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U3014, A03, Low Audio Level, Nov 2013
After being assured by Dell Small Business the all new U3014 have at least Rev A03, I ordered a new one to replace a fading 3008WFP. After receiving it yesterday, I ran through the setup and checked everything, including the USB3 and internal digital audio 2-channel decoder operation. I use the standard Dell AX510 sound bars on all my monitors to reproduce the audio embedded with HDMI signal sources and with the nVidia Quadro K5000 Display Port outputs. My other Dell monitors, a new U2713H and an older 3008WFP, work just fine with their AX510 sound bars. However, the same HDMI and Display Port inputs on the U3014 produce a 13 dB lower audio output.
An audio signal at 1/20th the normal level makes the AX510 sound bar unusable with my new U3014 monitor. Since I do HDTV editing, I need to use the U3014 to monitor both the video and audio from my BlackMagic Decklink 4k Ultra HDMI playback as well as the embedded audio on the Display Ports of my nVidia Quadro K5000 video card. (BTW: The USB3 parts work fine)
Has anyone else experienced a similar low audio problem on their U3014 monitors?
w6fxj
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January 10th, 2014 12:00
This is an Update to the original low audio output post:
After contacting Dell Small Business Tech Support. Dell shipped me a replacement U3014 monitor via overnight FedEx. After I connected to my system and powered it up I was pleasantly surprised in that digital audio sent via the HDMI and DP ports was NORMAL. Further the U3014 display screen had no visible corner backlight bleed-through, as is "normal" for this display. But the strong IPS "glow" limits how close you work to the monitor screen.
However, after about 30 minutes the audio level being fed from the U3014 Audio Out jack to the Dell AX510 dropped way down. A different sound bar did NOT help. When I connected the Audio Out jacks from my U2713H and the U3014 monitors to Sony Sound Forge Pro 10's six-channel audio level meters and saw the same 13 dB drop in both channels that the first U3014 suffered from.
Both the U2713H (audio channels 1 & 2) and the U3014 (channels 3 & 4) were fed the same DirecTV HDMI output. The peak recorded levels are at the right end of the green level bar displays. These show the difference between the audio out jacks on the two monitors. The U3014 output is 13 db below the U2713H output. When first turned on the U3014 was identical to the U2713H! After 30 minutes the U3014 audio output level dropped.
My guess is that some thing in the digital audio decoder failed. And, since the two U3014 monitors are close in serial numbers, this failure will probably happen is all U3014's from the same manufacturing lot.
Since most U3014 users will not to monitor the embedded digital audio on the HDMI or DP inputs, there will not be too many reports of this problem. Those who plan to use the U3014's to monitor both audio and video on the HDMI or DP input jacks need to check for this problem.
Bill Wood