Headphone static on Inspiron 15 7000 series

I'm facing the exact same problem and would like to find a solution too...

On step 6, the only device drivers listed are "Audio Endpoint" and "Generic software device". 

There are screen shots of the process in this thread. If your laptop is different from that the only other way I know to install the Windows native audio driver is this:

Open the Device Manager (type devmgmt.msc in the search box and hit Enter) and expand "Sound, video and game controllers". Right click on the Realtek and select to uninstall. Put a check mark in the option to delete the files, and then ok. When you reboot, Windows will either install its native driver or another Realtek driver if there were any other versions on the hard drive. So go back to the Device Manager and check for a Realtek driver. Keep uninstalling & rebooting until Realtek no longer appears under Sound Controllers and "High Definition Audio Device" appears in its place. That will be the native driver.

My mistake. I was clicking on the "Audio inputs and outputs" tab instead of the "Sound, video and game controllers" one in the Device Manager.

The static is gone. Thanks for the help!

The static is gone.

That's  good, but it means there is a problem with the Realtek driver. At some point you might rather use the Realtek driver instead of the Windows native driver, because the native driver lacks all of the features of the Realtek driver, and the external mic jack probably will not work while using the native driver.

You might want to report this Realtek driver issue to tech support.

I'm going to test this as soon as I get home.

If it works, that would be a real relief... I wasn't able to use the jack port at all because of this noise...

To be continued...

Well... Didn't work for me :(

I start a new post for my problem...

I recieved the 14 7000 series with this same problem. The motherboard then broke so it was sent for repair. I mention the sound issue twice but they returned it to me with the same problem and said it passed all the tests (quality control, ahem) They have now replaced it with the 15 7000 series but unbelievably it has the same problem. Clearly we are  looking at a systemic problem with the series.

They have now replaced it with the 15 7000 series but unbelievably it has the same problem.

What was the result of the test I suggested earlier in this thread?

Same problem encountered by other users here:

www.tomsguide.com/.../remove-dell-audio-newly-purchased-dell-inspiron.html

and here (in Dutch):

- http://gathering.tweakers.net/forum/list_messages/1568414

In the second link they also advise to install generic WIndows driver, with moderate success.

They also suggest that this problem is probably hardware-caused (bad electrical insulation).

Still following the thread... I think this is clearly a systemic problem, about which Dell will do nothing to help...

I'm now using an external sound card, which is making the use of the laptop, well, a little bit less practical :(

Using generic driver did indeed improve the situation, but only marginally.

It unfortunately didn't work JIMCO. Thank you anyway. I requested an urgent phone call from Dell via facebook support last week and they said that they are passing on all the details to their 'backend teams' to look into and that they will get back to me soon. What have they said to you? This saga has been going on since September with me. It is incredible that they could firstly send me a laptop with the issue, then send it back from the repair centre claiming there is nothing wrong with the sound and now send me a replacement with the same issue. It suggests that they don't want to or don't know how to fix it. Otherwise their quality control is non-existent. Someone in another thread said he bought a Behringer UCA202 which solved the problem. For the price of the laptop, I think it is unacceptable that we would have to spend more money to achieve a sound quality that you could get on a much cheaper laptop.

It unfortunately didn't work JIMCO. Thank you anyway.

Hello. The purpose of the test was to gather information, so it worked as intended. It is extremely rare for both the Realtek driver and the native driver to have the same bug at the same time, so when both show the same symptoms of an issue there is a strong probability that the issue is caused by hardware. That is an important distinction when trying to diagnose audio issues and was the point of the test.

What have they said to you?

Nobody from within Dell has ever contacted me, just the Dell Forum team. However I have been doing this for almost 11 years now and would say that if an audio issue is caused by a motherboard issue (such as electrical noise), and if the motherboard is still in production, Dell might make changes to the motherboard design if it catches the problem. If the model is out of production then historically it won't do anything hardware-wise.

It is very important for Dell laptop owners to identify audio issues during the initial return period and to return the product if there are issues, because after the return period the customer could end up owning the problem.

Thank you! This resolved my issue perfectly :)