XPS 8930, sound card

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@Johnsquared wrote:
DELL XPS 8930

1. the 8930 sound has no “in-line” stereo input.

2. I also assumed would have a stereo in-line input.

3. I have on hand a Creative Sound Blaster Audigy Fx that I thought might work, 

4. I plugged it in to a spare slot and the sound level is very low and distorted. 

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1. Strange

2. Sometimes there is a "multi-use" or software re-configurable 1/8-inch jack, but I did not see it mentioned in the manual.

3. That should work. It says it supports Windows-10. 

https://us.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blaster-audigy-fx

4. Be sure to only use the jacks on itself. You might have to disable the on-board card.

Are you sure it's a working card?

Looks like NO (stereo) 2-channel Line-Input is supported.

The resident DAW expert ( @fireberd  ) said so :Smile:

https://www.dell.com/community/XPS-Desktops/XPS-8930-Line-in-jack/td-p/6247938

First, the actual audio in the 8930 is "Realtek".  Waves Maxx Audio is only a software enhancement.  

True there is no Line In on this model (and many new/newer PC's and not just Dell).  

There have been reports of problems with the old SoundBlaster sound cards on here and other forums.  Best not to try and use it.   If you want Line In capability, use an external USB connected sound card (and disable Realtek so it does not conflict).  

Here is an example of a USB sound card with line in capability.  (when you use a separate sound card the front panel audio jacks are disabled).

CLICK ME

For a PCIe type sound card, the ASUS Xonar line is popular.  SoundBlaster seems to have fallen by the wayside.

Thanks, Tesla1856, the sound card I referred to was new  that I had not unboxed  until I tried it in the 8930.  You mentioned disabling  the on board sound.  Do you know the best way to accomplish this, perhaps via device manager?

Thanks for posting Fireberd, Do you know if the DigitalLife External 7.1 USB Sound Card comes with software that enables an equalizer and volume control such as was found in the old soundblaster launcher console? And do you think the Asus 7.1 card would require defeating the built-in Realtec audio to work in the 8930?

I have no info on what does or does not come with that USB device.  I just referenced that as an example of one with a line in and Win 10 compatible.  Same way I don't know what support software comes with the ASUS Xonar, but I see them being used quite a bit.

If you use any other sound card, either USB or PCIe, you should disable the Realtek to avoid conflicts.  It can be disabled in the BIOS on many and if not then disable it in the Device Manager.  Windows only allows one default audio playback device, you can't have multiple playback devices at the same time like could be done in the Win XP days.

Do you actually need the line in, or just that the 8930 doesn't have one?  If its only for occasional use I would just buy a unit that could be connected and used only when you need line in, such as the USB unit, and the rest of the time use the Realtek.  Built in audio, such as Realtek, has improved over the years to the point most do not use separate sound cards like was done in older systems.  I use my desktop for my recording studio with a high end interface but for testing my mixes and general PC sound Realtek is more than adequate.

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@Johnsquared wrote:

Thanks, Tesla1856,

1. the sound card I referred to was new  that I had not unboxed  until I tried it in the 8930. 

2. You mentioned disabling  the on board sound.  Do you know the best way to accomplish this, perhaps via device manager?

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1. Hmm. Seems like it should work if not malfunctioning. Does it appear in Device Manager ? Did Windows toss you a basic (working) driver ?

2. As @fireberd says ... from the BIOS. If option not available there, from Device Manager.

After it is disabled, I would also recommend uninstalling the Waves-Maxx software before installing the Audigy-FX card.

Thanks for the extra info.  I really do need a stereo line-in internally switchable because I have permanent audio cables installed via crawl space to my main sound system in another part of the house.  I can listen to or record audio coming from my main audio system or play music from my computer's thousands of songs to the main audio system which requires a mixer such as the Creative  Console Launcher to prevent feedback, etc.

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@Johnsquared wrote:

Thanks for the extra info.  I really do need a stereo line-in internally switchable because I have permanent audio cables installed via crawl space to my main sound system in another part of the house.  I can listen to or record audio coming from my main audio system or play music from my computer's thousands of songs to the main audio system which requires a mixer such as the Creative  Console Launcher to prevent feedback, etc.

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That is fine.

I asked some questions about trouble-shooting the Creative Sound-Card if you want to explore that.

And if I understand your setup ... what most people do is install some kind of small/free/cheap computer or device (STB or Smart-TV) near the AVR/Amp. Then access the music or movie files over the network. I use Plex with Apple-TV/Synology-NAS and also Kodi for Windows (also reading from NAS) ... see my profile pics. 

UPDATE

On the outside chance that my experience might help someone else, here it is:

As I noted above, my new Dell XPS 8930 has no “stereo line-in jack”. For the last 9 years I have enjoyed using a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium sound card model SB0880 and the Controller software called “Creative Console Launcher” with its volume control “Knob”, mixer, Equalizer, and other graphical user attributes, and wanted to continue this experience with my new DELL XPS 8930. As also noted above I had installed an a new Creative Sound Blaster Audigy Fx and its software and was unhappy, not only with the sound which was horrible (likely due to the on board Realtec crappy sound drivers) but was also not impressed with the software provided with the card.

The fix: I went to Control panel/Device Manager/Sound, video, and game controllers and uninstalled Realtec Audio.

I was a little worried about a couple of other sound items flowing from my NVIDIA Graphics card, namely several High Definition Audios, but I decided to leave them be.

Then I pulled my old SB model SB0880 out of my old computer, and installed it in my Dell. Next I went to Creative support for the SB0880 and found https://support.creative.com/downloads/searchdownloads.aspx?nLanguageLocale=1033&filename=SB0880&nPage=1 and downloaded Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Series Software Pack for Windows 10 . {   XFTI_PCDRV_L11_2_40_0018.exe }. I then installed this package, which took some more downloading and several restarts. There was no “Creative Console Launcher”included, so I went back to Creative support and downloaded Creative Console Launcher 2.61.35 { CSL_PCAPP_LB_2_61_35.exe }. Now this file is not listed for Windows 10, but I decided to give it a shot and installed it anyway. BINGO !!! It appears to WORK! AND WORK WELL!! I have tested the “Line-in” function, and it performs flawlessly and the Console Launcher software is performing just as it did on my old Windows 7 computer.

At the end of the process, the Device manager lists first in the sound controllers “Creative SB X-Fi” and relists Realtec Audio at the end. So far I have not detected any deleterious effect of the Realtec Audio on the performance of the Sound Blaster card.

I will let you know if I run into any problems in the future, but right now I am doing the best version of a “Happy Dance” that can be expected of an 80 year-old with a pound of titanium in their right hip might be expected to do…. Anyone who benefits from my experience please let me know, I am Johnsquared, AKA John Johns.

Prior computer experience:

Analog computer repair associated with internal guidance systems of military rockets (US Army Ordnance Corps).

Audio systems research and development at General Electric Audio Products, Decatur, Il.

Analog computers research and development with Caterpillar Tractor Company East Peoria, Il.

IBM SYSTEM 360—Anyone remember “Little holes in little cards,” RPG? (Report Program Generator} Illinois State University, Normal, Il. Internal Audit Dept. University of Il., Champaign, Il.

Haskins & Sells CPA firm, Charlotte, NC. Auditing commercial computer systems.

18 years Comptroller Treasurer of Financial institution working with computer driven financial information. My first PC: IBM Model 5150—DOS, Anyone?, (10Meg Hard Drive).

Hobby computer user for 25 years retired.. .

Whenever Any of my clients ask about recording I recommend Scarlett 2 i 2  2nd Gen.  2nd Gen because its USB3 and has very low latency.

https://www.amazon.com/Focusrite-Scarlett-Studio-Recording-Bundle/dp/B01J9S5JWM/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSVSUxcfKac

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdeSbvVba-o

I plugged an audio cable into the mic input and the other end into my cellphone's headphone jack. A selection box appeared offering me a choice of mic or line-in and I selected line-in. I downloaded a left-right stereo test mp3 file onto my phone, played it back and recorded it using the free Audacity software that I had installed previously. The waveform display and playback showed a correct stereo recording with the two channels properly isolated. In conclusion, I demonstrated to myself that the XPS 8930 does do stereo line-in recording through its front microphone input.

In conclusion, I demonstrated to myself that the XPS 8930 does do stereo line-in recording through its front microphone input.

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Good work. Of course, you also need the proper analog cable.

As I posted, I thought it might (I've seen it work that way on similar machines) but I have no XPS-8930 to test it.

I am not a Focusrite fan.  EVERY Focusrite unit I've had or tried "colored" the input (recorded) sound slightly on the higher frequency end.  There are also other units in the same price range with better audio latency.  I no longer consider or recommend Focusrite.   Also USB 2.0 bandwidth is more than a fully loaded 8 channel audio interface unit needs.  USB 3.0 is OK for data speed but not needed for audio.  Same with other high speed/bandwidth interfaces such as Thunderbolt.  This info was from a commercial builder of audio and video PC systems (whose clients include Hollywood and big name TV shows).

Here is the solution that I found here under another post.  For me, it was to uninstall and reinstall the driver.  The reinstall came from doing Windows update.  Now, I'm back to stereo input.

https://www.dell.com/community/XPS-Desktops/XPS-8930-Sound-Control-Panel-No-Line-In-recording-option/td-p/7399395