Windows 10: Audio louder than usual until volume is changed

OK, Andrei, so I uninstalled my Realtek audio driver again, rebooted, then clicked on your zip file, which downloaded, then apparently unzipped itself, because it nothing ended up in my Download folder, and I do have audio, but it's low quality (no MaxxAudio), I don't see an AudioWizard, and I have a folder hierarchy in Explorer under Drivers>Audio>75R6V>Vista64, which I assume is the unzipped version of what you sent me. Various .exe files exist in the Vista64 folder along with lots of .dll and .inf files. The .exe files don't seem to execute when I click on them, I see no setup.exe. The Vista64 folder DOES have MaxxAudio .dll files, but the Control Panel no longer shows MaxxAudio, so something went wrong. The audio quality is crappy. On the bight side, the volume spikes are gone, I can't force one to occur, and my Sound Lock utility is turned off. So we're getting close. But I want that MaxxAudio great quality. Any suggestions?

 

Uninstall any audio drivers and restart the computer. Then try to install the Reatek driver again. The MaxxAudio should be a Dell component, so not sure if it is installaed with the generic Realtek driver. You may have to install a Dell specific driver. I don't have a Dell computer, so I cannot tell.

 

Ok! Then let's try one of the OEM drivers. I don't know which model of XPS 27 you have, so it is up to you to choose from one of the following links: here, if you have the Dell XPS 27 2720 version or here if you have the Dell XPS 27 2710 version. Remember to uninstall the previous driver and reboot. Tell us what are the results!

No, MaxxAudio is also included in the generic Realtek driver and gets installed if the hardware supports it. However, OEMs usually customise this piece of software by changing its interface and adding new features, as you know. In my case, Asus didn't customise the driver for my laptop, so the latest generic driver worked well.

 

Hi Andrei, I will try your link for my Dell XPS 27 2720 OEM driver today ... but when you say to uninstall the previous driver: My Control Panel says the driver being used now is Windows manufactured and signed, ID'd as 6.3.9600.16384 from the year 2013. So it appears the zip file I downloaded from you never executed. The Realtek HD audio driver I had originally was uninstalled by me from Control Panel, but the current Windows audio driver doesn't appear there, so I don't know how to, or if I should, uninstall that. Also: can or should I delete the Vista64 folders and files created from your zip file?

Thanks for hanging with me. I think we're getting close.
-- With the Sound Lock utility, the volume spikes were stopped a split second after they were triggered.
-- With the Windows audio driver I'm now using, no volume spikes occur at all, but the loss of MaxxAudio leaves me with poor audio quality.

 

The driver should be listed in Programs and features as Realtek HD audio driver or similar. In worst case, just try to install the new driver on top. It will detect present driver and suggest to uninstall it, select yes and proceed.

 

Thanks, spapakons. The Realtek HD audio driver did indeed show among the Programs originally, but I deleted that, and now the Windows audio driver is in control. I'll try reinstalling the Dell version of the Realtek driver later today (and uninstall the Windows driver if so prompted), but since that's what I had when I started, I suspect the audio spikes will return. However, I do think we're close to solving this.

 

OK! I now have full-quality audio and have not been able to reproduce volume spikes on iTunes or YouTube. So it looks like a good fix. Don't want to use too many CAPS and !! because I thought I was here before yet still had issues, but for now, it sounds very good. All I did was download and install the Realtek HD audio driver for my Dell 2720 from the link in your post, Andrei. As far as I can tell, that's the same driver I had originally, so something must have broken, and the reinstall fixed it. So Thanks!

I also deleted all the folders with the Vista64 audio driver files I unzipped from your link. I doubt that it ever installed, but don't want to take a chance with a conflict. Also, after I installed the RealTek audio driver and rebooted, I got a flag from Windows saying my antivirus program had been turned off. So I just turned that back on. I've seen that happen before, don't know why, always wonder if I'm being hacked.

Anyway, thanks again for everybody's patience and help, I think I've got a good fix, but if anything changes, I'll post again. Hope I can help others out in the future as you've helped me.

 

No problem! I'm glad that that you finally solved your problem. This shouldn't happen again, but you have to be sure that you will not overwrite the current driver with Windows Updates. To do this, just follow this simple guide here. For a better understanding of what this guide does: it disables the automatic driver installation that Windows executed through Windows Updates, which, if not disabled, will update you audio, video, etc. drivers to the last version provided by Microsoft. Have a good day!

 

Good tip. I have changed those Windows update settings. And one Day Two, my audio still sounds great, and I still cannot trigger a volume spike in iTunes, YouTube or even the Windows email bong. All is well!

 

I have also been getting this audio problem since I upgraded to Windows 10. I noticed another tab under Sound in the control panel called Communications:




I tried setting it to "Do nothing" as you can see here and rebooted the PC and started Spotify backup again, which is where I've been noticing this problem, and the sound worked the way it should. This probably needs more testing. Does this solve the problem, or does it just help under limited conditions?

 

Never mind. That didn't help. Tried it again today and had to manipulate the volume to get the volume to a normal level. Just hoping.

 

Yes, this setting works when you have a phone or Skype call. It shouldn't help in your case. Another poster solved it buy uninstalling the audio drivers, restarting and reinstalling latest audio drivers. Also hide the relevant updates so they won't get replaced by Windows Update.

 

Yes, I also clicked that "Do Nothing" box and thought I had solved the issue for a day or two. But the audio spikes came back. After weeks of trying various complicated suggestions, the Final Solution was elegantly simple:
1. Uninstall your audio driver (in my case, it was a Realtek driver)
2. Reboot computer
3. Download and install the latest version of the audio driver for your computer (in my case, it was a Realtek that seemed to be the same version I had deleted; I downloaded it from a link posted by someone in this Forum, Andrei9696. Spapakons and Andrei are very helpful).
4. Reboot again (just to be sure).

And I have not had a single volume spike since!

 

Don't forget the most important part: Hide any driver updates to prevent Windows Update replacing the driver again!

 

Yes, right! I did that as well.