SXPS 16- Speaker Rattle

I'm very irritated with a rattle being created by the "subwoofer" to the right of the touchpad on my new SXPS 16. Has anyone with a SXPS 16 noticed this rattle? The rattle is especially bad when I'm talking to people on skype; I'm assuming the midrange frequencies are causing the laptop to rattle. I tried using the equalizer in the audio settings but I can't get rid of the rattle. I'd appreciate it if anyone could tell me how to fix this problem or at least improve it.

 

No one's noticed the rattle?

 

Did you call Dell about it? I'd suggest going that route...tell them you're having speaker issues and tell them everything you've done to try and fix it.

Hopefully they'll fix the computer / replace the speakers. I'd advise against going through their troubleshooting techniques over the phone with them...takes forever and it usually (in my limited experience) doesn't help at all.

 

Sorry I don't hear or feel any rattling on my 1640. Do you still have "rattles" even if you rest the laptop on a softer surface? Say your lap?

 

maybe you got a bad speaker? when i had my y510 i had the same problem.

 

For what it's worth I fired my 16 up for the first time today and pumped out some sample music on full volume just to see how it would go..no discernible rattling. I'll try a few other things though with some more bass and let you know, but I think you may have just run into a problem issue.

 

Music doesn't seem to bring out the rattle at all. You have to watch a tv show or listen to some type of audio with voice only. Like I said before, it's extremely noticeable when I'm talking to people over video chat. I think the card reader to the right of the touchpad could be what is rattling.

 

Here's a perfect example of audio that will cause laptop to rattle like crazy. http://www.comedycentral.com/colbertreport/full-episodes/index.jhtml?episodeId=223627

 

Well I get some of that typical "tinny" sound and a little fuzz at highest volume level..but I've never had a laptop (and even a lot of external speakers that are weaker/cheaper will do it) that didn't have that problem.

As far as a "rattle" though...nope. Just the obvious sounds of straining the speakers when you crank up a high source to a high volume level.

 

Did you watch that video and crank up the sound? Once I get to 50% volume when watching that video, the area to the right of the touchpad starts rattling/buzzing like crazy.

 

If it's light sounds that do it you might have a bad speaker.

Other than that, I would go around and make sure the screws are all tightened along the bottom.

 

Ya I took the bottom cover off and made sure every screw was tight inside and out. The rattle is still there. It's not the subwoofer itself rattling; it's the vibration that it creates that is rattling something inside the laptop. I'm still not sure what is rattling.

 

I just got of the phone with dell tech support and they didn't seem to understand that this is a hardware issue, not a software issue. Does anyone know what I'd have to do to get this repaired? Do I have to send it back to dell or can I take it to an authorized repair center? I don't want to waste my time with tech support anymore because they won't give me a straight answer.

 

Get on tech support chat and when they try to tell you it's a software issue, push the issue that it's hardware. Tell them the problem is with the hardware, and repeat this as many times as necessary. It's easier to do tech support stuff over chat than phone to me..I've had zero luck with phone but extreme success with chat.

Typically to get that repaired you will have to send it into their depot.

 

I'm thinking of just repairing it myself. The subwoofer is the cause of the rattle, but the subwoofer itself is fine. Maybe I should take the bottom cover off again and try to figure out what is rattling. If I can't figure it out, maybe I'll just remove the stupid subwoofer.

 

Or maybe you could just send it back to dell to have it repaired hassle free...and if they can't fix it, they will probably replace it with a new (and sometimes better) system.

 

Can some other sxps 16 owners please listen to the audio in this video to see if their laptop has the same issue? I want to make sure this problem is exclusive to my studio xps only. The spoken words in the video are what cause the rattling, not the commercial in the beginning.

 

i have the same problem. i cant figure out whats rattling. its seems to be on the right side, but i dont think its the speaker. i think its some component nearby. best i can think, id have to take off the bottom panel and try to replicate the problem and go from there.

i had contacted dell about it way back when i first got the computer, they said they could send someone to replace the speakers or sound card, but i preferred to live with the sound over having some dell house tech touching my computer.

ill check it out tomorrow and post back any result...

 

aahh I'm so relieved now that I know this problem isn't occurring with my studio xps only. Dell is sending me a box with a prepaid shipping label so I can send it to the depot to have it repaired. I'm sort of hesitant also about letting some tech touch my computer, but I guess it has to be done(better than me trying to fix it and breaking something). I'm going to put an audio clip on the desktop before I send it in so the techs can hear exactly what I'm talking about. And how come I keep hearing people talk about Dell techs that come to your house?? That sounds convenient; dell tech support never told me anything about that.

 

I cranked colbert all the way up, and still I get no rattle...just like I said, the obvious sound of a laptop speaker straining to produce solid sound at that volume level. But nothing I'd say is unusual for what I'm trying to do.

 

There's not many components near the subwoofer. I think there's just the card readers and the wireless card maybe? Let me know if you figure out what is rattling. I'd rather fix it myself if I know exactly what is rattling.

 

Has anyone else noticed the rattle I'm talking about or figured out how to fix it?

 

Not me. I would take off the back plate, power on the thing and have some audio playing that will cause the rattle, and start touching and pressing on every part to make it stop. Use a wooden rod on the electronics to not short circuit anything.

 

I had a similar problem with my sxps 13 but i turned down the bass and it went away.

 

actually i got really swamped with work and havent had a chance to do it. that and the fact that i cannot find the screwdriver i need.

im guessing it has something to do with the subwoofer, but really, it sounds like the vibrating is somewhere near the dvd slot.

 

Ya it does sound like it's coming from somewhere near the dvd slot. I took the bottom cover off again to try to figure it out and I can't. I'll just send it to the dell depot.

 

when i told the customer care they offered to send someone to the house to look at it, and possibly replace the speakers or motherboard. you could probably push for that vs sending it to the depot if you want quicker results.

 

after a long delay i fixed my speaker rattling. below a paste from my solution posted in the dell forum:

i figured out my problem. first off, it was nothing wrong with the drivers. the audio was perfect with an external speaker or with headphones. my backlit keyboard stopped working so i opened the computer up to reseat the keyboard light power ribbon.

i didnt take photos during this process, but suffice it to say, it was very simple. all that was needed was paper tape and a screwdriver and about 10-20 minutes.

with the keyboard removed (which exposes all 3 speakers) i played an mp3 that caused my speakers to distort. first i unplugged the bass speaker and realized the normal (side of the keyboard) speakers had no distortion. i then unplugged the keyboard speakers and focused solely on the bass speaker. i put the volume to full in order to figure out what was vibrating. i ruled out the speaker itself by remove the speaker from the system (its only held on by two rubber grips). the main cause of the vibration was the aluminum of the adjacent express card slot. a few other minor vibrations came from the dvd player, the fan, and various other loose ribbons. i tightened all the screws on the motherboard and eliminated all vibrations outside of the express card slot. the card slot did not vibrate with a little pressure on top. first i added a piece of paper tape across the aluminum to damped the vibration. then i added a square made out of several layers of paper tape to the center on top so when the computer was reassembled pressure would be placed onto the aluminum. even before reassembling the distortion was all but gone, and once it was reassembled its completely gone.

 

I attempted this fix metroline as my sub speaker is also causing a rattle. After removing the 20 odd screws just to remove the palmrest I discovered that it's actually my sub speaker itself which is causing the rattling sound. They look pretty crap quality to me. If I hold my finger on the edge of the sub speaker the crackling goes away, but at the same time I obviously lose a little volume.

Any know how I could get this fixed?

 

yeah, it could be a puncture in the subwoofer. i received a replacement palm rest today, sometime this week ill be replacing it and can take pictures of my subwoofer 'fix', it may help others quiet the rattling like it did mine.

until soon...

 

I don't think it's a puncture, I think it's just a very poorly built unit. Quite annoying. I wonder if I could get hold of a replacement?

Why did you need a new palm rest by the way.

 

you can probably put in a request for a new speaker since its under warranty. but they might not be able to replace it without sending a technician to swap the whole motherboard. so id really not want to go through all that.

my palm rest aluminum band was wearing down really quickly, they sent the whole palm rest as a replacement. more details and photos here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=404259

 

Do you guys get any crackle in the speakers when you watch youtube videos? It's really actually most rock, but I mean my volume is at a bit less than 50% and it's crackling. Is this normal? Can anybody check this?

The clip I've had problems with is this one if you need to know:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUuadLtfNEw

 

Yes, I get crackling too with that youtube video. I play my electronica mp3s and other music, watch movies, hulu.com, etc. and I don't experience problems. I think the issue is with the youtube video here, not the system.

However, I do have other issues with my audio. Namely the IDT HD audio driver/software in control panel. If I'm playing music and open something like Skype or some system sound goes off, it interrupts my current music causing a hiccup or pause. When I try to turn off the SRS enhancement in control panel, it turns itself back on when a system sound runs! I had to disable IDT altogether, and now I use the basic audio. Do you have such problems?

 

Hmm, I seem to get rattling over 50% volume on certain songs as well. Do you think new speakers would actually fix the problem? I paid for that complete care thing so I imagine it wouldn't be too much of a problem to have them replaced.

 

1640 is generally a very loud laptop. Over 50% volume on standard playback is really really loud, I wouldn't be surprised if it's rattling over 50%, my volume usually lingers around 15%~20% depending on the loudness of the song/video.

 

I can no longer tolerate my speaker rattling. I have known since day 1 it was the subwoofer. I also get the offcenter sound (leaning towards the right) too. Will getting new speakers/sub fix this or is that fix that was previously posted the only fix?

 

I've had 3 sub speakers and they were pretty much all the same.

Best solution: use quality headphones (you can't beat IEMs).

 

i think thats mainly because of the low quality of youtube videos

Yeah, its VERY loud, mine wont rattle below 80%, but more than 80 is just too much for normal music playback ( when in front of the laptop )

 

Well I spent hours last night taking apart, and putting back together my laptop. It was kinda fun. I was really hesistant to do this because Ive never messed with a laptop before but it really is no different then a full tower, just more compact and tighter spaces.

As previously stated I determined the aluminum top cover of the bdrom wasnt really snug and was causing most of the vibration as well as the card reader. I also saw that the subwoofer was kind of floating in way and itself had a lot of room to move and vibrate. So I put double sided tape all around it to make it level so it was no longer "floating" and just kept one side of the tap unpeeled so it wouldnt stick together (so its just basically a fat one sided tape I guess). I also applied this in the middle of my keyboard, and at the right and lower right where it touches the bdrom and card reader. I admit my XPS has a little tad bit of keyboard flex in the middle( which makes sense because its attached at the edges and more robust as you go out), its not as bad as some that Ive seen on other laptops this forum has shown me, but having no prior base I still was a little bothered by it. Now there is no flex absolutely what so ever, even if I TRY really hard. In fact the laptop itself feels a lot more sturdier and solid while typing. This wasn't the point of the mod but a good side effect nonetheless. The rest of the tape puts slight down pressure on the both bdrom and card reader, eliminating most of the rattle, as well as the subwoofer being nice and firm now. Its not perfect but it eliminated about 98% of the problem. I hardly ever hear any distortion now and only if its a very specific sound that would obviously trigger it regardless...So thanks for those before me who inspired me to do this. Im pretty happy with my results...

Anyway I successfully did all of this w/o dmging it (one reall tiny scuff on the screen hindge) although I feel like once I put it back together keyboard cover, the chrome edge, doesnt fit as snuggly against the bottom piece as it once did and there is a slight gap now...But thats because of my mod, so Im still trying to decide if I wanna keep what I did..

 

Hi I have the same problem, I can hear crackling hissing noise when speakers play some specific frequency, it comes from around optical drive and card reader..

If anybody who managed to get rid of this can post some pictures what have you done, I would be very gratefull. (Ive already disassembled this laptop, so that not the problem)

 

Same here - I just got my 1645 a month ago.

It doesn't happen when I play stuff over the Internet (such as Napster), but always when I watch movies. It's very loud and annoying. It's the speaker on the right side.

Has anyone tried asking Dell to fix it, rather than doing it yourself? Did they help? I don't think I want to mess with my laptop on my own.

 

I think that each unit does do that, my friend has 1645 too and it makes exactly the same crackling noise, strange is that it's not basses that trigger that, rather some mid-range tones (like talking, for example the worst case I've experienced was when talking to my dad through skype, It felt like the whole unit should fall apart). I haven't noticed it in games or music, but I think that it's just because in games or music there are a lot of other sounds that cover it...

And one thing that bothers me since day 1: can you move your 9 cell battery a little when plugged in? About 1-2 mm... Which also causes the left edge above keyboard to stand up a bit (1mm cca) against surroundings and causes gap between back-cover and battery (2mm or so)...

 

That's weird - it sounds like many people have the same problem, but no one has ever asked Dell to fix it? Maybe it doesn't bother most people?

I've had the laptop for a month, and it is driving me nuts. I've been too busy to contact Dell up till now, but I'll do it next month.

I'll try to ask them to send a technician to fix it. I don't want to send my laptop away, as I use it every day, and it's the only one I have.

I also want to add that other than that, I've been extremely pleased with the laptop. It's certainly the nicest machine I've ever had, and it exceeded my expectations in many ways. But this noise is beyond annoying!

 

Here is perfect example of video that causes awfull crackling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwqfvJGumqU&feature=fvw

I don't understand how people can not notice something like that, but just like I said: friend has 1645 and he has a same problem...

On the other hand I think that most people don't contact dell with this issue, because we all know that Dell will probably try many things and may replace the whole system eventually, but the new unit will have the same problem...so in the end those who relly on Dell to solve it will lose a lot of time among other things.

 

I didn't hear anything out of the ordinary.

 

Really?!?! I don't understand that, what is your audio setting? Especially volume?

Do you use Skype sometimes?

 

My volume was over 50% close to 60%. Which audio settings? I used that X-Fi thing to configure my audio.

 

Well I don't even have it installed, may be it sorts something (bass redirection???). Where can I find it? (i made a clean install and I didnt get any installation disc for that...)

 

I heard someone mention in one of these threads something about MyDellDownloads or something like that. I googled it and this is what I found My Dell Downloads