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mindouglas

1 Rookie

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48 Posts

35303

December 28th, 2006 20:00

sigmatel audio problems

I just loaded Vista on my "Windows Vista Compatible" Inspiron 9400. I tried the HDD fix and the latest Vista driver from Dell, but my audio still sounds like . It works great in XP with my audigy stuff loaded, but in Vista it crackles, skips, pops, and generally sounds like . Anyone else having this problem? Anyone find a fix?
 
oh ya, I've got the actual "released" version of Vista (via MSDN) so its not "beta" can't use that excuse anymore.
 
disabling wireless does fix it, but I kinda need my wireless so that won't really help lol

Message Edited by mindouglas on 12-27-200604:51 PM

DragonQ

24 Posts

February 7th, 2007 13:00

Hi all, I've been having the same problems with Dell's A01 drivers for Vista ever since they were released - I just uninstalled them and let Windows install its own HD Audio Drivers, and the sound is now as great as it is in XP.
 
However, I've noticed that there's new SigmaTel 92xx drivers for my Inspiron 6400 (or E1505) called A02. Has anyone tried these? Do they fix the problems of the A01 drivers?

akrueger_043962

6 Posts

February 7th, 2007 13:00

I did download/install the A02 driver the day after they were posted and this did not fix my MediaPlayer stutter issue.

DragonQ

24 Posts

February 7th, 2007 14:00

Sigh....oh well.
 
The stuttering doesn't annoy me as much as the fact that the audio just sounds horrible. Compared to Windows XP, the Vista drivers make my great 2.1 speakers sound as if I'm still using the internal ones!
 
I hope they sort this out!

mindouglas

1 Rookie

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48 Posts

February 12th, 2007 22:00

Well, its 2-12-07 and still no help from Dell. This is getting REALLY frustrating. I'm a bit of an audiophile and to be limited by something like this is insane. I may have to revert to using my SB Live external, jeez. Vista is out Dell, lets see a driver please!

rochs77

59 Posts

February 26th, 2007 23:00

Same issue here, if my vote counts. I get the popping while my Dell 1500 Draft-N wireless is enabled on my E1505, it goes away when I turn it off. DMA enabled on all drives, newest SigmaTel driver from Dell and newest BIOS. I tried running through their troubleshooter and I was able to solve a skipping issue with MP3 files towards the end of a track by disabling the SigmaTel HD driver's "enhanced features", but the random popping remains. Very frustrating, especially since I wanted to use this computer for audio editing and recording. I guess Vista isn't made for that. Rich

seedoubleyou

4 Posts

March 4th, 2007 11:00

I too have experienced this issue. Disabling theh Wireless/BT adapters fixes the problem, but is unacceptable to allow me to use the laptop as I wish (1505). Updating to the 01/30 Sigmatel drivers does nothing to improve things. I am using the system to transfer cassette to mp3 via Audacity, and this is not the way I'd like to be doing it.

Fix this please Dell.

DragonQ

24 Posts

March 4th, 2007 11:00

Remember, although I do not want Dell to think this problem isn't a high priority, you can uninstall Dell's drivers for the audio, reboot and let Windows Vista install its generic HD Audio drivers, and it works perfectly.
 
You won't have any of the SigmaTel Control Panel stuff or Stereo Mix unfortunately, but let's hope a proper working driver is released soon!

mindouglas

1 Rookie

 • 

48 Posts

March 4th, 2007 16:00

I tried that, it doesn't work. I still get the skipping and popping regardless of whether the driver is installed.

seedoubleyou

4 Posts

March 4th, 2007 16:00

just did the same...

Still getting pops and studders in Audacity, though it does seem a bit less frequent. Still not Audacity's problem.

knock knock Dell, you there?

0bscure

9 Posts

March 11th, 2007 03:00

I am also having this problem on a Dell M1710 with the Draft N 802.11n minicard and the Sigmatel HD drivers.

I've installed the latest driver here:
http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=vista&thread.id=6860

I've removed all the Roxio software, and also followed the process listed in the above thread:
"
* Click Start- Control Panel- Sound
* Right click on the Speaker/Headphones icon and choose properties
* Click on the "enhancements" tab
* Select the "Disable all enhancements" check box
* When finished, restart the PC
"

I've tried disabling the wireless, I've tried updating the wireless drivers.
I've tried multiple players (this happens in Itunes/ WMP/ Winamp).

Next I'm going to completely uninstall the sigmatel drivers and try to see if the vista standard drivers fix the problem.... though I doubt this will help.

This issue is really getting on my nerves. There's no reason audio should skip like this on such a high-end laptop.

Any other possible solutions to this problem would be greatly appreciated. Dell?

Message Edited by 0bscure on 03-10-2007 10:04 PM

rochs77

59 Posts

March 11th, 2007 13:00

Hey everyone, Just to let you know, this similar thread has been fairly active and we've actually heard from a Dell forum moderator that said a new audio driver is in the works, but he doesn't know if it is going to specifically address this issue: http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_audio&thread.id=32785&view=by_date_ascending&page=5 I guess it is good to know that someone is aware of the issue, and maybe if more people chime in we'll get a fix. Rich

nunoblanco

4 Posts

April 13th, 2007 20:00

I had problems with sigmatel audio on my new inspiron 6400 with vista home premium. It would randonly cut out for a bit and go all crackly. Having searched the forums I didn't find a solution. I googled it and found this page -

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=116279

Basically go into control panel, open sound, select the speakers/headphones, and click Properties, go to the Enhancements tab and select Disable all enhancements. Do this even if none are selected.

I hope this will be some help to people as it instantly solved the issue. There was also the problem that it would take ages to select the next track. This solved that too.

All the best. Ben

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