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[newbie] Dell Audio and Realtek Audio Manager
Hello world!
Just a few days ago I bought my first Dell: it's an Inspiron 15 3537. So far so good. Installed Windows 7 64-bit and a few drivers, including Realtek ALC3223 High-Definition Audio Driver. Now, the sound is perfect when it's from the speakers, but whenever any sound plays on the headphones (the laptop has one combo jack), it is very loud and there is an unpleasant background noise. If there are no sounds playing, after a few seconds, the background noise stops. (edit) The soft noise stays the same regardless of volume and does not grow louder if the volume is turned up.
I tried adjusting things from the Sound menu, searched for solutions online and my best bet would have been accessing the Realtek audio manager.
But after installing the latest Realtek driver, I only get Dell Audio, and it's not much help. Searching for Realtek in the control panel or in the folders only leads to Dell Audio. Here, I found out why the weird hissing in the headphones stops when no sounds are played, but I cannot find anything to make the background noise go away:
What the Dell?... While I hoped for something like this (taken from the internet):
So, can anyone tell me why my laptop gets Dell Audio when I install the Realtek driver? Can I get the "non-Dell" Realtek Audio Manager on my laptop? And any suggestions to lower the background noise from the headphones?
Jim Coates
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October 29th, 2014 06:00
Hello. Dell and Realtek replaced the Realtek Audio Manager with the Dell Audio Manager on Dell laptops. I don't know why. The Realtek Audio Manager can supply a separate volume controls for headphones and speakers, whereas the Dell version cannot. Several people have reported that even when they download & install a driver directly from the Realtek site, the Dell Manager comes back. I don't know how to defeat that (I don't have Realtek on my laptop and no one who has it has posted a method).
You can use an in-line volume control with the headphones. My Latitude with IDT audio does not have the headphone volume problem that many of the Realtek laptops have, but I use a Koss control just because it is convenient. It is a short extension cable for headphone with a volume attenuation slider built in.
As far as drivers, Dell has only released one for your model for Win7. The only other Realtek drivers would be on the Realtek site. You can also use the Windows native audio driver. To switch to it from the Realtek, do this:
1. Open the Device Manager (type devmgmt.msc in the search box and hit Enter).
2. Expand the "Sound, video & game controllers" and right click on "Realtek High Definition Audio".
3. Select to "Update Driver Software".
4. Click on "Browse my computer for driver software".
5. Click "Let me pick from a list of drivers on my computer".
6. Put a check in the box "Show compatible hardware" if not already checked.
7. In the list of devices, click "High Definition Audio" (the native driver).
8. Click "Next".
9. On the Update Driver Warning box, click "Yes" (install the driver).
10. Restart the laptop if prompted. If not prompted, then no need to restart.
[To get back to the Realtek driver, do it again but reverse the names in steps 1 and 6.]
If you still get the hissing and/or background noise with the native driver, then it is almost certainly in the hardware. If the noises go away when using the native driver, then they are being caused by the Realtek driver.
JustACookie
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October 29th, 2014 09:00
Ok, I might have messed up a reply, but running the native Windows driver worked, and the sound is much better. It's strange that the Realtek Audio Driver cannot be brought up on my laptop, and maybe there is a workaround, but for now, thank you jimco!
JustACookie
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October 29th, 2014 09:00
Thank you, jimco. Switching to the Windows native audio driver lowered the noise significantly - it is barely noticeable now. The sound is also less loud, so I can adjust the speaker volume to 20-30 instead of 1-3. :emotion-1: It is strange, all sounds are lowered so it may indeed be from the hardware, but now it's much better.
And I can confirm that installing even from the Realtek site brings back the Dell Audio Manager.
Though I am satisfied with the quality of sound for now, one question remains: is there no workaround to install Realtek Audio Manager (or something similar) on my laptop?
Jim Coates
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October 30th, 2014 07:00
Without having a Dell laptop with Realtek on it I can't experiment, but there might be a solution elsewhere on the internet. I suspect it would involve hacking the Realtek driver.
My daughter's Compaq laptop has a real Realtek Audio Manager but it has far fewer settings than the one in your screen shot which is from a desktop computer. You have many of the same controls in the Windows Sound properties, and most audio applications have similar eq functions. I think the main use of the Audio Manager (Dell or Realtek) on Dell laptops is to control WavesMaxx audio. I don't know if your laptop model has that feature, but if it does it is only installed along with the Realtek driver, not the native driver, and its controls are all in the manager.