Windows 7 "High Definition Audio Device" driver... is there an alternative?

Broads.ie

My basic windows 7 audio driver is pretty crap. I'm just wondering are there any alternative 3rd party ones that I can try that will work with Windows 7? I don't know what kind of sound card is on this laptop... it's a Dell Studio 1735. I think the sound card is just called "High Definition Audio Device"...

Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz / DUAL 320GB SATA (5400rpm) / 4GB DDR2 / 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650.

DjFlin

How exactly are the drivers crap?

I've got a Studio 1737, so we're quite close.

If your problem is that the sound is tinny and weak, its the speakers, not the drivers. The Studio line have pretty crappy speakers.

Broads.ie

Sometimes I use headphones, sometimes I use speakers. I never use the inbuilt speakers.

It's just that I hear some strange noises in the background that shouldn't be there, fizzly noises, when I use FL Studio (music production program).

Also, even if the laptop is idle, I can hear the hard disk working away in the background. I know you can hear the disk anyways, but I can also hear it through the speakers.

The noise stops when I'm scrolling up and down pages or when something is loading. Once I stop moving the mouse around or loading pages, and the laptop goes back into idling, the high pitched whine comes back. That is in both headphones and speakers.

Anyway the sound on this laptop is just not great, too many noises that shouldn't be there. I'm just wondering if it could be fixed somehow with software.

mp22

Is the built in microphone muted?

Broads.ie

Yeah it's muted. I found the problem, it's a whine that comes with all core 2 duos. Just google core 2 whine... So I kind of fixed it.

But the sound quality is still crappy, even with my good headphones. There are some artefacts that I know should not be there.

The Sound option in control panel is shyte... there's no equalizer. Can somebody recommend an EQ program for Windows? Something that will work for everything, like a global equalizer... thanks.

Try using the Windows 7 audio driver for the 1537 or 1737 from Dell. It works on the 1735 and others too - 1525 and M1330 being two I can think of straight off the top of my head.

It may not make much of a difference though; the audio chip in the older Studios is muck. I had a 1737 before and was having problems with sounds playing at the wrong pitch. The new Dells seem to use Realtek audio which is miles better than Sigmatel/IDT.

colinod0806

In FL studio go to options>audio options and change from "primary sound driver" to the ASIO 4 all driver

yoyo

That sounds like the generic Windows HD audio driver, try looking for a driver from your hardware manufacturer, is could be Realtek HD audio for eg

Nick