Low sound issues w/ Realtek HD Audio (ALC889A)

So, first of all let me state that everything else is working great. Windows7 is truly a remarkable OS. The only thing that doesn't work as it should, is the sound. I'm using Logitech's X-530 5.1 system.

When compared to XP, the sound is just... Too low. I tried a couple of things, various driver versions, differently configured sound systems etc.

The problem doesn't seem to be in the Realtek CP though, as when I test the speakers there they work OK(a bit lower than in XP I think though), but work okay. In the Windows Sound Configuration Utilty they seem to work okay as well. But in programs like WMP, or Helium Music Manager, or Media Player Classic or KMPlayer, they are just too damn low. And even when I configure the programs to work according to the Realtek Audio device, then change to say 2.0 system, it doesn't work again.

I don't have any jack output problems as they work as they should, neither do I use full range speakers(they are off in both places, the Windows thingy and in Realtek).

But, I did update the BIOS of my motherboard last night to F8(the latest version); could this be the problem? The update went fine and succeded, I loaded Optimized defaults afterwards, and I used Q-Flash.

What else can I try? I saw that some of you say that 2.14 work okay, but I didn't find a proper download lnik for that... I am now using 2.31 that I downloaded from Gigabyte's site. I also tried the 2.35 but they didn't work either.

Can this be solved?

Download the driver from the realtek site for windows 7 that are still in Beta stage. It will fix your problem

Code:

http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=24&PFid=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false

Well, I went back to XP, but the sound isn't right again... The only thing I can think about what I changed was the BIOS. But, when I flashed it, everything worked okay, no error messages or anything similar to that. Can it be that the F8 update somehow messes up the onboard sound?

@ Notam - I'll probably make a dual-boot later so I will try the Beta thingy... It seemed pointless to try it since it's only for games and for Vista...

Notam said:

Download the driver from the realtek site for windows 7 that are still in Beta stage. It will fix your problem

Code:

http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=24&PFid=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false

This worked great! On my initial Win 7 install I was surprised to find that most everything was "plug and play". After I had the low sound issue I went ahead and installed my chipset drivers along with a few others from my mobo CD and I I heard no change in the audio. After searching for a bit I found this beta, and though it is not as loud as it was in XP (My ears couldn't handle maxing out the volume on my headset and system at the same time) it is so much better. I hope they make some adjustments to it, but I am glad to see it isn't on of the many things that R&D dropped.

Thanks for the link!

-Ode