Share via

Mediocre sound quality despite excellent speakers

Anonymous
2024-03-10T19:43:08+00:00

I have just gotten a new Win laptop - MSI Stealth 16, supposedly a great laptop - and have been struggling to get good, acceptable sound quality. I come from an old mac, where the sound was terrific.

What's problematic:

I've tried various equalisers in Win 11 (including Boom, Peace, but they were very bad), and am currently using FxSound. Basically, it sounds quite artificial and hollow. Highs which should be higher are more faint, depths which should be stronger are weaker. Also, the volume sometimes fluctuates, for example when someone is singing - you can hear that it is being lowered in volume. It's as if there was an volume flattener applied, but no, no such setting is applied on any equalisers.

My speakers are vintage Denon speakers and Denon amplifier. Many years old but are truly excellent and sound amazing with my old mac. It sounded as if you were present in the room right there with the music. I listen to the same songs on the Win laptop, and the mac, and there is a noticeable difference. I use equaliser programs as well on my mac.

If I cannot get the sound right, I'll likely return this laptop as I just can't live with listening to mediocre music quality. An untrained ear might not notice or care, but I certainly can notice it. It would be a real shame - it should certainly be possible to get good sound today, you'd expect, with Windows.

What I've tried so far:

  • changing sample rate, eg to 48000 hz and 192000 hz
  • updating drivers, reinstalling drivers, reinstalling Win 11
  • disabling / enabling audio enhancements
  • rejigging equaliser settings

Is there anything else I should try?

System information regarding sound devices:

Name Intel® Smart Sound Technology for USB Audio

Manufacturer Intel(R) Corporation

Status OK

PNP Device ID INTELAUDIO\CTLR_DEV_51CA&LINKTYPE_06&DEVTYPE_06&VEN_8086&DEV_AE50&SUBSYS_13CB1462&REV_0001\0603

Driver C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERSTORE\FILEREPOSITORY\INTCUSB.INF_AMD64_9D17FEA24A602101\INTCUSB.SYS (10.29.0.8365, 891.53 KB (912,928 bytes), 2/6/2023 11:15 PM)

Name Intel® Smart Sound Technology for Digital Microphones

Manufacturer Intel(R) Corporation

Status OK

PNP Device ID INTELAUDIO\CTLR_DEV_51CA&LINKTYPE_02&DEVTYPE_00&VEN_8086&DEV_AE20&SUBSYS_13CB1462&REV_10EC\5&B0D8747&0&0000

Driver C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERSTORE\FILEREPOSITORY\INTCDMIC.INF_AMD64_CA492F503C74AC48\INTCDMIC.SYS (10.29.0.8365, 745.52 KB (763,408 bytes), 3/8/2024 11:04 PM)

Name Intel® Smart Sound Technology for Bluetooth® Audio

Manufacturer Intel(R) Corporation

Status OK

PNP Device ID INTELAUDIO\CTLR_DEV_51CA&LINKTYPE_03&DEVTYPE_00&VEN_8086&DEV_AE30&SUBSYS_13CB1462&REV_0001\5&B0D8747&0&0000

Driver C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERSTORE\FILEREPOSITORY\INTCBTAU.INF_AMD64_94E145656A2ECD6C\INTCBTAU.SYS (10.29.0.8365, 860.06 KB (880,704 bytes), 2/6/2023 11:15 PM)

Name NVIDIA High Definition Audio

Manufacturer NVIDIA

Status OK

PNP Device ID HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10DE&DEV_00A6&SUBSYS_146213CB&REV_1001\5&646E8C3&0&0001

Driver C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\NVHDA64V.SYS (1.3.40.14, 128.48 KB (131,560 bytes), 3/6/2024 10:29 AM)

Name Nahimic Easy Surround device

Manufacturer Nahimic

Status OK

PNP Device ID SWD\DRIVERENUM{DD052805-D06A-4AC5-9629-329FF6A861E5}#NAHIMIC_BTLINK&6&2A0D1E93&B

Driver C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\NAHIMICBTLINK.SYS (10.0.10011.16384, 84.18 KB (86,200 bytes), 3/8/2024 10:42 PM)

Name Realtek High Definition Audio

Manufacturer Realtek

Status OK

PNP Device ID INTELAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0274&SUBSYS_146213CB&REV_1000\5&B0D8747&0&0001

Driver C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\RTKVHD64.SYS (6.0.9503.1, 6.16 MB (6,459,240 bytes), 3/9/2024 2:07 PM)

Name NVIDIA Broadcast

Manufacturer NVIDIA

Status OK

PNP Device ID ROOT\UNNAMED_DEVICE\0000

Driver C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\NVRTXVAD64V.SYS (1.0.1.9, 57.51 KB (58,888 bytes), 2/8/2023 2:45 PM)

Name NVIDIA Virtual Audio Device (Wave Extensible) (WDM)

Manufacturer NVIDIA

Status OK

PNP Device ID ROOT\UNNAMED_DEVICE\0001

Driver C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\NVVAD64V.SYS (4.45.0.0, 57.98 KB (59,368 bytes), 2/8/2023 2:45 PM)

Name Nahimic mirroring device

Manufacturer Nahimic

Status OK

PNP Device ID ROOT\MEDIA\0000

Driver C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\NAHIMIC_MIRRORING.SYS (10.0.10011.16384, 84.20 KB (86,224 bytes), 8/19/2022 4:46 AM)

Name FxSound Audio Enhancer

Manufacturer FxSound

Status OK

PNP Device ID ROOT\MEDIA\0001

Driver C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\FXVAD.SYS (14.1.0.0, 319.00 KB (326,656 bytes), 5/30/2022 10:53 AM)

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Devices and drivers

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

8 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. JosephT71 9,210 Reputation points
    2024-03-12T01:38:42+00:00

    Your laptop comes with nahimic which has its own EQ.

    Your laptop sounds bad because you double EQ'ed.

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. JosephT71 9,210 Reputation points
    2024-03-12T23:23:33+00:00

    You have a Denon receiver, which means that you should do your EQ in the receiver.

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2024-03-12T21:20:07+00:00

    I thought about that, and have tried with and without Nahimic and FxSound disabled / enabled. Sound is still mediocre unfortunately...

    I'm waiting for two DACs which I'll try in a few days to see if that makes any difference. It may be that the DAC integrated with the laptop is just poor quality?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2024-03-12T00:24:27+00:00

    Thank you very much Rel.

    I haven't tried installing Dolby, as it's not free and costs. I've tried using Spatial Audio (ie Windows Sonic) - no difference.

    I also tried the helpful suggestion re communication settings, but I don't think it changed the sound.

    The last thing I'll try is to buy a separate DAC. My amplifier for my speaker is vintage from the late 90s. While it sounds absolutely perfect on my Macbook, maybe the soundcard in this Windows laptop is of inferior quality or newer build that requires a DAC to sound good. Other than that, I really can't think of anything else I should try.

    The sound is OK. An untrained ear might even think it's good. But it's not acceptable to me, particularly when I know it can sound 30-40% better on my old Macbook.

    If you think of anything else I should try, I'd be most grateful.

    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2024-03-11T08:04:13+00:00

    Hello hlvrn

    Thank you for your contribution to the Microsoft Community.

    I understand that you're experiencing poor sound quality and volume reduction when playing audio.

    Have you installed third-party audio enhancements (e.g. Dolby Atmos, Windows Sonic, etc.)?

    You mentioned in the description: When there are vocals, the volume is lowered. This may be due to the fact that the human voice is mistaken by Windows as a voice call. In some cases, Windows has a mechanism to automatically adjust the volume, which causes the volume of other software (such as games or music) to decrease by percentage when you are on a call.

    1. Click on “System”＞“Sound”＞“More sound settings”
    2. Click on "Communications" and select "Do nothing"

    In addition, you can try: Find > Enter "Control Panel" > User Accounts > Manage Other Accounts > Add a new user in PC settings > Add someone else to this PC (give admin privileges)" Restart your PC > Log in to your new account to see if it's the same.

    Create a local user or administrator account in Windows - Microsoft Support

    Looking forward to your further reply so that we can help you solve the problem better.

    Sincerely,

    Rel - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

    0 comments