Dell Inspiron 1520 Audio Problems

I can't believe Dell has not admitted to having this problem.I have returned 3 Inspiron 1520's in the last month alone.TRY this.... play any song in Windows Media Player from the beginning.When there is EXACTLY 20 seconds remaining in the song, it will SNAP, and POP,pause,skip,then continue playing.... (not every time but most times).You cannot "rewind" it back to that spot and make it do it again....you MAY fast-forward it to that spot from the beginning and it will do it.I even went to a Dell kiosk in a local shopping mall and the demo model there did it too.The guy working there says he never heard any complaints about it,and it must be a software issue.EXACTLY 20 seconds remaining...WIERD. It does not matter if the song was pre-loaded with Vista,or if it is from your personal collection ripped to your hard drive.If the song is 4 minutes and 32 seconds long,the it will skip at 4:12... ALMOST EVERY TIME... TRY IT....my setup was a T7250 with 8600GT and 2gig ram,120gig HD 7200 rpm....and YES,there is tonnes of distortion and interference through the earphone jacks...All 3 systems have been returned and I have demanded a full refund from Dell.I realize that the primary function of my laptop is NOT to listen to music,but when I am working and concentrating,these audio problems are distracting,annoying,and for $1600 I should be able to take this thing out of the box,and use it....not spend 15 hours on the phone with tech-support,only to realize I need a system exchange.I have tried several other manufacturers laptops with Vista,(HP,LG,Acer,and Toshiba),and had no similar issues. I cannot imagine that mine are the only systems in the whole world that have this problem....Oh yeah,and the one at the shopping mall 100 miles from where I live...... RSVP if you get a chance

Also,I have put forth a challenge to Dell...I sent them an email indicating that if they can GUARANTEE me a laptop with a similar configuration,(or better),than what I had originally purchased,with no negative audio issues,then I would buy it from them.That should be a pretty easy sale for them don't you think? I sent them my personal phone number and email address.I have not heard back.I sent it to them on Dec. 8'th.We will see what happens.

By the way,all problems related to this matter also occur with external speakers as well......

 

Did you try it with any other audio player (like Winamp, itunes etc..) ? May well be a bug in Windows Media Player.

 

The "20 second" bug goes away,but the the audio is still randomly "choppy".I found a small bit of relief when I scrubbed McAfee protection out of the computer,and disabled all audio enhancements.The earphone jack has alot of humming and distortion,which is more-apparent when using the touch-pad,or when you "click" open or close a window.If this is a software issue,then why do similarly equipped ACER,HP,LG and Toshiba units have absolutely no similar quirks? I believe this is a Dell issue.I was a little annoyed when I spoke with several people from their customer service dept.,and they indicated that they had never received any similar complaints.I have been using Media Player for years,and although it is a little antiquated,I am comfortable with it,and would still like to use it for my listening pleasure...Thank-you for your suggestion...........

 

I've just tried, and observed a similar thing on my computer (fairly similar specs to jrsryder); I'd say it happens less than 20% of the time here, but I have just heard a disruption as you say almost exactly 20 seconds before the end of a track at least three times just now (not heard it near the beginning).

I imagine it should be possible to resolve somehow, but it is weird. I'm pretty sure it hasn't happened in Amarok in linux when I've used that, but maybe I just wasn't paying attention. I suppose it could be related to this class of laptop... I don't have anything else to compare with just now.

 

I've just listened to a few tracks through media player on Vista with my Edirol PCR-1, and haven't as yet heard any disruptions.

edit: just in case there's any misunderstanding: the PCR-1 is an audio interface, I was using that with my Vostro 1500 (which is apparently pretty identical to Inspiron 1520).

 

Well, I've been listening through the built-in Vostro audio again for a while now, and the only thing I've noticed is how great the clogs are.

 

i started a thread about this attempting to pool everyone together to figure it out. its not specific to dell laptops btw, its vista.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=196233

 

in the audio device properties in device manager (or control panel , i dont remeber the exact name of the tab) there is a tab where you can enable some "effects", and there is an option to disable all of the effects (even if they are already disabled).

So tick to disable all of them and it solves this 20'seconds to end stutter song problem.

 

Yes,I did disable all audio enhancements and it helps.You can do that through the "Speaker" option in "Classic View" of the control panel. This does not get rid of the intermittent crackling of opening and closing different windows. There is also a constant and distinct humming through the earphone jack,even if no music is playing.

 

Why did all the other notebooks I try not have any similar problems? They were all equipped with Vista too?

 

Ahhhh,I've now seen tonnes of discussion with regards to this problem. Sounds like alot of people have put alot of effort into resolving this issue. I'm gonna hold out for the new Inspiron 1525. Anyone know when it is supposed to be released?

 

DEC. 15'th... Still no reply from Dell. Guess they don't want my money. Sent my original email to them again, POLITELY, but still nuthin'.

 

Thanks for pointing out , i have the same Spec as TS , and the same problem too.

 

I would just like to say, i reinstalled vista but disabled achi and enabled ata mode (in the bios) and have had no skipping for 2 days! i reinstalled twice before and kept getting skipping audio, but not with ata mode. can someone else try this and see if you can confirm this as being a possible fix?

 

Problem solved ,


Audio > Playback Devices > Speakers Headphones > Properties > Disable all enhancements

And no lagness

 

that is not a fix for everyone.

 

it only fixes the "20 second" component of my initial complaint,but there is alot of other intermittent popping and skipping. Waiting for refund now.

 

HA, Just went to another DELL kiosk at the SHERWAY GARDENS shopping mall in Toronto (Ontario), and the demo model Inspiron 1520 did the exact same thing as my initial complaint.... BUT what was even more interesting is that XPS 1530 demo did it as well.The 14" model was okay..... I'm gonna look at getting an Apple... a little more money,but a beautiful,light,thin machine with very logical plug locations, DVI output (with screw-holes). BTW,Dell has still not responded to my challenge. I've got $2000 just burning a hole in my wallet,and I'm finished my Christmas shopping...........

 

Macbooks are nice in many ways, but they really have to do something about the quality of their speakers. If you're going to have to plug in external speakers anyway, you might as well get an Express sound card.

 

Don't do it! Check out sony laptops if you dont like dells, but god for bid dont buy an apple!

 

Hmmm.. my laptop doesn't do that. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones ><

 

Yep, I guess you are one of the luck ones. What is the configuration of your system, and what spyware are you using, hard-drive, processor, screen resolution, etc,etc.............

 

Will someone else confirm that the skipping goes away if you change ahci to ata mode in the bios and reinstall windows? Its been working for me since. I want to know if it is truely the intel driver that is defunct and causing the skipping.

 

I don't even know what "ahci" and "ata" modes are.If I pay 1600 bucks for a laptop, it should work RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX !!! This problem (the 20 second aspect) is 100% unique to DELL. I have since tried many, many other laptops and have yet to find one that does this. Part of my frustration lies in the fact that they won't respond to my emails, and they won't acknowledge they have the aforementioned problem.

 

oh really, do a little google search and you will see all other brands hp, asus, acer, sony etc have the same problem.

 

I've got frequent popping sounds, that sound like old dusty record noises... is that the problem people are talking about?
It's extremely annoying, and I don't know what to do about it.

 

Yes, that is the problem. For me even with a usb external soundcard i still had the problem. I only got rid of it when i changed sata modes.

 

damn i just got my 1520 yesterday and it already is doing the choppy sound. I'm a moderate gamer and with the geforce 8600 m gt, it works great by the way. I noticed in one game i play World of Warcraft it makes this horrible choppy sound and does not stop. does the same with other games as well. Also, does the choppy thing in Windows Media Player at the last 30 seconds for me as well. I'm gonna go and see if changing my bios will work. ill post again to tell you if it does or not. Still other than the sound everything else works great. that really pisses me off.

 

the choppy audio problem might have to do with your video card drivers

see my thread about this:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=202007

 

i had the headphone jack problem, you know the constant fuzzy/clicking noise whenever i plugged in headphones. i set up an appointment in like 5 minutes on dell chat, and they sent a 3rd party tech out 3 days later. they replaced the motherboard and the problem is fixed. i never thought i would have been so happy to hear complete silence out of my headphone jack .

 

I know i am getting into this discussion late, but this audio thing is driving me nuts. I have a vostro 1400 with Vista Business. All audio files are skipping/popping randomly. Had onsite tech come to my office and they replaced the motherboard/speakers. No solution. Tech support sent me an exchange to my system. Got it today, and the exact same problem exists. I have tried downloading the new Nvidia drivers that others have tried, but the problem persists. Does anybody yet have the solution to this most annoying problem? I have spent countless hours on the phone with customer care and Tech support. Nothing seems to help, and Dell plays completely dumb each time I call.

 

I have experienced this same problem on my Inspiron 1520 as well. The skipping/stuttering/popping/choppy audio. I've noticed it mostly in Winamp, but it seems to affect pretty much everything. I found my way here searching for an answer. I tried disabling the audio enhancements, but that didn't help. What did work for me however was what was described in this post in another thread.

I don't understand why this works, but it worked for me. And since I haven't used the wireless 'a' band yet, it's not much of a loss for me, but I would still like to find a better solution.

I also noticed this thread which seems to have another fix that might be the same as this issue. It just involves reinstalling the video drivers to the latest from nvidia. I might give it a shot later on.

 

I had not visited this thread in a while, but came across it with an update. In the past few weeks, over the holidays etc... I had the oppotunity to see many shopping centers, friends, family, etc... many places of which there were notebooks present. In my "almost" obsessive quest to access and observe as many audio progams as I could on these notebooks, I decided to carry a personal set of earphones in my jacket pocket at all times. I am happy to report that none of the 20 or so systems I tried at 2 different COSTCO (A Canadian wholesaler) centers had any audio problems as described by my initial complaint. I was at a Sony store yesterday... several systems, no problems. I also visited 3 Future Shop's in the past couple weeks, again, no problems as described. On Monday of this week, I visited (again) the Dell kiosk at the Scarborough Town Center in Ontario, and the Inspiron 1420, 1520, and 1530 ALL did it. Horrible audio. Not every time, but I was able to get them ALL to skip. From what I have seen, this is a Dell issue. Nobody else, just Dell. (the 20 second thing). I am using an ACER aspire right now.... GREAT AUDIO !!! My brothers Toshiba while watching the Green Bay Packers tonight... NO AUDIO ISSUES. Just Favre issues... DARN!!!
Anyhow, good luck to all who have recently purchased, and congrats to all who have resolved the issues, and thanks to all who have offered suggestions & helped us try to fix them.

 

Simple solution:

Demand a full refund unless they provide you with a 1525

 

Ravich. the 1525 doesn't have NEARLY as many options as the 1520 had. HDD, Graphics card. and so on...and another annoying thing, the 1525 has the headphone and mic jacks on the front.(preferred by some, but it is bad for me) Also, wouldn't it be nice to have Dell at least acknowledge that they have a problem? and furthermore, to bring awareness to current customers as well as potential customers? Being involved on this site has opened my eyes to alot of other issues as well.Not just where Dell is concerned, but in other areas too such as OEM's, warranties, distribution, manufacturing, general knowledge. It's a great forum!!

 

dude just get a set of headphones with a variable volume and set it to the lowest setting. instant noise-be-gone (noise that you don't want, that is)

 

The volume control will not negate the skipping and popping.

 

Hey guys,
I got a problem with the speakers, the right one in continuosly vibrating, and it”s impossible for me to listen music or anything elese, higher than 45 (on the scale volume).
Did any of you had this problem?
It would really help to know what to do
thanks

 

i have that problem too. like vibration and distortion when volume is not even 50%

 

Same problem. Has anyone any fix for that?

 

The stuttering seems to be caused by the svchost process which takes about 20% extra CPU power for about 1 second when the song has exactly 20 seconds left. This svchost process is caused by a wscsvc service (steady state service) which does the following things: http://forums.microsoft.com/WindowsToolsandUtilities/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=2296609&SiteID=69

It should be configurable so it does not pop up.

 

For me the problem with stuttering audio was solved like this:

1) Go to the device manager (start, run, devmgmt.msc)
2) Expand Network adapters (click on the plus sign)
3) Click the advanced tab.
4) Click “Disable Bands”
5) To the right, in the box named “Value”, select “Disable 802.11a”
6) Press ok.
7) Wait for it to finish.
8) Close the device manager.
9) Problem solved.

I’m using the 4.170.25.17 driver for my Wireless card (12/10/2007 by Broadcom). Sigmatel driver 6.10.0.5614.

Not experiencing any choppy audio anymore. Phew.

 

My problem is some different. There is problem, if volume is very high(above 65-70). I tried Media Direct. There was no problem. So i think that's a driver or software problem or microsoft problem .

And sorry for my bad English.

 

Hdd replaced. Problem is comletely gone.

 

I am experiencing this on my Studio 17, as well. I assume it's a Vista problem, as audio issues have been widely reported. I'll have to try some of the suggesitons on here and see if that will resolve it.

 

I had similar sound problems on my Dell 1520 from new. I persevered through hours of Dell Indian Tech Support driver reloads, reconfigs, clean installs etc. to finally get angry with a supervisor who authorized a motherboard replacement that fixed it stone dead. The sound is now perfect. So if you are still experiencing the sound problems call Dell make sure you have all the right drivers and then insist on a motherboard swap

 

Mine was solved by disabling the wireless A band of the wifi card. I've however since switched to an Intel 4965 and don't experience any audio issues anymore.

My HDD just died however. The WD 250GB 5400RPM one. 4 months old-ish.. in contact with Dell support atm.