Q. for owners of Dell Studio 15 1557 or 1558 MIC and sound question

If you own a 1557 or 1558, could you please do me a big favor and try the following (I'll explain why later).

1. Unplug all external speakers, headphones, microphones and headsets
2. Start skype or any other sound recording/playback software
3. Start recording using the internal microphone
4. While recording, plug in an external microphone or headset and continue recording without making any software adjustments
5. When you playback the recording, can you hear when the mic was plugged in?

From experience from other hardware, the result of this test is a yes. For example using the skype test service, I start talking and after a few seconds I plug in a headset. When the message is played back I can hear that the microphone was changed. This is what I expect from a modern PC/laptop running win 7 pro 64-bit (if I connect external sound hardware it’s obvious that I don’t want to use the integrated kit anymore!).

I have a dell 1557 which doesn't like external microphones at all. With other laptops/PCs I've come across, when you plug in an external microphone/headset, the external mic and/or headphones become the default devices.

With the 1557, after you plug in a headset you have to go to the IDT control panel and tell the driver that the device in the line in port is a microphone. Not convenient at all if you are talking with someone. The worst part is you need to do this after restarting or removing the headset temporarily so this setting doesn’t stick and after hours of logmein sessions, the techies haven’t been able to find a default option. I’m not sure if this is a design or hardware fault (waiting for the Dell repairs to come back to me). If it is found to be a design fault, Dell have agreed to refund me my money and I will go for the 1558 unless it behaves similarly to the 1557.

 

Have you try update driver?

 

yes. so did the dell people remotely. also tried a fresh OS install

 

1558 is the same. The issue isn't the changeover, it's getting mic selected instead of line in. Also, skype is very bad at switching sources on the fly. It's very likely just an IDT driver issue.

 

Thanks woofer00.

That's completely right but the fact that you can not set it and forget is a big design flaw (am I the only person that uses a 3.5mm mic?). I've been doing some testing with skype and other laptops and I've noticed that it will switch over as long as the driver makes the switch and doesn't create another instance of "sound device".

very disappointed that they haven't fixed that in 1558. I'll have to ask for a full refund once Dell find my laptop (they delivered it to some random address which doesn't surprise since the first time they didn't put my name on the address label)

 

I doubt that's going to be enough reason to initiate a refund. The functionality still exists, and it's easy enough to toggle. I have my IDT panel set to pop up every time I plug in the mic. It's a single mouse-click to choose mic input rather than line-in. It's REALLY not that big of a deal. I don't know how often you unplug your headset, but for me, once it's in it's probably there til I turn the laptop off, or at least for a few hours.

It's not nearly as bad as the problem of freezing up or random shutdowns that were occurring in the winter/spring.

 

The problem is that it doesn't remember the setting and this needs to be done after every restart. I've been used to having my external mic always on stand by with all other computers and I'm not going to change my expectation because Dell tells me to.

A problem doesn't have to be catastrophic for a good to be deemed unsuitable for use. I've offered Dell to either perform a repaired that fixes the problem, be sent an alternative laptop without the problem or a refund. They've agreed that the problem might be a design fault and a refund would be the only thing they can do.

If we received these notebooks at work, we would be forced to ask for a refund too because our standard user policy restricts control panel use. Since a default can't be set, our users probably won't know that they have to change settings in order to get their mics working (so they would assume that the mic is faulty or the laptop is not good enough). The problem doesn't have to be catastrophic to cause a major inconvenience. I will be seeking a refund once Dell FIND my laptop. It's been 2 days since I was told the laptop was signed for by some Garfield at an unknown address

I'm currently looking around for a laptop that has both a headphone and a mic jack and a 32nm i5 for around the same value as my 1557 i7-720QM.

 

Just an update if anyone is interested. I did manage to get a full refund but they tried to take 20% or so because it was already used. I rejected that and now I have the full refund. If they sort out their driver I might go back to a studio but right there is just too much hassle if you are taking out your external mic often