Realtek stereo mix buzzing sound

I am having a similar problem. My speakers make a high pitched squeaking sound at any volume when the treble of whatever I'm listening to is up. For example, if someone is talking during a T.V. show there will be a high pitched noise that echoes their voice. I've tried adjusting the Speakers/Headphones advanced properties but nothing has been able to get rid of that noise.

someone is talking during a T.V. show there will be a high pitched noise that echoes their voice.

Hello. That could be feedback if you have your mic set up to play through the laptop's speakers. Re-install the audio driver using the above instructions and when you restart the laptop the driver will be re-installed but with the default configuration, which has the mic muted in order to prevent feedback. See if that fixes it.

I hear a constant buzzing sound through the built-in speakers when stereo mix

Hello. Sorry for the delay in replying to your question but there have been some problems with the Dell forum lately.

Open the Device Manager and expand the "Sound video and game controllers" category. Find the Realtek High Definition Audio driver in the list and right click on it to open the context menu. Click on Uninstall.  A  box will appear that says "Delete the driver software for this device". Do NOT check that box. Reboot the computer.

The driver will be re-installed with the default configuration. That will fix any mis-configuration that might have caused your issue. It should make "microphone" the default recording device instead of "stereo mix", and will turn off "listen through this device". See if that helps.

I rebooted again, and all problems listed above persist. Under "sound, video and game controllers" only the Webcam is listed now. Come on Dell, this is a bit unreal ...

This not only did not work, it left my system completely without sound. Itunes won't play, and Realtek is no longer listed in Device Manager. I did not check the box for "delete the driver software". The microphone icon in the system tray has a red "x" and a message, "No audio device is installed".

How can this be fixed, please??

Downloaded Realtek driver from dell.com/support. Install halted at 80% complete, and after 5 mins this message was displayed "Error code 0x000005B4d"

How can this be fixed, please??

If you recently attempted the reinstallation, use Windows System Restore. Find a Restore Point dated earlier than the time of the reinstallation. Restore points save drivers and registry files so that should undo the reinstallation.

If no Restore Point available download and install a fresh copy of the Realtek audio driver from your laptop's support page. If the driver fails to install or does not solve the "no audio device" error there might be hardware failure. If under warranty contact tech support.

Here is the error log for the realtek driver install (downloaded from dell.com/support):

 Realtek HD Audio Driver Vista64 Directory Exist .

     Status - OnMoveData

     Status - ProgramFiles_Installing

     delete C:\Program Files (x86)\Realtek\Audio\Drivers\Vista64

     Copy Realtek HD Audio Driver from Vista64 Directory

     Execute RTHDCPL.exe -Q to Stop it from C:\Program Files\Realtek\Audio\HDA

     Execute RtkNGUI.exe -q to Stop it from C:\Program Files\Realtek\Audio\HDA

     Execute RtHDVBg.exe /Q to Stop it from C:\Program Files\Realtek\Audio\HDA

     Run RtlUpd64.exe : C:\Program Files (x86)\Realtek\Audio\Drivers\RtlUpd64.exe --- > -s -cb -nrg2709 (TRUE)

     Status - ProgramFiles_Installed

     Install Realtek HD Audio Audio Driver

     Run RtlUpd64.exe : C:\Program Files (x86)\Realtek\Audio\Drivers\RtlUpd64.exe --- > -u  -s -fi -nrg2709 (TRUE)

     -->Realtek HD Audio - SetupAPI result LAAW_PARAMETERS.nLaunchResult = -1

     -->Realtek HD Audio - SetupAPI install error code = 0x000005B4

     InstallShield was aborted

     Status - ProgramFiles_UnInstalling

     Special unregistry for hard-coding

    -------- Realtek Installer response end --------

Failure of audio driver installation is usually due to one of three reasons:

> In compatible driver version. This is the driver for an Inspiron 14 5447 with Win8.1. If that is the driver you tried to install then it could be one of the following:

> Windows issues. Windows can be fixed by performing a system recovery. Usually the problem is not in Windows  but the failure of the initial driver re-installation is a bad sign. That should have gone without a hitch.

> Hardware failure. The driver has to be able to communicate with the hardware and if the hardware has become defective and can't communicate then the installation can fail.

Sorry but there is no sure way to know if the hardware is defective except by performing a system recovery and returning the laptop to the original factory configuration. If the audio is tested immediately after a system recovery but does not work then it is hardware.

There is an audio test in the ePSA diagnostic  that you can run, but it uses the low level functions of the audio system and so a positive test result is not definitive, but a negative test result does mean something is wrong. Ignore the 1st paragraph in the instructions about the speakers -- that does not apply to you.

So, the correct driver is the install that failed.

 However, the system recovery worked - the machine is now restored to making the intolerable buzzing and clanging sound through the speakers when "stereo mix" is enabled. ITunes will play with the "stereo mix" set to '0' but it is poorer quality. Will any audio tests mentioned above provide additional useful information? I'm convinced it is the Realtec driver that is the problem and not hardware, since I obviously have sound now - yet if the driver will not install, what are the options for obtaining stereo sound?

Interestingly, device manager lists the current correct driver (Version 6.0.1.7152, A00) after the system restore, but the dates are wrong (device manager has Jan 2014 and Dell website has July 2014 for the exact same version number) - could that possibly matter?

I went back to the dell support page to re-install all the updates that were wiped out by the system recovery. I received this message, " The referenced assembly is not installed on your system". Same when I wanted to reinstall Google Chrome. We seem to be going from bad to much worse with this... Advice on what to do now?

Final thoughts on the realtec driver: When realtec volume is turned all the way down, the music played through the speakers is twice as loud, which is a plus because music otherwise is not loud on this Dell model

I went back to the dell support page to re-install all the updates that were wiped out by the system recovery.

Sorry but I'm having a hard time understanding this too. It was only 3 days ago that you said the driver re-install produced a red x, so the Restore Point you used must have been fairly recent. If you used Windows System Restore and selected a Restore Point dated sometime in the last couple of weeks, then nothing would have been affected except the changes made to the computer after the date of the Restore Point. So when you say you have to re-install Chrome, you mean that you had just very recently installed Chrome, say in the last week or so? Because nothing that you had installed before the date of the Restore Point would have been removed.

the machine is now restored to making the intolerable buzzing and clanging sound through the speakers when "stereo mix" is enabled.

Why do you have stereo mix enabled? It is a recording source.

[Excuse me if I am telling you something that you already know.] Where the mic is a recording source for external sounds, "stereo mix" is a source for recording internal sounds. For example if you were streaming audio from the internet and wanted to record it, instead of putting a mic in front of the speakers you would select stereo mix and then you could record the stream internally, directly from the motherboard. If having stereo mix enabled causes noise, right click on it and disable it.

the driver will not install

You don't have a Realtek driver installed? Because if you don't have a Realtek driver installed then you don't have stereo mix. Stereo mix is a feature of Realtek drivers. The Windows native audio driver does not have stereo mix as an available recording source.

what are the options for obtaining stereo sound?

Stereo sound is a playback function, not a recording function, so open the Playback tab and select Speakers as the default default device.

I don't think I understand exactly what problem you are having with stereo sound, other than noise when stereo mix is enabled."Speakers" will produce 2 channel audio through the speakers or through the headphone jack. If you are getting sound through only one channel, right click on Speakers (to open the context menu), then click Properties. Click the Levels tab, then Balance, and make sure the balance is okay.

If the balance is okay but only one channel is playing through the speakers, then there might be a hardware problem. Plug in headphones and check there too.

Interestingly, device manager lists the current correct driver (Version 6.0.1.7152, A00) after the system restore, but the dates are wrong (device manager has Jan 2014 and Dell website has July 2014 for the exact same version number) - could that possibly matter?

No. Dell is sloppy with dates. Dell tends to put a new "last updated" date on the page when any changes are made to the page, not to the driver. When the driver itself is updated then it should become a new version.