XPS 15Z Audio issue

I just got my 15z 2 days ago and having this issue.  Will reinstall the device and see what happens.  I'm disappointed that I'm already having an issue already.

I am still having an issue after installing the new driver.  Incredibly frustrated.

I had to call support (technicion had to come to my house and replace my screen twice after I got a line of dead pixels...but that's a different support) and after we talked about the screen I asked them about this issue. I told them I found other people with the same problem and he had me hold. When he came back he said nobody has complained that this is a problem but he would call me on Thursday since part of my repairs were putting in a new motherboard. Low and behold the sound still crackles. After he calls I'll post the results here.

I've also only had problems since I got this model.  

I've reinstalled the Realtek driver countless times, including the NVidia audio driver.  I'm tempted to start fresh with a new install, but there's evidence from other posts that it won't do any difference.

Meanwhile the crackling sound is whittiling at my patience.  I'm very close to saying I regret getting this model.

Viewers of this post: if you don't have a Dell forum account, PLEASE register and log your complaint here as well !!!  I know we aren't the only ones!

I had the same problem nearly a week ago and corrected it on my XPS 15Z by going to control panel, hardware and sound, device manager, expand sound devices, highlighting Realteck high definition audio, press delete, click okay.  Afterwards, I rebooted my machine and let it reinstall the device.  Since that time, the audio has worked fine.  I did speak to technical support about this and they said it is a known issue by Dell now and requested that I perform the above steps.  Hope this helps.

charlesd,  thanks for the tip.  Unfortunately you've had better luck than I have; I've tried your solution several times before and after your post without success.  I still get the crackling sound every 5-10 seconds.

I'll try one last time, but I'm not optimistic anymore. 

Removing the device and letting windows reinstall didn't work for me either. Doesn't surprise me because this is a software bug and installing the same software with the same bug will get the same results.

Just for anybody trying to see if any of this fixes the issue try playing an audio or video file on your computer then stream a muted youtube video. The youtube video makes sure there is data going over the wireless card, which is causing the issue.

At this point I think the only way this will get fixed is if they release a new driver.

A forum moderator removed my comment last night (why?), so here I am writing it again:

The only way I could fix this issue was to rebuild my laptop from scratch using a Windows 7 disk, not the recovery partition. I just installed the drivers from the Dell website but none of the other unnecessary software that comes preinstalled on the machine when you buy it.

I haven't had a single problem since, and without some of that software, the machine starts up much faster as well.

Thanks.

A forum moderator removed my comment last night (why?)

It was probably the smut filter -- not a moderator. The filter is extremely strict and you had a mild word that you can hear any day on tv but is not allowed on the forum.

I have zero clue on how to rebuild a laptop from scratch...is there a conflicting piece of software I could remove?  Really annoying this sound does not work.

Is DELL going to fix this issue?  Why do I not see any updates?  What good is it to have a forum if no one from DELL is going to answer...I don't get it.

i have had nothing but problems with this system since i have purchased it.

random blue screens

volume either works or randomly fades to nothing

IE *still* won't load from Day 1 (Mozilla fan so don't care too much about this...)

i too am going to try a complete rebuild using a Win7 system disk and see if that works.... i think there is some dell junk-ware in here somewhere that just isn't working right.

right now - i am VERY dissatisfied with this purchase... it's a piece of junk compared to my old XPS15.

I spent an hour on the phone with dell support. He was connected in doing a remote desktop. He eventually told me there was nothing else he could do besides wait for a new driver to come out that fixes this issue or reinstall windows. I told him I didn't think reinstalling windows would help. This is starting to get so old.

Really pathetic a DELL rep has not been in here at least giving an update here.  Customer service 101

josephmc5: Re-installing Windows DID fix the issue for me, using all the original drivers. If it were a driver issue, this would not be possible. The difference is that I have not reinstalled any of the unnecessary preinstalled software.

what is the unnecessary preinstalled software