Aspire 2012WLCi Notebook - sound card anomaly

I have just purchased the 2012WLCi notebook and since I'm an audio guy, I tested the sound card with real time analyser using pink noise and found that the sound signal generated has some low frequency roll-off and serious dips at around 1kHz and 5kHz. This is when the signal is recorded from either the Stereo Mix internally or the Line Out. What this means is that if I connect the notebook line out to an external studio or high quality sound system, whatever audio I play on the notebook to the external system will NOT be tonally accurate. Thankfully, the line-in's are flat-response (to allow for accurate sonic measurements and recording) but perhaps a tad too sensitive for actual line level signals.

I suspect they have built-in hardwired equalization to compensate for the laptop speakers but I find it rather annoying because any such equalization can be done through software presets instead. At the least, this equalization should be disabled when the line-out/headphones jack is used. I believe Realtek (the sound chip manufacturer) provides for this capability but why didn't ACER implement it?

If anybody knows of a work-around or patch for this, please let me know. Thanks heaps.

Selbyn Liew

 

Try doing a fresh install of Windows and pick and choose what drivers you install. Maybe they installed some Acer/Realtek driver that you don't want.

Also, try (before the above) uninstalling the sound card driver, cleaning it off your system, then reinstalling one from Realtek or windows update.

Lastly, get an external soundcard like the Extigy from Creative Labs...or just don't be so damn picky [ ]

 

Not related but are you getting the keyboard 'ii' problem?

 

Well, I tried installing the latest Realtek driver (3.58) - still the same. Then I tried installing an older driver (3.45), which is before 3.46 (where hardware equalizer support is provided) - no difference also. I even tried an Intel AC97 driver and same thing again. Seems like the problem with the headphones/line output not bypassing the HW EQ is not addressed by the current driver or has been programmed some other way?

To give an idea how much this screws up the sound to your headphones or external sound system, the output response (with the software EQ disabled):
6 dB/octave roll-off below 125Hz
8 dB cut at around 900Hz with 1 octave bandwidth
7 dB cut at around 5kHz with 1/3rd octave bandwidth
6 dB/octave boost above 8kHz

Looks like I'll have to fish out more $$$ to get a USB sound device [ !]

Thanks for the suggestions, anyway.

P.S. I have yet to do rigorous typing to check whether the double "i" problem from previous models is still around.

 

I may buy the 2012WLMi soon, and I wonder if it has this same issue? I was thinking of getting an external sound card for my laptop anyway, so that I can drive a 7.1 speaker system. If the external sound card is used, does this eliminate or bypass this problem?

Btw. The best external sound card for a laptop is the Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 NX, I think. The best price I've seen for the Audigy 2 NX was $120 at Compusmart, although that deal isn't on anymore (it's back up to $200).

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Xideus

 

Finally got a reply from Realtek tech support suggesting to remove a file called "alcxhweq.dat" from the "c:windowssystem32drivers" directory. So I renamed it to alcxhweq.dat_BAK (or something to that effect), restarted windows and it worked! I've informed Acer on this and suggested that they incorporate the bypass for the headphones/line output and/or provide a check box option to disable the hardware EQ from XP in the future. They have acknowledged it and will inform the relevant parties.

Now that the HW EQ is bypassed, for the built-in speakers, the following software EQ settings (in sound effect manager) are an approximate of the hardware EQ:

100Hz: -7 notches (actually less roll-off effect than the HW EQ)
200Hz: +1 notch
400Hz: 0 (centre)
600Hz: -2 notches
1kHz: -6 or -7 notches
3kHz: 0
6kHz: -6 notches
12kHz: 0
14kHz: 0
16kHz: 0 (actual response slightly higher than the HW EQ)

This thing should also apply to the 2012WLMi model since the differences are in the hard disk, DVD/CD drive and graphics only (?).

 

Hi,

Will appreciate very much if someone can give me an indication on the type of material the casing for 2010 series is made of. Is it plastic, aluminum or a metal alloy?

Thanks for any information!

 

Realtek has just sent me an updated DAT file (alcxinit.dat) which should be an ideal solution for most users. After replacing the original one with this, the hardware EQ is now bypassed whenever the headphones/line-out jack is plugged in, as it should be. Since I can't attach the file here, maybe whoever wants this can e-mail Realtek Tech Support ([email protected]) and request for Mr. Chen Jau-Liang's assistance.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by MD470