Latest Realtek HD Audio Driver Version

Is there any reason why I should install this driver if everything seem to work out of the box after a fresh Win7 install anyway?

Dwarf said:

The driver included with W7 only provides basic functionality, and does not allow you to configure/enable the front panel audio sockets. In addition, the Realtek driver also includes an equalizer.

But there's no difference in audio quality though?

Canti said:

Dwarf said:

The driver included with W7 only provides basic functionality, and does not allow you to configure/enable the front panel audio sockets. In addition, the Realtek driver also includes an equalizer.

But there's no difference in audio quality though?

The fact that the Realtek HD Audio Manager includes a user-customizable 10-band EQ makes a HUGE difference in audio quality, assuming you have good speakers.

Does the driver run without the program located in systray? can I disable it?

Canti said:

Does the driver run without the program located in systray? can I disable it?

I'm not entirely sure but I would think that yes, the driver should run entirely by itself, having nothing directly to do with the HD Audio Manager object which is what is running in the System Tray in support of Realtek HD Audio and the driver.

But without HD Audio Manager object in the System Tray you will not be able to take advantage of any of the setup configuration and customizations supported by the driver (e.g. multi-speaker setup, using an EQ of either Realtek-provided "effects" preset or one of your own design, etc.), so I can't even imagine why you wouldn't want it available. Certainly right after driver installation you would want it for initial sound setup.

Anyway, that HD Audio Manager object in the System Tray is auto-started at Windows boot by virtue of the Registry entry which corresponds to the item which appears in MSCONFIG -> Startup tab"



Presumably you can un-check that item if you want, but my own recommendation would be to NOT un-check it. You can instead "hide" it as an icon, using the "customize notifications" properties for the System Tray. That way it's still running, can still be accessed (through a view of the "hidden" icons), and thus it just is not visible unless you really want to see it and use it.

But personally I cannot see any real rationalization for inhibiting it and all of its related functionality.

Canti said:

Does the driver run without the program located in systray? can I disable it?

If you mean the orange ''loudspeaker'', and the issue you have with it is esthetic, than you can open Realtek HD Manager, click the letter 'i' in the lower right corner, and uncheck the 'Display icon in notification area' option.

good day guys, i have a packard bell laptop model mh35-u-57 that has an alc268 audio chip, it originally came with vista, and i cant seem to find a GOOD realtek driver that wont do crack sounds everytime something has to sound, of course the manufacturer didnt bother updating the drivers so im stuck with a win7 with crackling sounds i ran the program that showed always yellow and red bars of latency. Which is the version for the alc268 that will stop this, latest version didnt work.