Enhancing Dell XPS L502X Audio

lots of issues with windows

Which windows operating system is on the laptop?

I wish to improve its audio quality now. I

Improve the sound of the laptop's own internal speakers, or external? If external, what is your setup -- stereo hi fi, powered speakers, surround sound system, or what?

Thanks for the response. I have windows 10 Pro ( creators update) installed.

I do have external speakers both stereo and a 5.1 channel home theater system. But they are basic with minimal sound improvement. What I intend to have is have some usb dac/ sound card which will bring the audio quality of my laptop to a basic audiophile level. Then I can use it with my audiio technica headphone, my stereo speaker or my home theater. Something that is future proof and good value for money.

The Realtek audio system within the laptop is already of audiophile quality, excluding the small laptop speakers of course, so its hard to see how you can improve it for just $75. For that amount of money you can get a consumer grade usb sound card, such as a Sound Blaster, but the only way that would be an improvement is if you are hearing noise in the laptop's audio. If you can hear noise caused by electrical interference within the laptop, an external sound card could be an improvement even though it won't have better specs than the Realtek chip.

However if you intend to use the laptop's S/pdif digital output function, and if your stereo system does not have a S/pdif port, then you will have to get a usb sound card or DAC  with a S/dif port. But as I said, unless you are getting noise from the Realtek system then you won't see any improvement by routing the signal that way. Either way you will end up having to use analog connections. If your stereo does have a S/dif port then just use that.

I do have external speakers both stereo and a 5.1 channel home theater system. But they are basic with minimal sound improvement. What I intend to have is have some usb dac/ sound card which will bring the audio quality of my laptop to a basic audiophile level.

The weakest link in a music system is the speakers. Even if you can find a usb DAC for $75 that is better than the Realtek's 3 HD DAC's, it still wouldn't improve the sound of inferior speakers. Maybe the best thing you could do is to save up for better speakers. Or for $75 you can get pretty good headphones if your current AT's need an upgrade.

A couple of things that won't cost anything:

> if your music consists of MP3's or other compressed files, upgrade to wav files or other lossless files. Doing that would be a prerequisite to higher quality audio.

> Revert the laptop to the Windows 7 operating system and install the Dell Quickset app and the Realtek audio driver. Windows 10 is not supported, which is probably why your Creative Labs enhancement software would not work right. Also if you are using the Windows native audio driver, it is inferior to the Realtek driver. Also, with the Realtek driver the laptop can directly output 6 channels of audio (5.1) through its analog jacks.. An additional benefit of installing the Reaktek driver is that it also installs the Waves enhancement software.

If you no longer have the original Factory Image for reverting the laptop back to the original factory configuration, you can get a copy of Win7 and use the COA sticker on the bottom of the laptop to install it.

About enhancement software, if you are talking about true audiophile quality don't use enhancements because they are the opposite of the neutral audiophile.experience as envisioned by the classical music lovers who were the original audiophiles. On the other hand, if your speakers are lacking in some respects, then enhancement software might help fill in the gaps. The Waves enhancement that comes with the Realtek driver is probably better than the Creative Labs enhancement software.

Personal note, I haven't thought much about audiophile quality in decades, as other interests and failing hearing got in the way, but as a young man I subscribed to audiophile magazines and even built my first component tube stereo amplifier, hand-soldering every contact. I also built a number of speaker systems back then, some of them so large I wouldn't want them in my house now. Those were the days.

A comment about the XPS L502x  -- it is way superior to most modern laptops in its audio functionality. When you do eventually get a new laptop, most probably it won't have separate ports for line-in and line-out (the trend now is to use inferior "combo" jacks), won't have 5.1 analog output jacks, won't have S/pdif output. As far as audio, you are doing the right thing holding on to that laptop, although having Win10 on it is a step backward as far as audio functionality.

Thanks for the detailed explanation. I do like my laptop. It has almost everything I can ask/ need for. I have also upgraded it over time, with SSD, AC network card, and RAM upgrade. I lost windows 7 long time back. I had bought Windows 8 pro and used it for quite a while and then moved to Windows 10 when it was offered as free upgrade.

I have two questions:

1) Is windows 10 degrading the sound quality?

2) I was using the audio driver(exact version) which I came with the laptop. It works very well, but I always understood that with time better drivers do come and should be upgraded. But support for ALC665 is stoped long ago. Not sure if they will ever put efforts to support such a dated audio card.

Is it possible to have realtek drivers for windows 10 ?

Or is it the best solution for now to stick to stock realtek drivers then?

Thanks. I will delay moving to external sound card and will try to follow your suggestions.

Hi Jim,

I am using the driver mentioned in your response. Sound is good now. I have a query, I connected my 5.1 channel home theater but there is no sound coming from any channel except front channel. I have configured it correctly and when I test by clicking a particular speaker, I hear the test sound. But when I play music, I doesnt have any sound.

Am I missing something?

The laptop does not simulate surround sound, so if you don't have a stereo source like a dvd movie with surround sound, then the audio will just come out as regular stereo.

Here is the configuration step-by-step I wrote.

1. Connect the speakers together by following the diagram in the manufacturer's instructions, but do not connect them to the laptop yet.

2. On the laptop, go to Start>Control Panel> Realtek HD Audio Manager> Speaker/Headphone> Speaker setup. See the screen shot below. (Note: this assumes that the Realtek audio driver is installed on the laptop. It was pre-installed at the factory so unless it has been removed you should not have to install it.)

3. In the "Configuration" drop-down box -- the box with the down arrow -- click the arrow and select "5.1 Speaker".

4. Connect the 5.1 speaker system to the laptop using regular stereo cables with a mini phone plug (3.5 mm plug) on each end.

a.  Connect the rear speakers to the laptop's microphone jack socket.

b.  Connect the center/sub speaker to the left headphone jack socket.

c.  Connect the front speakers to the right headphone jack socket.

5. Power up the speakers.

6. On the laptop, click the "Audio Test".  If the audio does not come out of the correct speakers, re-arrange the cables.

I have done the same. Audio test are successful. I ran a 5.1 channel audio test file from youtube, still not hearing the sub channel in action. Also tried a full HD video file and got the same result.

Okay, I will try few other files which specifically mention 5.1 or 7.1 audio. Windows roll back would be an extreme step. Will see what can be done with current setup.

Thanks for all the help.

I ran a 5.1 channel audio test file from youtube

There could be diffwerent reasons for that not working. I would test by using a dvd movie with a surround soundtrack.

Also tried a full HD video file and got the same result.

Did it has a surround soundtrack?

Sorry but can't think of anything else except to install Win7 and test using that OS, to rule out it just being a Win10 issue with your laptop.