XPS 13 9360 - "Waves MaxxAudio Service Application" consuming 30% of CPU while on Internal Speakers

Changing the settings don't seem to do anything. I think at this point it's just easier to uninstall the Waves software.  

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@Saltgrass, I tried plugging in another USB audio device today (the other day it was a microphone, today it was a webcam) and the problem resurfaced. I now have to reinstall the drivers again.

Try plugging in a USB webcam and then unplugging it. This would cause the Waves MaxxAudio service to go from about 4MB of RAM use to about 12MB of RAM use. Then, it will start consuming 30% of CPU whenever audio is played. A detailed inspection using procmon shows that the Waves software is constantly quering the registry for audio streams.

This could be a driver issue on Realtek's end or it could be an issue on Dell's end (could be the new BIOS update that did some audio changes that did this).

I will have to check your comments today and will get back later.  There are two Waves services and an audiodg.exe.

I think the WavesSvc64.exe is involved with playing the music and the WavesSysSvc64 is involved with the audio Popup.  But right now I don't see much out of line with what I would have expected.

When you plug in the Webcam, the system has to change the default microphone and set up drivers for it.  That process accounts for some of the initial activity.  On my system, McAfee also accounts for quite a bit of the initial activity.  After a while, that initial activity calms down and the system returns to normal.

Removing the webcam also does not seem to cause a great disturbance.  The next time it happens, go into the Task Manager and select the Waves service, right click and select End Task.  Let me know what happens but the music playback should not stop.

First attachment, no music .. second with music

I was also wondering why you were using the Waves MaxxAudio designation.  Then I realized if you start that app, it does use more memory and probably CPU cycles because it is a User Interface.

For clarity, you are not starting the App during these tests.  You are just going to the Hidden Icons on the Task bar and selecting to open the User Interface when necessary and closing it afterward?

I have a very similar issue. I have a Dell XPS (9360), BIOS (1.2.3), and Realtek Audio Driver (7989).

I have nothing connecting via USB or anything. I have a Bluetooth mouse and that's it. Whenever I start a Skype Call, or Hangouts Call (no one needs to answer), the "Waves MaxxAudio Service Application (WavesSvc64.exe)" jumps to 30% CPU usage. Everytime this happens, very easy to reproduce.

I beleive it is related to my Microphone becoming active. I can play sound from the internal speakers and everything is fine with the service. But when the microphone acitivates with the hangouts, or skype call, the cpu jumps to 30%. I can record on my Mic in (Voice Recorder) and it doesn't jump... But if I go to

onlinemictest(dot)com, and allow my mic the service jumps to 30% again. And that is only using my mic.

In the Waves MaxxAudio Pro Application, I've disabled everything under the "Voice" stuff. It still does it. I can disable the "Waves MaxxAudio Service Application" from the startup under Task Manager, but then the Popup doesn't work with my headphone jack...

Is there anything I can do? It's only annoying when I am playing games and Voice Chatting with my teammates... having that take 1/3 of my CPU lags up the game...

Does anyone else see this Service jump to 30% when in a Skype or Hangouts call on their Dell XPS 9360? Or is it just me?

Sorry for the double post... I see what you mean when the first poster said it only happens when the internal speakers are used. But I do not believe it's related to the speakers.

I am not playing any sound. I just go to onlinemictest(dot)com, and test my Microphone, and the service will jump to 30%. (Again no sound is playing from my speakers).

Now if I plug in headphones into the Audio Jack. Then go to onlinemictest(dot)com, (again no sound is playing from my headphones during the test, just microphone), then the service is normal. The mic is still recording.

If I unplug the audio jack while still on that site, the Service jump to 30% as soon as the Headphones (which are not in use) are disconnected from the Audio Jack....

Definitely not normal behaviour... Anything I can do to fix it? Is Dell on top of this? Both pictures are running the online mic test (and no other sounds/mics). One with the headphones plugged in, one without.

I will be doing some more testing during the day to see if my system, which is not a 9360, will duplicate what you or the OP are showing.

But for now, the difference between the onboard system and a headset might be the stereo microphones with the onboard system.  It might take more processing power.  Being online might also open possibilities the sound is being used for other things beside just what you think it is.

I have seen situations with Google Chrome where it has caused problems with Win 10.  Possibly it might need to be updated, but I will check to see since I don't use Chrome.

The advantage of selecting a headset instead of headphone is the audio quality is lower and requires less processor time.  I would think online gaming would really need the lower quality for performance.

@Saltgrass, it is definitely not the fault of Google Chrome as I have had the issue triggered by a use of a USB microphone through audacity. The issue I believe is that Waves constantly monitors for audio devices and when a USB audio device is plugged in (The wavessvc64 service does the monitoring; Disabling it means we can't use the headphone jack for example), that breaks some functionality in Waves permanently, and the wavessvc64 service just goes haywire.

My suggestion to Dell is to allow us 9360 users to disable the Waves software. And incredibly simple solution that would help prevent all the rage that I felt earlier this week.

heeh sure. The problem happens in just Skype as well (no Browser involved). I've also tested it in Edge with the online test and the CPU goes to 30% the same.

I am not using a HeadSet. I am only using earbuds headphones (no mic attached to the headphones). The Mic used in both tests is the Stero Mic which is built into the Laptop. So both tests are using the same Mic to record (onboard mic). But if some earbuds are plugged into the port (unused), then the Mic test / Skype doesn't use much CPU. But when u don't have something plugged into the jack, the services jumps to 30% CPU usage.

Sorry I've been quite busy in the past few days and couldn't respond. I have temporarily managed to get rid of the problem. 

First I downloaded the latest Realtek HD drivers by at Realtek's websites. Then I have it ready at the Desktop, in order to be able to access it quickly (this is important as you'll see why later). [IMPORTANT] I had to select compatibility for Windows 8.1 in order for the installer to work properly.

I started by removing the MaxxAudio software via the installer in the Realtek folder in Program Files. I restarted the computer as told and then removed the Realtek driver via Device Manager, making sure to select "Delete driver files" (or something like that when prompted). After the restart, Windows 10 will force its version of the driver (thanks Microsoft), and as an aside do note that the version supplied by Realtek already has Waves bundled into it, so you will be forced to have it. Anyways, after Windows 10 restarts, go to device manager and uninstall the drivers again. After the restart you should be having a red X by your sound icon. Quickly install the drivers provided by Realtek before Windows downloads the Realtek drivers on their server (they have an older version) and forces them onto you (once again thank you Microsoft). The new version should have no issues (at least until you plug a microphone in and trigger something like I did).

Now on to my experience with the problem, the issue is that Waves MaxxAudio is constantly checking the registry of the various subfolders (subregisters?) in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Waves Audio\MaxxAudio. I checked this with process monitor (procmon; Microsoft supplies it on their website).

I hope @Codster can maybe run procmon and take a screenshot of it to show what is happening. Within a few seconds there will be millions of queries of the registry keys.

For me, this problem is triggered when I first plug in a new device. Twice it was caused by me plugging in my Shure microphone, and one other time was when I plugged in my Logitech C615 webcam for the first time. I notice that the Waves MaxxAudio service memory usage goes up from 4MB to 10MB, and the CPU usage goes high whenever any audio is played through the INTERNAL SPEAKERS. Curiously, if I have a headphone plugged in, the CPU usage does not go high if I play audio (through the headphones).

After the problem is triggered, it will not go away unless I reinstall the drivers. Funnily enough, I can plug the webcam in after a reinstall and the problem will not be triggered.

The problem we are having now I believe is the fault of Waves (or Microsoft for constantly breaking things) and not so much Dell, but then Waves's website says that if there are any problems, we should go to the vendor, so Dell is responsible now.  

Yeah I was having the exact same problems and it's infuriating because I never know when it's going to surface again.

I really don't think it's the driver not being installer correctly, it's more that the Waves software (or Windows 10 - You never know, I mean just yesterday I heard Microsoft pushed an update that broke multi screen functionality) is faulty.  though you could certainly give what I said above a shot. It seemed to work for me, and I could get back to using my laptop for work and not having it run out of battery within a short amount of time.

Hey PartiallyRed.

I can confirm, using procmon that the WavesSvc64.exe process does go crazy looking up registry values. If i have my headphones plugged in (don't play sound from the internal speakers). Going to the mic test, (onlinemictest(dot)com), the service does keep checking the registry, but not fast (it's like 0.1% of the registry checks), but it does loop over and over still, and constantly does it. (0.1% CPU'ish).

Then if I unplug the headphones and go to onlinemictest(dot)com, then the WavesSvc64.exe process goes into some loop and checks the registries VERY quickly. In like 1 min, it made 6 million registry checks to the same values over and over which was like 90% of the registry events.

Clearly something is wrong with that service... or there is something not installed on our machines which MaxxAudio is expecting... What I'm more concerned about is, does it happen to everyone with the Dell XPS 9360? Are people okay with a process taking 1/3 of the CPU when u enter a Skype or Hangout Call? Do most people not notice it? Or it is just my machine and a handful of others? Very weird this was not noticed by Dell Test Team during tests... I feel like something/driver/ect must not be installed right on my machine.

As you can see in the picture, the bottom left of the procmon window there are 6 million / 7 million event's coming from that 1 service (this is in like 40s). which is 90% of all the events. Only events from that service are shown. It seems to be checking registries of "MaxxAudio, MaxxAudio_Dock, MaxxVoice, MAxxVoice_Dock". Most of the results are coming back "Name Not Found".

I will not disagree the utility is polling the registry checking Jacks 1 thru 12 and does so constantly whether anything is plugged in or not.  

I don't believe that is related to the USB or Bluetooth devices since they don't need the popup but show as separate devices in the Playback and Recording windows..  Although Waves is involved with recording and producing sound from those devices.

On my non-9360 system the Waves service starts with 14 MB.  I was checking the Skype echo service to test the microphones.  Every time I did a test the memory went up by about 1 MB so I ended up with 18 MB.  This could have been caused by the recordings made in Skype which I can't seem to remove.

Yesterday I had been playing quite a bit of music and the memory used was up to 74 MB, which still isn't much.

The processor usage on my system would jump initially when something was plugged in or started but settled down to around 8 % at 2.3 GHz.  So I am not seeing the continuous 30% utilization you are reporting.

You will get the best information from your system, after a reboot.  You folks may very well have something on your computers which isn't right, I just don't see it on the 7779.  I did have a situation where I decided the Microphone connection was not being maintained correctly on some external speakers if music wasn't playing.  The next time someone cannot hear you on Skype, open the recording dialog window from the taskbar to see if it helps.  That seemed to reset the microphone connection on mine, while it was open.  I mention the microphone connection because it uses part of the grounding area on a two ring plug..