Q550LF-BSI7T21 speakers do not play sound immediately

Hello,

I am experiencing an issue with the speakers on my Asus Q550LF-BSI7T21 (purchased from Best Buy). They do function, but almost any time I play sound through them, they will not begin playback until several seconds after I initiated playback, until the volume reaches a certain threshold, or until they are prompted to begin playing some other way - I've found that Windows sounds tend to break through the barrier and play immediately, which causes the speakers to kick in and start playing.

For example, if I start playback on a song (or YouTube video, etc.), no sound will come through the speakers at first, but if I modify the "System Sounds" volume bar and prompt Windows to play a noise, the speakers will begin playing everything as if they had just turned on. Sometimes simply waiting for some period of time works as well, and sometimes raising the volume of the source over a certain level will cause playback to begin, but this is not as reliable as prompting a Windows sound.

The issue occurs across many applications, from audio players to internet browsers, and is specific to the speakers - headphones work fine.

I have tried reinstalling the audio drivers at least twice, and restored the BIOS at the instruction of an Asus Support representative, to no avail. Any ideas would be much appreciated! Thank you!

 

Have you tried the latest audio driver directly from the manufacturer?

 

Thanks for the reply! I just tried reinstalling the drivers again, this time from Realtek's website instead of Asus'. Problem still persists.

 

Ok, don't think this would work but try it if you can.
Reinstall the OS and then load the audio driver, and test it to verify. If problem persists, then it needs to be sent back to ASUS for service.

 

Unfortunately I don't think those are options for me right now, as I need to use the laptop constantly for school. I suspect it might be an issue with power management - it almost seems like the audio card/speakers are being turned off/on as needed, and simply have trouble being "woken up" from sleep. There is an audible "pop" when they initiate playback, and after playback ends, as if they are turning on and off again. Does that open any other possibilities?

 

A bad OS can contribute to this issue, but without isolating the issue down to the hardware then we cannot be sure what the root cause is.
I am guessing it might be hardware-related but would rather have you to confirm that for yourself.

 

At least for the past hour or so, the problem has been solved - I was in the middle of trying another audio driver reinstall, uninstalled the Realtek drivers from the Device Manager, and restarted the laptop. But before installing the fresh download I noticed the volume mixer icon in the tray showed the speakers were functioning (ie. there was no red x). I figured the computer automatically fell back upon some previous driver/install after restarting, so I tested the sound on a whim and it is working flawlessly with the Realtek drivers removed outright. Device Manager shows the Realtek device has been replaced with a generic Microsoft "High Definition Audio Device." No more popping, no more delays. Must have been some problem with the Realtek drivers/software installed with them.

 

That driver you have is generic driver and will cause other types of issues.
If you already tried 2.75 from Realtek with the issues that you reported earlier, then try the even newer version from Station-Drivers - NEWS.
If those drivers are causing the sound problem, it may still be OS or hardware related.
See if you can use a spare/unused HDD and put it into the NB temporarily, reload the OS and give it a test to verify this root cause, and you won't risk losing your work with current drive.

 

I'm having the same problem on my Q550LF, I'll try uninstalling the realtek drivers if I get the chance, though I'd rather have newer drivers to upgrade to.

 

I too have had the problem but I have a confirmed fix. I even created a username just to help you guys

Right click on the speaker icon in your tray at the bottom right, click on playback devices. Then left click on your speakers and hit properties when it becomes enabled. Click on the enhancements tab and UNCHECK "Immediate Mode". Click Apply. You should now be able to hear audio at very low volumes.

I have no idea what that "Immediate Mode" does but as soon as I unchecked it, I was able to start my volume from 0 and increase it just to 2 and I was able to hear audio. Before audio wouldn't "pop" in until i hit volume in the mid 20s.

Please let me know if this helps. I also flashed the the bios with the most up to date version, but that did not solve the volume problem even after the flash was complete. It was unchecking that Immediate Mode and applying that, where it fixed the audio.

 

That's good to know that you have resolved the issue.
But it is kind of strange that you had to disable immediate mode though.

 

I guess I spoke too soon This didn't resolve the problem. I've even done a clean install on Windows 10 and I still have the volume issue. Sound does not come through speakers until volume hits mid 20s. It has to be a hardware issue.

 

I guess I spoke too soon This didn't resolve the problem. I've even done a clean install on Windows 10 and I still have the volume issue. Sound does not come through speakers until volume hits mid 20s. It has to be a hardware issue.

 

Is this the same problem as before? Did you load the latest Realtek driver for Win10?
If not, can you reload Win7 or Win8 and then apply the latest Realtek driver to verify?

 

I've installed all of the newest Realtek drivers for Win 10 and still no solution. It's gotta be a hardware issue or some bad wiring with the speakers? I'm replacing the HDD with an SSD today, not sure if it'll help but I'll provide an update if it does.

 

Same thing has happened here after the Win 10 update. Asus notebook.

 

What about the stock OS? Is this symptom only exists in Win10?

 

Someone has resolved this issue? For me speakers do not play sound immediately but only if volume is greater than equal 16 and than i hear POP