Acer Aspire 5 Laptop A514-54G - Sound/volume level very quiet

Ford_Prefect

AcerSoundDriver.jpg

I bought an Acer Aspire 5 Laptop A514-54G back in October 2022. It is running a Windows 11 Pro 22H2 OS
I have noticed on most videos, speech and music the sound level is very quiet and absolute rubbish even if the volume is set at 100%
It would not be possible to set the volume level to less than 100% because any sound would not be able to be heard.
I have looked and the audio settings within device manager and the audio is using a Realtek Semiconductor Corp driver version 6.0.9427.
I have looked on the Realtek website but unable to find a driver later than this.
I have also gone into Settings, System, Sound, Volume Mixer to make sure the Volume and System sounds are at 100% and also pressed the Reset button under 'Reset sound devices and volumes for all apps to the recommended defaults' but no improvement to the sound level.
I have already sent this laptop to get repaired because the battery was not ever reaching 100% only up to 80%. The repair agent changed the battery and I asked them about the sound level. they said it is not possible to increase the sound level. How is it possible to enable the volume to be increased? It seems that this is a very common problem.
Who is responsible for updating the device drivers..is it Acer's responsibility to contact Realtek?

I am never going to buy another Acer laptop ever again and would not recommend one to anyone.

Puraw

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/681991/acer-aspire-5-laptop-a514-54g-sound-volume-level-very-quiet

Your low volume audio speaker output is because of the low-end Realtek ALC255 audio chip used in Aspire3-5 laptops, like CPU's; there are budget, low-end, and expensive high-end processors, “you get what you pay for” also counts when purchasing laptops. The matter of the 5 months old battery that failed can happen to anyone, I had to replace mine after 3 years (dead cell), it depends on the number of charge cycles (500-1,000) and draining/forcing a battery below the 5% charge threshold (this will damage a LIB). A new battery costs around $40 (no big deal), sometimes a wrong model (not compatible) battery is installed by the vendor.

I recommend that you use a good headset or external speakers, either wired (audio jack) or BT, sound will be great as loud as you want as Microsoft drivers will control the audio jack and Intel the BT (not Realtek). Charge your new battery between 20-80% but leaving it charged at 100% does not affect a LIB, that way you should get 5 years out of it, never let it drain to 0%, set your Power Plan to Balanced with Low level alerts at 20% and hibernate (shut down) before 10% charge left. The Aspire5 series laptops are rated by the tech media as one of the most reliable and best value for money laptops😉.

Joe9844

You can update your realtek driver by following this tutorial (use realtek 22h2 media as search term) to get 6.0.9472.1 driver and also the realtek software components. Then run microsoft store to pull the new realtek audio console app. Your volume will probably not improved.

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/588107/realtek-audio-problems-or-want-new-realtek-audio-drivers-follow-this-predator-pt917-71

You also should update your graphics card driver from intel/amd/nvidia's website as they have the HDMI audio driver which may interfere with your realtek audio stuff.

Laptops got thinner and smaller, so speakers get smaller —- that's why it's quieter.

Old “cheap” realtek ALC662 chip outputs at 1.4v RMS.

Newer more expensive realtek ALC1150 chip outputs at 1.15v RMS. Lower voltage means lower power to the speakers. So Puraw's theory is wrong.

Ford_Prefect

I have written an email to Realtek saying..

“I have since learnt that the Acer laptop uses the low-end Realtek audio chip – So basically it's a rubbish little chip that should never had been developed!! Does Realtek have an updated audio driver later than version 6.0.9427 and for this Realtek chip?”

I hope they will reply.
I personally do not understand why they produce such rubbish audio chips that ultimatley degrade computers and make the laptops less desirable. I've only had the laptop for 5 months and now I'm thinking of selling it and buying a decent laptop (not Acer).