Poor Audio Quality Swift X SFX14-41G + Mic Issues. I've noticed considerable drop audio quality

AlexDev
AlexDev Member Posts: 10 New User
edited December 2023 in Swift and Spin Series

Hello. Recently, in the past month or so, I've noticed a considerable drop in audio quality on my Swift X laptop. My headphones are fine, since I get good audio quality when connected to my computer. I've tried reinstalling the realtek audio drivers, but the ones listen on acer's product page are the same version as i have on my model - and whenever I try to run the driver setup, it falls into a cycle of saying it has to delete the drivers and then reinstall them.

The only fix I have for the issue is very random, since the only thing I can do to get normal audio quality is to just restart my laptop until the sound quality is back. What's strange is that it's not an issue that turns on and off between restarts - sometimes it will switch from good to bad quality, but it mostly stays bad. I've turned off any audio enhancements and the issue is still persisting.

[Edited the thread to add issue detail]

Answers

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,219 Trailblazer

    Is there any chance you have an app installed that is mucking with sound settings?

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • AlexDev
    AlexDev Member Posts: 10 New User

    As far as I'm aware, no. Additionally, I've disabled settings that allow applications to take control of the device.

  • Joe9844
    Joe9844 Member Posts: 578 Seasoned Specialist WiFi Icon

    Windows 11 sound problems are mostly related to AI noise cancellation.

    They are not in the usual places so 99% of people can't find them. They are either in acer purified voice console app or true harmony.

  • AlexDev
    AlexDev Member Posts: 10 New User

    True harmony nor acer purified console app are on my laptop.

  • AlexDev
    AlexDev Member Posts: 10 New User

    I'm going to try and do another wipe and reinstall of the drivers tommorow and see if I find anything new. The audio's still quite weird though since I did it today, since the RPC service isn't detected (i.e. no realtek audio consle) but all of the drivers remain. That just seems liek a faulty driver installation though - the audio still jumped around in quality with the console.

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,219 Trailblazer

    Make sure you install both the Audio and Audio Console driver packages.

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • AlexDev
    AlexDev Member Posts: 10 New User

    On trying to reinstall again, I tried reinstalling the drivers but recieved a -0001 error ("drivers not supported on this device") even though I sourced them from the product page. (This is different from the usual routine, where it "uninstalls" than asks to restart, but on restart the drivers are suddenly back.) The RPC error seems to be from the realtek "service" no longer being on my machine - starting the service gives the following:

    image.png

    There is a realtek folder in my programs x86 folder, and I think i found the service:

    image.png

    In the folder win64>realtek>realtek_588

    so I'm not sure why everything is going so… wonky. I tried reinstalling the audio console using the product page's drivers, which simply gave me UWP error 740, so I uninstaleld and reinstalled via the windows store which still gave me the RPC error.

  • Puraw
    Puraw ACE, Member Posts: 13,381 Trailblazer
    edited December 2023
    https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1248197#Comment_1248197

    Uninstall all RTK audio drivers including RTK Audio console in Safe Mode with DDU: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000091878/graphics.html DDU can be used to uninstall Display and RTK audio drivers and is also W11 compatible, make sure internet is working and just reboot after the uninstalling, Windows11 will reinstall the correct drivers for your speakers. Install Realtek Audio Control from the Windows Store not from Acer Support, you need RTK Audio Console to change the speakers setting (True Harmony) from Music to Movie (better sound volume).

    Tip: Enable Sound Enhancement in Windows11 Sound settings.

  • AlexDev
    AlexDev Member Posts: 10 New User

    I tried uninstalling with DDU, but on restart they came back. I tried uninstalling with DDU without restart, and though they were gone for a second, they came back, so then I tried manually doing it via device manager and restarting. I did notice two differences so far:

    The realtek service is showing as running, although the app (installed via windows store) still gives the RPC error (I tried both repair and reset).

    It does succesfully use the on-board microphone, but still detects my headset as headphones (something I would have previously been able to try telling realtek to detect as a headset via the console.)

    I haven't used it long enough since this change to be able to tell any jumping around in audio quality however.

  • Puraw
    Puraw ACE, Member Posts: 13,381 Trailblazer
    https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1248398#Comment_1248398

    If you still have audio issues, restore your system to 7 weeks or so ago, before the November 9 Windows update. Type Restore in Services and click on "Create a restore point" and at the top "System restore", select a date before November 9.

  • AlexDev
    AlexDev Member Posts: 10 New User

    Why the november 9 update, if I may ask?

  • AlexDev
    AlexDev Member Posts: 10 New User

    More specifically, you can't create a system restore point in the past, as a system restore point is specific to your system's current state. Are you trying to suggest that I rollback to a windows update before Nov 9?

    *Note - By this point I'm pretty sure that this is a realtek issue with my audio, as I had the chance to test it on a desktop only using windows HD audio drivers and the quality + microphone detection were completely fine

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