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Inspiron 3162 Waves or Realtek Audio Driver
I updated drivers a while back, and currently in device manager, it shows the driver installed for audio is a Realtek driver. When I looked in my taskbar notification area, I saw a Dell Audio program, which I opened and saw it was powered by Waves audio.
When I searched around in the hard drive (well, technically SSD) folder, I discovered a couple of Waves files. I didn't want to delete them and mess up the audio, but I don't quite understand why the audio driver is Realtek and this Dell Audio program shows Waves.
Should I delete the Waves files? I'm trying to clear up space on this laptop (VERY little storage space, trying to speed it up a little) and I want to know why I have two different audio drivers (or a Realtek driver and Waves program) for one system. It seems strange to me that the audio controller program/application would be run by a different brand than the audio driver.
I looked on the Dell driver download page to see if the OE driver on this laptop was Waves (since I feel I remember it used to be Waves), and they only show a download for a Realtek driver.
Jim Coates
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October 25th, 2017 15:00
Hello. In addition to what Beamer wrote, I would add this. The audio driver is a Realtek driver. The Waves software comes packaged along with the Realtek driver when it is downloaded, and installed along with it, so I often refer to it as the Realtek/Waves audio system. The Waves part of it is sophisticated enhancement to improve the sound of the tiny laptop speakers.
As for as "Dell Audio", that is Dell's substitute for the Realtek Audio Manager that gets loaded into other manufacturer's computers that have Realtek hardware and software.
The Realtek/Waves driver for your model is a 269 MB download, which is a little chunky. You might be able to eliminate most of that by removing it and letting Windows install its own native audio driver, which should have a much smaller footprint. This might not work on your model but here is the process.
1. Open the Device Manager.
2. Expand the "Sound, Video & Game Controllers" section.
3. Right click on "Realtek High Definition Audio" and select to uninstall.
4. Put a check mark in the option to delete the driver software, and then ok.
5. Restart the laptop and go back to the Device Manager and check again for a Realtek driver. Keep uninstalling & restarting until Realtek no longer appears under Sound...Controllers and "High Definition Audio Device" appears in its place. "High Definition Audio Device" is the name of the native driver, but sometimes shows up with a different name such as Intel audio.
[The reason you might have to go through the process more than once is because the driver files for more than one Realtek driver could be on the hard drive. When a Realtek driver is removed, the next one gets installed if Windows can locate the files. Windows installs its generic driver only after all Realtek files have been removed.]
beamermt79
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October 25th, 2017 14:00
The chip that processes and produces the audio for your computer is made by Realtek. Dell and Waves put their own software on the computer that can control what that Realtek chip can do, meaning you can make audio adjustments that are more in depth then what Windows would allow just with the basic software.
CarCrazy98
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October 25th, 2017 15:00
Thank you guys, that would make sense! So this laptop essentially has a Realtek audio chip "enhanced" by Waves.
beamermt79
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October 25th, 2017 17:00
yup yup!