"Stereo Mix" Problem

If you were using your Studio before you upgraded to 7 then you did not have stereo mix at that time either, so the lack of it is not the reason for your missing ability.

Stereo mix was a feature on one of the Sigmatel drivers. It was for XP but could be used in the other OS's by installing in compatibility mode. It was used in over 40 models but not in any of the Studio line because they use IDT drivers and those do not have the stereo mix feature. (Some of them have a feature that is similar to stereo mix and it is named RecPlayback).

I don't know how to tell you to upstream audio as opposed to the normal uploading of audio files, but don't you need some kind of software.for that?

Thanks for your post;

The thing is, before I upgraded to 7 I could stream audio and it's only after upgrading that I noticed I could not. Stereo mix was the program everyone recommended for streaming audio which is why I was curious if I could use it. I just wonder what program I had before upgrading that went away that removed my ability.

It doesn't require an application?.Sorry butI am not familiar with the process. One thing I remember about stereo mix was that people used to say they needed it to play music into a chat room or something like that, which probably meant they were streaming. As I said the Studio's never had stereo mix, but have you tried the similar function called Rec/Playback?

I just wonder what program I had before upgrading that went away that removed my ability.

After installing 7 did you install the IDT audio driver? If you did then you should see the words "IDT High Definition Audio Codec". Something like this:

If the word "IDT" is missing then you are using Windows' own basic audio driver, which will work but lack some of the features of the regular driver.

Below is a screenshot from a Studio XPS 1647. Your 1640 uses the same driver as the 1647.

That setting to "Set as default communication device" looks like something you might want to explore.

I do recall having IDT but there was some kind of compatibility issue when I upgraded and it had to be removed (that was a while ago, I honestly can't remember, sorry). I grabbed the driver installation from your link and in trying to run it received an error stating "The SigmaTel audio driver must be removed. Please uninstall the SigmaTel audio driver from the ststem and then run this installer again." Can I switch out Sigmatel for IDT and if so how do I go about uninstalling the driver?

Also, here's my recording devices window with all devices shown:

Can I switch out Sigmatel for IDT

Yes. The Studio models do not use any Sigmatel audio driver. They use an IDT audio driver (or as in your case they can use the generic driver that is built into Windows -- you can tell that is what you currently have because it does not say IDT,  or even Sigmatel for that matter).

There might be some incorrect audio driver files might be in your system, so I recommend that you get rid of all audio driver files. Look at section 2 of the Audio Driver FAQ for how to identify all of those files and delete them. Be sure to go through all of the folders (in c:\dell\drivers) because you might have one set of Sigmatel files and one set of IDT, or maybe less or maybe more, so look through all the folders there. (But only delete those folders that have a sub-folder named WDM)

After you clear out all of the audio driver files then you should be able to install your IDT audio driver in the normal way. If still having problems then look in Device Manager for the generic Windows audio driver (I'm not sure of its name, maybe Intel -- High Definition Audio Device) and uninstall it  but don't restart the computer, then install the IDT. I am assuming that you have already installed the Dell System Software and the Intel Chipset driver. If not then go to the Studio XPS 1640 downloads page and install those before trying to install the IDT audio driver to help avoid problems with its installation.

I've removed all the drivers with the WDM subfolder and I retried the IDT driver install and got the same error about uninstalling Sigmatel.

Sorry this is being such a pain, I really appreciate you taking the time to help me.

That's okay but I'm starting to run out of ideas.Go to Control Panel > Programs and Features and remove anything that looks like Sigmatel or IDT, then try to install the IDT again. If still getting errors then please answer every one of these questions so I can get an idea of what you have done since the OS install.

> Just to be sure, you have a Studio XPS 1640? You initially wrote something else then changed it.

> It came with Vista pre-installed and you upgraded to 7?

> Then you immediately installed the Dell System Software and restarted?

> Then you installed the Intel Chipset driver and restarted?

> Then you installed drivers including an IDT driver but got an error about compatibility and uninstalled it?

> At some point after that you installed some Sigmatel driver?

> Now you are getting error messages that mention "Sigmatel". At what point do you see the error message, when downloading the IDT installation package or after the installation wizard begins?

> After you see the error message,  is there a folder in c:\dell\drivers named "R261324"?

Well, my dell system discs are home in America and I'm currently studying abroad in Japan, so I can't use the discs if thats what you mean. If its software I can grab online and I'm being thick I'll do that presuming I can find it.

Here is the link again to the XPS Studio 1640 downloads page.

System Software is in the System Utilities category and Intel Chip driver is under Chipset.

These must be installed before installing the IDT audio driver (see "Driver installation instructions" near the top of the downloads page). You might not have done this after installing 7 so go ahead and do it now. Restart in between each installation.

did notice "realtek high definition audio driver" if that means anything.

The laptops with an HDMI port have a separate HD audio driver just for sending audio over the HDMI cable to the tv. I "think" that is what the Realtek driver is for on your model. It is not for driving the integrated IDT audio system of course.

Since we started this conversation, have you

> installed the Dell System Software and restarted?

> Then installed the Intel Chipset driver and restarted?

> Then installed the IDT driver?

Installed both, restarting between each, and tried the IDT installation again. Same error, same point in the process.

Also: I looked up how to remove Sigmatel drivers and found that they don't seem to exist in my uninstall programs list or in my device manager.

Might this help though?

From looking at that I think the "ATI  function driver for high definition audio" is the HDMI audio driver. If so, then I wonder what the Realtek HD driver you found earlier is meant for. I would make a note of the version number of the Realtek driver and then get rid of it.

The one that says "High Definition Audio Device" is probably the generic audio driver. Uninstall that one but don't restart before installing the IDT. ( If you restart after uninstalling the generic driver then Windows will reinstall it each time you reboot if the regular driver is missing.)

I tried removing the High Definition Audio Device, but still no avail.

It's about 5:00 AM here so I'll wait 'til morning (or rather midday) to try removing Realtek.

It's getting close to my bedtime so I will just leave a couple of parting thoughts for tonight. The IDT driver you are trying to install is not the only one available for your system. There are 2 older versions,  and . It might be worthwhile trying to install those to rule out the possibility of a problem with the current version or its installer.

If both of those give the same error message then I would rule out the drivers themselves causing the problem. If they were all bad I think it would be a known issue by now. As a last resort you might have to re-install Windows and reinstall the drivers in the necessary order. I can't guarantee that will work but there has been no widespread posting here suggesting otherwise.