed in the architectural hierarchy -- supposedly so that if the audio driver were to crash it would not take down the rest of the system. As a result Vista is not as audio friendly as XP. I don't know of any HD drivers within XP (there are AC'97 drivers built in), but Vista does have native HD drivers."

 Then Jonathan Bell posted:

"Oh my, I have found the problem!!!!!!!

1. Go to your volumn control

2. Click the Advanced button by the main volumn

3. Check "PC Spk Mute"

4. And thats it

I noticed a massive difference, audio quality is worlds apart now.

Thank goodness, I am so relieved. But no output to the PC speakers though, but hey, I don't mind."

Maybe Jonathan Bell's solution will work for you too.

Jim

Jimco,

if i Check "PC Spk Mute" then sound is very good bat only in external speakers or headphones. I seek solutions for internal speakers.

Ruda.M

Ruda.M, sorry but I don't have anymore information on that model. If you come up with anything new please share. Thanks.

Jim

Selecting "PC Spk Mute" solved it for me too.  Thank you for saving me from audio h*e*l*l!

I just received an E6400 and I'm having the same problem under XP.  The IDT audio drivers that Dell provides produce very poor treble-heavy internal speaker audio with almost no volume.  Using the PC speaker mute option in the Windows XP advanced volume controls will significantly improve audio from external speakers, but this obviously disables audio when the laptop is not docked or does not have external speakers attached.

Several people have stated that internal audio is much better under Vista using the Microsoft HD audio drivers as opposed to Dell's IDT drivers.  This implies that the problem is software and not the hardware.  Hopefully Dell will work with IDT to develop an acceptable driver packge for XP.  It would also be useful if Dell would acknowldge this issue and let the community know they are working toward a solution.

These same problems with audio quality exist on the Precision M2400 and M4400 running XP, both used by my company, Dolby Labs.  Of course audio quality is very important for us, so we find the problem quite annoying.  I have verified that the speaker mute options works to return the headphone outputs to normal audio quality, but this is not an optimal solution.

This is my guess as to what is going on.  The audio driver applies an equalization filter for the on-board speakers which attenuates the low and high frequnecies so as not to over-drive these small speakers.  This is standard practice for laptops (though I am guessing they could design a better filter).  When the headphones are plugged in, the speakers are muted, and this equalization filter SHOULD be disabled by the IDT driver automatically.  However, this does not appear to be happening.  Instead, the filter is mistakenly left on, delivering a thin, tinny sound to the headphones.  This seems like a bug that could easily be fixed in the drivers.   Obviously, the control to turn the equalization filter off exists (manual speaker mute).  Hopefully Dell will get on IDT to fix this. 

It is interesting to note that in the IDT Audio Control Panel one of the options is "Enable jack monitoring."  This obviously doesn't appear to work as you would expect.  I think we all agree this is a issue with the drivers, and specifically these items need to be fixed:

1. proper jack monitoring to enable and disable the internal speakers

2. improved equalization filter for onboard speakers, or perhaps an equalization tool for manual adjustment

Please share your thoughts if you have any other recommendations.

With regard to item 1 above, I have noticed the following behavior for plugging in with "Enable jack monitoring" turned on in the IDT Audio Control Panel:

onboard microphone jack: "Audio System Event" popup as shown here

onboard headphone jack: no action

docking station microphone jack: no action

docking station headphone jack: no action

I believe it would be best if both microphone jacks provided the popup event, along with a similar popup to mute or unmute the internal speaker for the headphone jacks, or simply mute or unmute automatically on this event.

For reference, I am using the "IDT High Definition Audio CODEC" driver version 5.10.0.6017, dated 5/22/2008, provided by Dell on Windows XP Professional SP3.

The following driver packages were apparently released on 12/18/2008:

Audio: IDT 92HDxxx HD Audio, Driver, Windows XP, Windows XP x64, Multi Language, Multi System, v.5.10.0.6124, A05
Criticality: Recommended
Release Date: 12/18/2008 12:00:00 AM
Description: Added DUP package.
Version: 5.10.0.6124, A05
Files: IDT_92HDXXX-HD-AUDIO_A06_R206243.EXE or DRVR_WIN_R206243.EXE

The announcement and filenames mention both version A05 and A06, but regardless all drivers reflect version 5.10.0.6124.

After installation, the IDT High Definition Audio CODEC driver displays shows version 5.10.0.6124 with date 11/13/2008.  The onboard automatic speaker mute during docking or external speaker attachment appears to work properly now.  Audio from external speakers sounds correct, just as with the previous internal speaker mute workaround.  Audio from internal speakers may be improved and/or louder, but I have not tested this thoroughly.  My first impression this morning is that some improvement has been made to internal audio, but it still does not sound like previous Dell laptops I have used.