SigmaTel HDMI Audio Problems -- Beware!

Hi,

I have a Dell XPS m1530 with an 8600m GT card, connected to my Dell 2408WFP (Rev. A00). I have updated all drivers to the latest (all official from Dell.com) and am running Vista Home Premium SP1 (32-bit).

Right now, I have this configuration:
Notebook -- (HDMI) -> Monitor <- (connect to Line Out) -- 2.0 Speakers
(The notebook is connected to my monitor via HDMI, and the 2.0 Speakers are connected to the Line Out of the monitor)

The audio works fine until I (a) wake the notebook out of sleep mode or (b) adjust any of the settings in the SigmaTel codec panel. When I do either of these, the sound/signal I get from the speakers or headphones from the Line Out of the monitor becomes severely distorted -- I can hear, for instance, my music playing, but at a lower, ghoulish tone muffled with a constant static, hissy, sound.

To fix this, I either have to (a) restart my notebook, (b) reconnect the HDMI cord, (c) change input mode on my monitor and back to HDMI, (d) turn the monitor off and on.

Obviously, these temporary fixes become quite a nuisance and I shouldn't have to do this after paying for two of Dell's premium products.

Also, I'm a noob when it comes to audio stuff, but is it just me or does the audio coming through the monitor's Line Out seems to be lacking definition when compared to audio directly from the 3.5mm jack of the notebook. Also, is there a way to get Audacity to work without losing HDMI and the lot?

 

IF your using audio cable to your monitor from your computer it will only serv to reduce sound quality, and the monitor connection can be causing these probs. I would recommend always using the audio ports directly from the laptop since the sound quality and strength will be better. The static sounds like it is the monitor interfering with the regular sound signal strength.

Think of it as splitting a cable line for TV, the more you do it the worse it gets, untill you get nothing at all.

Hope this helps,

D_Sage

 

The strange thing is that the static sound only exists after waking the notebook out of sleep mode or touching any of the controls in the SigmaTel HDMI panel.

I have installed the stock SigmaTel drivers that came with the notebook, uninstalled that and went back to the latest SigmaTel drivers, then tried Vista's default drivers; all of them recognize the HDMI audio connection, yet all are prone to the terrible distortion.

I'm beginning to think this is a problem with my monitor. There is a new revision out (A01) that has 'stand-by issues fixed' as part of the firmware update. Do you suppose this to be in the same arena with the issue I'm having?

Thanks for your help, D_Sage.

 

I have reason to believe that this is the monitor's issue now. I have been researching this problem and found some one else using the same monitor with a _different_ notebook (Toshiba) with HDMI connectivity experiencing the exact same problem.

Sorry for the false alarm. This is not SigmaTel's fault AFAIK. Vista's default drivers for HDMI also result in the same distortion after wake from sleep. But they still suck (or Dell) for not supporting Stereo Mix.

If any mod would like to move this to the appropriate section (hardware? monitors?), I would be grateful as this could be potentially handy for those of us notebook users using the HDMI feature and own this monitor (2408WFP).

Thanks.

 

I have this problem with teh same notebook and monitor. The way to fix it is to untick EVERYTHING in your osund properties. No click for virtual surround sound or you want 32hz music or whatever, i don't remember what's in there anymore, just untick everything and reboot.

 

Ok, I have done more research and found out that many users using a 2408WFP monitor are plagued by this problem (both Rev. A00 & A01), no matter the brand of notebook, media player, game console, etc.

FrozenDarkness, the problem happens when you wake the monitor out of its power save state (waking the notebook up for example). For whatever reasons, the monitor cannot synchronize with the [already plugged in] HDMI audio after the power-save state. Notebook users typically hear garbled, hissing distortion, while game console owners typically hear nothing... until they turn the monitor off and back on again.

There are temporary fixes, but they are all inconvenient -- and SHOULDN'T be necessary as this is the fault of the monitor. I'm going to make a thread on the Dell's new forum to expose this problem before it's too late.

If the mods could move this topic and rename it to "Beware! 2408WFP Faulty HDMI Audio [Rev. A00 & A01]" I would appreciate it.