XPS 1640 subwoofer

Hi folks,

Just received an XPS 1640 last week. Great system so far. A question about the audio. I can't seem to tell if my subwoofer is working or not. Audio seems ok, but not very bassy and none of my adjustments to bass levels seem to have much effect. I've got the most recent IDT drivers installed (6.10.0.6162). When I try testing the speakers in the speaker setup (Start - > control panel ->hardware and sound -> sound ->speakers and headphones (IDT high definition audio codec) -> configure-> 5.1) all the speakers play a test sound, except for the subwoofer ?!?

Should the internal subwoofer play a test sound, or is the 5.1 configuration just for external speakers? Poking around on the dell community forums, I read that some recent 1640's shipped with dead subwoofers. Just can't seem to hear any bass from where the subwoofer should be.

Thanks

 

Have you tried the F12 diagnostics? reboot your system, hit F12 when you see the Dell logo. Select diagnostics. It will go through a basic set of tests. Then select custom. Then scroll down to audio and try the tests there.

 

Thanks for the tip. I gave the f12 diagnostics a try, and I'd describe it as inconclusive. I can hear the test music, but nothing really from near where I understand the sub to be (just to the right of the touch pad). All the other speakers seem to be working fine. The f12 test doesn't offer an option to test the sub separately. I'd be curious if any 1640 owners can hear sound output when selecting the sub from the test screen shown in the first post of this thread.

 

Is the subwoofer rear-firing? That is how it is configured in a lot of other types of hardware that utilize subwoofers. If it is, you might want to try listening from below the laptop during the test.

 

My Studio 15's subwoofer can be heard from underneath the palmrest. Of course, you really shouldn't expect too much out of these things. My "subwoofer" is an inch diameter, 2.5W, and I imagine the Studio XPS 16 uses something similar, if not identical.

 

Remember, the subwoofers in these things aren't really proper ones, they just serve as a bit of a sound booster.

 

I got an even better and fun test for your sub. Get a hold of a copy of One Little Victory by Rush and play it in your media player. The song immediately starts off with some deep and fast double bass...that oughta test your sub!

 

I'm sorry, but that doesn't seem to have that much bass at all. I have it turned up heaps and there is virtually no noise from my subwoofer at all. On other songs at the same volume my subwoofer is making the room vibrate. I have a desktop by the way, a laptop would never have a sub that big.

 

"A Milli" by Lil Wayne is a good bass testing song. Of course, you shouldn't expect anything serious out of a Studio XPS 16's integrated sub.

 

Maybe you have a bad sub. I play a lot of music on my machine and the bass comes in fine. of course, i have to ask what it is you are playing music and or video with and if you are tweaking the equalizer settings? I use iTunes for my music and I bring up the equalizer, choose either extra bass or rock settings and then set the preamp up a couple of notches...everything comes in great.

 

No, that song that was suggested isn't particularly bassy. I've played other songs, and it works really well.

 

My 1640 arrived 2 days ago. Doesn't seem to be much bass, if any, comming out of this system. Any way we can determine if the sub is working or not?

 

You can hardly call it a sub. If it wasn't working though the two small speakers either side of the keyboard would sound very tinny on their own.

The only true way is to unscrew the base of the laptop and then the top keyboard / wrist rest assembly. You can then simply unplug the sub woofer.

 

Well, when resting my ear on the wrist rest, towards the right side, I do hear some music coming out of that area. I guess the 'sub' is working, although I agree, we can hardly call it a sub. Oh well. After reading many online reviews, I was expecting that 'rich, deep bass' they were talking about...

 

I have noticed that using the SRS Premium Sound enhancements in the IDT audio control panel helps tremendously to improve the audio experience on this laptop.

If you set the number of speakers to 5.1 it creates virtual surround sound and the same when using headphones to give you pretty good HRTF.

 

To give you an idea of the size of the Subwoofer. I've replaced one of these before. you aren't going to get much off of one of these things. That said. Its not a bad sub for such a thin laptop. It just has to be configured correctly

 

So you mean it can simulate surround sound? I always though that was just an option if you actually had 5.1 surround otherwise it would just leave out three speakers. I agree though that the SRS panel vastly improves the bass. I have srseffects enabled with the EQ boosted round the 250hz region and dropping off toward the 16khz region to avoid tinny cymbals

 

How do we enable that SRS thingy ? I don't see any SRS effect..

 

Install the IDT drivers and it's in control panel.

IDT 92HD73C1 Audio v6.10.0.6217, A15

 

It says for

Mine's 1640 @@

 

Also, I tried checking for that update with my service tag and when I browsed through my Audio section, I only found this

6.10.0.6162, A14

Why is that ? Can I safely install A15 ?

 

It works perfectly and is a lot more stable than the previous version which is listed under the 1640 downloads.

 

So we can use 1645 drivers on the 1640?

 

Most of them yes.

 

After installing A15, I still can't see any SRS in the enhancement tab =(

 

Control Panel - IDT Audio Control Panel - SRS Premium.

 

Thanks iaTa ! You have provided me much help here and other thread ! +rep !

 

but.. with that drivers.. can't use the indipendent headphones..

with the volume.. manage not only the indipendet headphone.. but all the audio.. 1 headphone, second headphone, and the speaker!!!

With the windows original drivers.. i can manage any of them singular!!!

Why this??

thanks a lot

 

That shouldn't be the case. The IDT drivers allow you to control everything individually? It's the standard Windows drivers that don't.

 

iaTa.. i've the MICROSOFT high definition audio device driver.. and can manage (when the headphones are connected) the audio for the singular headphones or for one headphone and the speaker!!!

with the idt driver (also with the latest a15 revision from 1645 download page driver..) can't!!!

But with the idt driver, (and with a little modification in the ini file of the driver) can put the original audio pannel in the systray with all the modifications that our card allow!!

sooooob

 

Is there a fix for this? My sub causes distortion even at low volumes at certain common frequencies.

If i hold my hand tightly against the palm rest to the right of the touchpad then the distortion stops, so it sounds like it's just causing something inside the laptop to vibrate.

I've considered stuffing some elastics or something of that nature inside it but this seems like it could be dangerous.

Drivers are IDT 6267 (latest from Dell) and I have disabled the "SRS Premium" as that only seemed to make the problem worse.

I had speakers plugged in before so it didn't bother me but now I am in England and without them