!!!! I have MIC BOOST working on CONEXANT HERMOSA AUDIO!!!

That's right folks. I have gotten microphone boost working on Conexant HD Audio. Let me tell you the story...

The latest drivers from HP still gave some crackles and pops in the audio although there were no DPC latency issues. So i decided to google around for some better drivers... I found some from Acer and some from Asus, both dated March this year (HP's drivers were from sometime 2008). They worked with my laptop and gave better audio performance, but with one little issue - the internal mic did not work at all, only external did. Now, i didn't really need the onboard mike, nor was it any use anyway because it was way too quiet.

However, i noticed this little option in the new drivers that intrigued me. MIC BOOST. Wait a second... So it is available after all. And it went up to 40dB!!! Indeed, it worked just fine with an external mic. Then, the idea quickly came. "I'm pretty sure everything is in the INF... Why don't i poke around a little?" And i was right. Thus i got the Asus drivers working with the HP internal microphone. I quickly found out that the 40dB boost still wasn't enough, but then i found a way to get EVEN MORE BOOST. Yay!!! The mic boost still goes up to 40dB only, but now its "baseline" is set much higher. Now with 30dB boost you can hear yourself perfectly in a normal voice at a normal working position, and 40dB already drives it into clipping.

There is one little issue though - the Asus drivers do not mute the speakers while headphones are plugged in. They have this option called "Audio Redirector" but it doesn't work, so it'll take more poking around to fix it. The Acer drivers do mute the speakers, but unfortunately their INF is more complex and i could not get the mic to work at all with them. So stay tuned for updates.

For now i'll give you something to drool at...



Mic check sample. Right click -> Save linked contents as (Save target as for IE). The sample has not been edited in any way. This is how the mic sounds now.

Once again i have to say: HP, I PWN YOU.

Edit: Update! I managed to fix the headphones but i lost the mic again. No worries, i'm working on it... I also managed to enable a lot more cool stuff.

Edit 2: I have successfully enabled all these features:

- Speakers + Headphones as independent devices, auto switching is enabled if there is only one stream playing
- Internal + External microphone working with 10-40dB boost available and noise canceling
- More SmartAudio options available (i have no idea who needs those but i enabled them anyway)

I'm still working on a little quirk in the headphone switching, and on the noise reduction quality. Download will be available soon.

 

Now i'll just add a bit of drama... Driver is due to release on Saturday, 22 August 2009. I'm not at home now so i can't work on it and there's still one issue to be ironed out, but i promise you'll get a download on Saturday.

 

As promised... Download here. Vista x64/Win7 x64 only. A 32-bit driver can be made available upon request.

How to install:

Extract the archive to a folder of your choice
Open Device Manager
Expand "Sound, video and game controllers"
Right-click your audio device and select Update Driver
Click Browse my computer
Click Let me pick from a list of drivers
Click Have Disk and navigate to the folder where you extracted the archive. Select Hermosa.inf and click Open
Ensure that "Conexant Hermosa HD Audio" is displayed and click Next
Click Yes/Continue anyway on any warnings
Enjoy.

What you get: See above posts.
Known issue: If something is currently playing, sound is not switched from headphones back to speakers when the headphones are unplugged. To get audio to play through the speakers you have to close whatever audio application you are using, then insert and unplug the headphones. Alternatively you can go to Control Panel -> Sound, right-click Speakers and select "Set as Default Device", but then you will have to do the same on Headphones for headphones to work again.

I am unsure what causes this and i'm unable to fix it yet. I have checked the registry and the jack unplugging is detected in both cases, but for some reason Windows does not switch back to speakers if a stream is currently playing.

If after a restart you get no sound and the sound icon says "No audio output device installed", you will have to hit F8 when Windows loads and select "Disable Driver Signature Enforcement". You will have to do this every time you reboot. I didn't need to, but then again, i need to do this anyway for another reason (RMClock) so your mileage may vary.

More goodies:
Mic check on internal microphone with 30dB boost and noise reduction on
Mic check on high quality external mic (no boost needed, noise reduction off)

 

Hi,
I own a Compaq Presario C738TU with XP pro SP3. I can't get the internal mic to work. Everything else is working as normal. Can you help me?

 

What version of XP drivers do you use? Can you link me to it?

I might be able to help but i won't promise anything.

 

Driver updated, i had forgotten to include certain files in the package...

 

Hi I have an HP Pavilion dv6125se, and I can NOT get my internal mic working. I have refomatted my laptop twice now hoping to get it to work. It used to work when I first purchased it, but now it has gone dead. Would you by any chance have the program available for XP? I'm not sure where to find the driver information for XP, but your description from the first post sounds like it is exactly what i need to fix my problem!!

 

Sorry for the late reply, i don't check this thread often. If you can send me your XP driver i might be able to help.

 

I know this thread is quite old, but nevertheless I still would like to make a request.

I have a HP Pavilion 6720ed Notebook PC. It has the Conexant HD SmartAudio 221 soundcard (cx20561 @ nVidia MCP65). I use the lastest drivers from hp.com (4.36.7.60 B), but there is no mic boost option available. I use Windows Vista Home Premium 32bit. I would really like drivers which do enable this option, so I can use my internal mic. I travel alot so it's not really practical to carry a seperate mic around.

Is there somebody (Th3_uN1Qu3 ?) who could modify a driver from Asus or another laptopbrand so I can use mic boost on my sound card? I would really appreciate it.

 

I have a HP dv9000 and would love to be able to have mic boost. My Vista is 32 bit so the version you link to won't work.

Do you have 32 bit version? Or a suggestion?

Many Thanks!

 

If you are the one who asked me on youtube as well, no drivers for 32-bit i'm afraid. If you're willing to help me a little it can be done, but most people wouldn't trust a stranger on getting inside their computer via VNC.

 

Hey Unique, just wondering but is the link to your modified Hermosa 64bit driver dead..... can't seem to get it to connect. Also, did you manage to get most of the driver bugs sorted out?

The reason I ask is because sometime ago & out of the blue the internal mics in my daughters DV2700tv stopped working in Vista 32 and I could never get it sorted out. I thought perhaps a MS update had changed something along the way. I recently upgraded the unit to Win 7 64 and was hoping it might have gotten sorted out with a fresh OS & Driver install. Long story short.... No luck. Everthing else works fine but I never went back and checked the Mics and my daughter just asked..... Hey Dad, why don't the Mics work with Skype?

It works fine with a headset Mic, but that's a bit of a pain. Anyway, I guess it could be a hardware issue (Mics unplugged ?) but I remembered reading your post and thought it might be worth a try.

Thanks & all the best, Dave

Added: Link working now..... Monkeys & Magic Mirrors