alternatives to IDT audio control panel

[wudustan]

I'm running Win 7 HP x64 on a Dell Studio 1558 laptop.
The stock audio driver that comes with the system included with it IDT audio control panel / codec.
It was buggy as hell so I removed it and am now just running Win 7's own audio driver.

However, the sound quality suffers as the IDT control panel allowed for some settings to be adjusted in how sound is played particularly generating extra bass from the speakers and adjusting how the sound appears to be positioned.

I am looking for alternatives to this software.
I have already tried messing with various player programs' equalisers and also DFX audio enhancer, which seemed to make things worse.

Any help will be brilliant.

 

[fireberd]

I used to do a lot of support on the Dell forums. We found that the Dell sound driver was the best option - most of the time non-Dell drivers either do not work or do not work correctly. The Microsoft "HD Audio Codec" that you have is on the list of ones that do not work right in many cases.

I have RealTek on my new homebuilt PC and it too has a control panel. I use the RealTek for PC sound, but most of my audio is through my recording studio software (Sonar) and my recording interface devices to either studio headphones or studio monitor speakers.

 

[wudustan]

Thanks for the reply.

My main issue with IDT wad that every so often it would go through bouts of failed starts. Which would mean I'd have to disable and re-enable the device in Hardware Manager.

Is there a way around that? I believe I tried to do a reinstall in safe mode and after a while the problem persisted.

 

[fireberd]

The driver on the Dell site is a relatively old driver, but download that and install it and see if makes a difference. Installing in Safe Mode is not suggested for the sound driver. Dell only issues updates, in many cases, if there is a problem and the device is not working up to their published specs.

Use your service tag number to access the downloads www.support.dell.com

 

[wudustan]

Thanks I guess I'll go back to it. I'll keep an eye out but I doubt community fixes exist.

Cheers for the help
L