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5358
The Realtek Driver Is Just Bad. Can We Fix It?
TLDR:
Why is the driver bad?
Because its relying on Waves MaxxAudio driver/software (thats constantly has to run in the background while eating 450+MB of RAM) to switch between headphones/speaker jack and enable microphone.
Why does that make sense to any developer out there that thats ok to spare 450MB on such a simple process?
- - -
I was happy to see the following in the update notes of the latest Realtek driver:
"- Fixed the issue where the headphones do not work without the Waves MaxxAudio Pro application."
Finally, i could uninstall this useless pieces of bloatware and get rid of its drivers,
not only it makes a very bad first impression for creatives in the film and audio world to have their whole system audio changed when they first use the computer - it also takes memory and resources - that no one asked for!
So as I finish the dual restart process of updating to the latest Realtek drivers (with an obnoxious Windows XP installation interface, i seriously actually thought i might have downloaded a very old version)
I noticed a process, by, you guessed it - Waves MaxxAudio, that eats nothing less than half a GB:
So as a human who can read, i remember the update driver saying audio with headphones should work without Waves MaxxAudio - so i ended that process and deleted the application from its location, and to my surprise - the headphone audio stopped switching from my speakers and the headphone jack, and later even the microphone couldnt work anywhere until i re-installed the Realtek driver.
So here I am, asking you - WHY?
We know the XPS line is marketed and created mostly for creatives and media work, yet we have to deal with resource eating bloatware just to switch jack inputs and microphone?
I need this, and every bit of extra RAM for my audio work.
I probably wouldn't ask for help here if it didnt take this much RAM, but its really unacceptable.
DELL-Cares
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June 28th, 2020 09:00
Thank you! We have received the required details. We will work towards a resolution via private messages to ensure the security of your information. In the meanwhile, you may receive assistance or suggestions from the community members as well.
rclCZE
1 Message
0
August 20th, 2020 22:00
How does one uninstall this useless Waves clutter? Only thing it does is to consume system resources!
bacillus1
2 Intern
2 Intern
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410 Posts
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August 21st, 2020 04:00
hmm, I'm not seeing such high memory usage on my 7590
raf-admin
2 Posts
0
December 29th, 2020 11:00
@YEET
My hint for you:
https://github.com/lostindark/DriverStoreExplorer
mccainmw
67 Posts
0
December 29th, 2020 14:00
I have the same complaint and actually think it is this driver that is causing the other sound complaints...i.e. static and other sound anomalies (see the distorted/crackling thread). Uninstalling the whole thing is a nightmare, Waves leaves traces all over the computer...program files, registry entries, System32 folder, programdata, etc. I tried multiple generic drivers and while they both worked very well in reducing/mitigating the sound distortion, the volume was significantly lower. Right now I have the Dell driver installed, but I disable the Waves app at startup. Seems to work "a little" better but a better driver is definitely needed!
camelChief
1 Message
0
October 24th, 2021 02:00
Did you manage to solve this issue?
My issue is slightly different to the one stated in this thread. I bought a new laptop, I have no idea why Maxx Audio Pro came installed on it anyway. I don't use my laptop for much serious audio work. But when I listen to music I can hear distortions whenever I have earphones/headphones in. I also play Valorant on my laptop (FPS game) and the audio is shockingly bad. I just want it gone. I tried to uninstall it and it's left drivers on my machine that I can't remove.
Please help.
YEET
3 Posts
0
October 24th, 2021 04:00
No, Dell are not fixing this and dont plan on fixing this, as this horrible driver and audio "enhancements" are also in their newer laptops too - I'm done with Dell at this point and going back to Apple Macbooks, which are properly aimed to creative professionals, and dont include terribly unnecessary and unoptimized drivers for professional use.
As my options to help you try to do the following:
1) Inside the (terrible) Waves Audio Maxx Audio software, make sure to disable everything, go to every option and panel and make sure it's turned off
(yes, you still need to have it installed on your machine, even if you dont want to use it, isnt that great?)
2) Right click the speaker icon in the taskbar and go to "Open Sound Settings"
- Once youre in the Windows settings page, on the right side there should be a "Sound Control Panel" option, click it
- In there, under the "Playback" tab, find the audio device your'e using that has these "enhancements", right click it -> and choose "Properties"
- Inside properties go to the "Advanced" tab, and disable everything there that has a checkmark in the boxes, make sure nothing is ticked there, especially "Enable Audio Enhancements".
As a bonus move you can also go the the Spatial Audio tab and make sure its off too.
Wow, that was convenient, nice and easy right? (high levels of cynicism implied)
I'm never going to buy a Dell machine again lmao