Acer W4 16bit 48k output limit in sound options? Please tell me I can change it.

swanlee
swanlee Member Posts: 33 Troubleshooter

So I finally got my w4 and somfar so good accept for this issue. in the sound options in windows the sound output options are greyed out and only show 16bit 48k as the output resolution. in the specs on amazon it said it was capable of high resolution audio.

 

My surface pro has options all the way to 24bit 192k.

 

before anyone ask yes this is a big deal to me. I bought the w4 to be my portable music player and I also have aloy of lossless 24bit 96k audio.

 

So is this a hardware limitation are just a software bug?

Answers

  • swanlee
    swanlee Member Posts: 33 Troubleshooter

    Also just to be clear I need at least 24bit 96k output for headphones, obviosuly the built in speakers are not going to benefit from higher resolution audio.

     

    Does anyone elses sound option allow them tomgo above 16bit 48k?

  • swanlee
    swanlee Member Posts: 33 Troubleshooter

    Anyone know of a driver that can correct this or know if this is a hardware limitation?

  • swanlee
    swanlee Member Posts: 33 Troubleshooter

    I contacted acer chat and they confirmed the soundcard in the W4 is the following

     

    Realtek ALC5642, which will have the resolution Two 24bit /8kHz~192kHz I2-S/PCM.
    Subin: The sampling rate is 48 khz, up to 192Khz resolution VSR (Variable Sampling rate).

     

    So this is good news onthe hardware side

     

    However they had me update my driver packeg and firmware and Win 8.1 is still locked at 16bit 48K and is greyed out.

     

    Wondering if I can install generic relatke drivers to fix it?

     

    They said to contact level 2 support when they are open monday.

     

    Either the Acer firmware drivers lock it down for some dumb reason or it is greyed out cause it is variable? Thst last part is just a guess, I've never seen a modern windows pc of any type that did not allow you to adjsut the resolultion and bit rate.

  • swanlee
    swanlee Member Posts: 33 Troubleshooter

    So this ordeal continues

     

    Leve 2 support was useless, they bascially said this is not within their support parameters and tough luck go away. I told them screw that level 1 says the hardware supports 24bit 96K but for some reason the acer/intel drivers or Acer firmware is not allowing windows to select any option in the sound properties and the option is gretyed out and stuck in 16bit 48K.

     

    I told them it was not acceptable and asked them to transfer the ticket to the system engineers whihc they did. So 2 days later and still not update on the ticket.

     

    I'm going to stand firm on this of the hardware support 24BIT 96K whihc it does then windows should allow me to choose that as the sound output option.

  • Phil-3
    Phil-3 Member Posts: 1,181 Seasoned Practitioner WiFi Icon

    In order to avoid board clutter and confusion, we ask that you please refrain from cross and double posting.

    Please check here for responses to your inquiry. Thank you.

     

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