SigmaTel Line In: Signal is there, but no sound.

Question

I have a new Dimension E521 with the SigmaTel 7.1 HD Audio Codec. When using ANY source into the 'line in' jack (guitar pre-amp ala Line6, iPod, headset radio, etc), I can see there is a signal present by the meter in the control panel/sound/recording tab, yet I can't get any sound through the speakers. I've been told this is a known Vista issue, and that the signal will, in fact, record, but simply can't be monitored. Is this the case? Is there a driver update forthcoming? Thanks, Kevin

mombodog · Answer

You might try a post in the Dimension/Sound section of the forum.

GioAguilar · Answer

Are you connecting to the blue conector??? I´m using in there the cable that goes from my tv tunner card. And works perfect. What I´ve noticed, is when I put a microphone, I cannot listen 'live' what I´m talking, but if I record,  works fine...

KevinTheMule · Answer

@mombodog wrote:

You might try a post in the Dimension/Sound section of the forum.

I have a comment in that section embedded deep in a thread. I thought I'd double dip a bit since this seems to be a Vista issue. As far as the "blue" jack. Yes, it's in the blue jack. Like I said, a signal is present, just no audible sound comes through the speakers. I have read that the recording function does in fact work, but my need is specifically to be able to monitor the audio, not record it. Thanks for the suggestions thus far. Kevin

inspiron_wvhpe · Answer

Here is the Drivers page for the E521. http://support.euro.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=gen&ServiceTag=&SystemID=DIM_P4_E521&os=WW1&osl=en&catid=&impid=

There are 4 audio Drivers at the top of the page. Just change the OS at the top to Vista and depending what Bit your system is.

Inspiron 1501

MK36 AMD Turion

1 GB RAM

80 GB HD

ATI X1150

Message Edited by inspiron_wvhpe on 05-03-2007 07:46 AM

fireberd · Answer

This is a known problem with Vista and the Integrated Audio.  Late last week a Dell moderator posted a note on this forum section that they are working on an updated Vista driver that they hope will fix all the problems.  The note said that they project to have the drivers in about two weeks.

GaryPS · Answer

Chris M., a Dell moderator on the XPS Desktop Audio forum, however, yesterday said that there would be NO fix to allow line-in monitoring for integrated Sigmatel audio.

http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=xps_desk_audio&thread.id=599&view=by_date_ascending&page=7 post 66

I hope it isn't true. I have been waiting twelve weeks in the expectation that Dell/Sigmatel/MS would come up with a solution.

Message Edited by GaryPS on 05-03-2007 01:05 PM

GaryPS · Answer

And moments ago, Chris M posted another message on the XPS Desktop Audio forum thread saying that in effect we were misinterpretting his earlier posting and that there may in fact be a driver fix coming:   http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=xps_desk_audio&message.id=1505#M1505      post 73   Sorry for my misinterpretation.

KevinTheMule · Answer

Here's my experience with Chris M's workaround:

"DELL-ChrisM wrote:
Did everyone attempt this?

Solved this problem for me by replacing my Vista sound card driver with an XP driver, finding an "Input Monitor" control in the XP driver, and turning it on. The control is in the Sound control panel: On the Sound > Playback tab, click Properties for Speakers to display the Speakers Properties dialog, and display the Levels tab of Speakers Properties. And there it is!

He only discovered this Input Monitor control after installing the XP driver, so he wasn't 100% certain that it wasn't also on the Vista driver. It might be worth the trouble to look for it there before installing the XP driver.

Assuming the Input Monitor control isn't on the Vista driver, the reason is that the Vista driver is a generic one developed by Microsoft. The XP driver is designed specifically for this sound card by SigmaTel or maybe Dell. Maybe a specific Vista driver for the card will come out, but maybe not.

For my XPS 210 the driver ID is 5.10.0.4991, date 3/20/2006. Ian got it at "Drivers & Downloads" (http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/index.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen) by choosing "Windows XP" rather than Vista for the OS. I don't know whether other Vista computers using the SigmaTel card use the same driver, so you won't necessarily end up with 5.10.0.4991."

Thanks for the workaround Chris...I've been following this issue in the Dimension Audio AND Vista forums.

Unfortunately the workaround did not work on my Dimension E521. I retro graded to the 5.10.0.5143 version (7/27/06) and heres what I ran into:

At first I was excited to see the Input Monitor on/off button. Alas though, The old driver will not allow me to configure the speakers NOR does it recognize anything plugged into the Line In jack. I tried three different devices/cables and under the recording tab, it always says "Not Plugged In" for the Line In device.

So I'll say to at least the E521 folks: Don't Bother. I sure hope they fix this problem as I need to be able to monitor my input while recording, like the above poster said...I'm in the same boat.

Thanks,

Kevin

KevinTheMule · Answer

No Prob Bill, One thing I didn't mention was that when I drilled all the way in and was about to create the binary value 'EnableInputMonitor', it was already there! The value was just set to 00...I changed it to 01, rebooted, and Hark! Heavy Metal Input! The Line6 nerds will be so happy!

KevinTheMule · Answer

The registry hack worked for me! Thanks!

RS64 · Answer

Is there anyone who could give me the latest on this? Being the proud owner of an E521 running XP PRO SP2 ran into line-in issue last week with the sigmatel sound card, have gone through all the forums and the registry hacks but nothing seems to work, no line-in signal. I was just wondering if anyone could give me the latest on this, seems that it is solved in Vista, but do not want to upgrade, not just yet..

If I am correct and it is solved in Vista then my next question would be why is this not solved for XP, which still is a supported OS?

An answer would be very much appreciated even if the statement is that no fix willbe available.

Thanks

Windows General

SigmaTel Line In: Signal is there, but no sound.

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