xps 13 (9343) - Speakers distortion

When I play some audio on high volume 70%-100% (maybe even less) I get some distortion that mostly comes from the right side.
It sounds like a vibrating tin.
It is also very present while listening to human speech.

Did anyone else encountered this?

 

I don't have the issue on mine... maybe something is loose?

 

Had the problem on mine days ago.
I didn't investigate further, I'll made some more tests when I have more time.

 

This is a recording of what I hear, the high pitch distortion is very noticeable.


The original video is here:


Should I contact Dell?

 

Hi, I've got the same problem as you, but it really depends on what's actually playing on the laptop.... for example, listening to some piano gets a lot of distortion....

Any news from your side ? Did you contact dell about it ?

 

I haven't contacted Dell about this issue.
I've wanted to know if some other people got this problem too.
It is true that it depends on what playing and how loud, This makes me think that the problem is not with the speakers itself but with something vibrating inside the chassis.
Maybe worth opening the machine and check if some screw need to be tighten.

 

I have the same issue with my XPS 13 2015, on the right speaker mostly, but it's not always present. It's comes and goes.

 

I'm thinking it's coming from the right speaker as well.
But it happens all time time with some sort of music/sound in general.
Like the video example I've posted.
Some songs does not distort the same way.

Is there anyone who can hear the video above with no distortion at max volume on his xps 13?

 

Do you have an equalizer set somewhere? Did you ever do anything like max out bass and treble equalizer settings anywhere?

 

No, nothing as such. I am pretty much on the default Waves MaxxAudio settings all the time.

 

You can try calling Dell, and seeing if they are willing to do some kind of warranty repair or replacement of the speakers. There's a slim chance that the speakers themselves are actually defective and/or incorrectly mounted. But I have to warn you that going that route is going to be a colossal pain-in-the-rear. Because there's such a high chance that this is casued by some software configuration setting somewhere, the Dell tech will most likely ask you to wipe your system and restore to factory condition, before even exploring the hardware replacement option.

Your other option is to turn your volume down to a level where your speakers don't rattle anymore, and just live with the problem. Unfortunately, if you're 100% certain that it's not a software configuration issue, then those two options are your only moves.

 

Thank you, kent1146. Unfortunately contacting Dell and sending my XPS back for repairs is out of question since I am from Nepal. I am thinking of opening up the back panel and trying to fix the speaker more tightly myself. I do use the speakers at as low a volume as possible and it's working for me so far. Sometimes it doesn't even distort at all even when playing at a higher volume. So I am thinking it also depends on the audio being played.
Thank you for the reply though. Appreciate it.

 

It might be the keyboard vibrating. If what I'm thinking about is what you mean, I've noticed holding my palm across the rightmost keys eliminates the noise.

 

I tried that too but instead of with the keyboard I press down on the carbon fiber right above the speakers whenever its distorting and that seems to work everytime.

 

Sounds like loose screws or loose plastic.

Unfortuantely, you're still stuck in the same situation as before:

1) Try and get Dell to repair it (difficult option, since you're in Nepal).
2) Try and repair it yourself by disassembling the laptop and tightening any loose screws, wires, or plastic parts.

The only risk I see in #2 (repair it yourself) is that you might end up doing damage to your laptop in the process. The thing about very small laptops is that the internal components are often packed very tightly together, using thin ribbon cables and delicate connectors / plugs to connect different components. And it's very easy to accidentally break or snap one of the ribbon cables or connectors. Even someone highly experienced with working on laptops could make a mistake and snap a cable or connector.

You can reduce your chances of that happening by doing lots of research on a site like IFixIt.com, which has teardown instructions, so you can see exactly where you can expect to find those delicate cables, and be extra careful at those steps.

 

Well, I got some good news for you if you do decide to try and do a self-repair. It's very easy to access the speakers, and to try and tighten the screws or remount the speaker.

You basically just need to remove the bottom panel of the laptop by unscrewing the 8x Torx (star) screws, and the one phillips screw. From there, you can easily access the speakers, and the two screws holding the speakers in-place.

While you have the laptop open (and the speaker unscrewed), I'd recommend that you try playing some music or sound through the laptop to see if the speaker itself is rattling or causing distortion. That will let you determine if the speaker itself is somehow damaged or defective.

 

Thank you kent1146, I've been thinking of doing the same. I've been watching dis-assembly videos and the iFixit article along with the XPS Manual from Dell itself is pretty helpful too. I can't wait to open this beautiful thing up.

 

Please post here again if you got it fixed. I might try fixing it myself too.

 

I will. But I might talk to the vendor first and inquire about the warranty, or if he's willing to get the back panel opened up because I don't want to mess with the warranty and I might not have the right tools just yet. I'll keep you posted.

 

I have not noticed this issue with my speakers. I've had quite a fit with Windows 10 on my computer (with many lockups) but speakers is not one of my issues. Sorry to hear about your speaker issues and hope they are resolved quickly and easily.

 

Did you upgrade to 10 or did you do a clean install? I did a clean install and it's been working fabulously.

 

At first I did an upgrade to Win10Pro. The lockups got so bad that I could not ever get the OS to unlock. I ordered my own copy of Win10Pro and put it on a USB drive. That got the computer unlocked as I did a repair then install over the old OS. I went back to the original Win8.1Pro that was installed on my XPS. Lockup issues still persisted so I attempted to do a clean install of Win7Pro (a unused licensed copy I have). That proved to be unsuccessful as the Win7 install had faults. Win8 still worked but locks up regularly. I then did a clean install of Win10. Although it is better I still have lockup issues. I think I will call Dell and request that they send someone to look at my computer. I am thinking I either have RAM issues or an issue with the SSD. At present I am not happy with the issue although I know the XPS will be an outstanding computer.

 

When you got the XPS and with the Windows version that as installed, did it still used to lock up?When you you lock ups what exactly do you mean? XPS just freezes up and stops responding? Have you tried the safe mode with everything but the most essential services enabled? A driver consistent with all the versions on the Windows could be causing this. Do you have the hard disk turned off after a few minutes under power settings? Or it might just be a hardware issue like you said. XPS is an outstanding machine. Things like these shouldn't be happening at all. They just degrade the whole experience.

 

The first lockup happened after I selected next when the language and region were selected. This was the first next selected on start up. The screen freezes, no response, mouse pointer doesn't move. Ctrl-Alt-Del doesn't work. Cannot select start window, can't do anything. The only recourse I have is to perform a hard shutdown. After I cleared startup and got into Win8.1 lockups still happened. I upgraded to Win10. System lock ups continued. Recovery continued the same way. The computer wouldn't start up so it would do a self diagnostic then go back to a screen with options and advanced options. Intermittently I would get a blue screen stating that Windows didn't start up. Eventually I got a BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO failure. Restart didn't work, hard shutdown didn't work, nothing worked. Since this was an upgrade to Win10 I had to purchase my own version of Win10 to use to correct the bad system config issue. Not happy about that. I went back to Win8.1 with no change. I even tried to do a fresh install of Win7Pro. That caused other issues. I eventually did a clean install of Win10Pro (from the software I got). I'm still locking up but now have Windows media to correct any serious lockups. I was on the phone with Dell today and now am deciding on whether I should send this computer back and reorder another one. I believe I have either a motherboard issue or an issue with the SSD. I will have Dell send someone out to where I am this week with a new motherboard and new 512gb ssd and see if we can get this issue corrected. I have never had an issue with a Dell computer. This is the first time.

 

I know I took this thread off topic so I apologize. Final update (speakers working fine even after all the updates and OS reinstallation).

I was sent a Windows 8.1 Recovery USB drive last week by Dell and performed an installation of the OS with it today. Apparently something was corrected when flashing the BIOS because since the OS reinstallation my XPS has been working without a single lockup. I have loaded much of the software I had previously and still no lockups. Everything appears to be working. I will install some additional software applications I use this coming weekend and see how it goes. I am relieved that the performance nightmare appears to be concluded. Keeping fingers crossed.

 

That's quite alright. I am glad to know your laptop is working fine. So the problem was with the BIOS apparently? And could I ask you what mode your BIOS is on? Whether it's on UEFI or Legacy mode. Thank you.

 

My BIOS was set on UEFI mode. Not sure what the replacement is set on. So far no issues with the replacement.