Realtek HD & X-Fi MB

[Erieg]

I just purchased a Dell Studio XPS 435 which came with Vista Home Premium x64. As soon as I made sure that all was running correctly I promptly stripped Vista off and loaded Win 7 x64.

The computer came with a piece of software called "SoundBlaster X-Fi MB" which works with the on-board sound drivers to emulate a low end X-Fi card. This worked great under Vista and not so great under Win 7.

I have down loaded the Win 7 Realtek HD audio drives but when I go to install the SB software it tells me that the audio device is not present.

Has anyone ever had experience with this software? Yes, I know I should just buy a sound card but I just don't have the money and I can't really see any reason why this will not work under W7 x64 when it worked under Vista 64... but then again I can be dense at times .

 

[stormy13]

Till Dell gets the updated version from Creative (and no you can't/won't be able get it from Creative yourself), give this a try,

Daniel_K: SB X-Fi MB for Windows 7, Vista and XP and proper Realtek HD Audio driver

use the license key that came with the version you got with your laptop.

 

[zion]

@Erieg...
I have a DELL Studio 1555 laptop that came with Creative X-FI MB CD and I can't seem to find any new drivers for Win 7. The drivers installed by Win 7 seem to work just fine.
I have th IDT audio codec.

 

[weastlak]

Yes, I own a 1555 and the Default win 7 drivers work for this device.. However I can notice that my music doesn't sound the same as it did on Vista with the Creative X-FI MB drivers. I didn't receive the disk.. interesting enough. I'm trying the downloads on these forums to see if anything gives me back that high quality sound again..

 

[Kumar Gaurav]

@erieg , I ve upgraded my os from vista home 64bit to windows 7 64bit !! and i m facing the same problem now
Wt have u done to resove your problem ?? Pls do tell me, even i ve called customer care many times but they have also got no clue to this !!
"the audio device supported by this application cannot be detected. you need to close the application"
what to do ?
i m downloading the link given by stormy13.. hope it works !!

 

[wildwestgoh]

Hi, I have download and installed the Sound Blaster X-Fi MB that stormy13 posted.
The program installed ok, but not able to launch because the program is unable to find a proper audio device, is this windows 7 fault or creative?
But when I install the included IDT audio drivers the "High Definition audio device" changed to "IDT High Definition audio CODEC", I was like... what's happening...??!!!
The creative software does work correctly under Windows Vista previously (It came with my laptop)

Btw, my laptop is Dell Studio 1555, I specifically ordered Sound Blaster X-Fi MB as my audio solution, is this not supported under Windows 7 yet?
Although I still able to get the sounds to work but without X-Fi software it sounds crap.

 

[weastlak]

To wildwestgoh:

Even though I haven't yet solved the problem, I do have the exact same laptop with the X-Fi soundcard. Interesting enough I can't find the words creative in any system settings.. Dxdiag, or Device manager. Any thoughts?

Some food for thought. There are two different driver sets I seemed to use. Windows 7 ones, and the IDT drivers from dells website. If you have the IDT drivers you'll notice you have some enhancements (even though they are not great) Control Panel -> IDT Audio Control Panel. -> premium Sound -> enabled. Also if you have Winamp installed, enabled the winamp equalizer helps alot. This is only way for now I can see to get around the complete crap sound. (at least for now)

Thanks everyone for responding. If anyone has any knowledge on the problem, please let me know. Thanks

 

[Kumar Gaurav]

Problem solved

Just download the driver for "CREATIVE-LABS_SOUND-BLASTER-_A00_R213242" .and change its properties (compatibility).

ok, i ll tell step by step :

1) download the attached file, it is the above mentioned driver.

2) after downloading just right click on it , goto properties .
Then select "COMPATIBILITY". then check on "run this programm in compatibility mode for" and then select "windows vista service pack 2". apply it .

3) Run/install that driver and just follow the steps.

4) All done . it will work for sure

for more info check oout this link http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/316-compatibility-mode.html

 

[wildwestgoh]

Tested, not working, nothing happen.

Dell Studio 1555
Windows 7 32-bit (clean install)
Is that just an upgrade application?

Update:
Attached is a screenshot of the installer window before it disappear.
It just disappear without any error.
I did adjust the compatibility to Windows Vista (Service pack 2).
Also ran the setup program using administrative rights.

 

[Kumar Gaurav]

OK i ll look into the matter . will tell u in next reply.
btw, that attachement is the driver for sound blaster xfi mb

 

[Kumar Gaurav]

@ wildwestgoh,

See, the problem occurs when u do a clean install !!
when i did a clean installation, then also i faced the same problem as i was facing before !!

So, i ve a long process, and it will work. I tried it on my studio 1555, and it did worked .
i had VISTA 64 before, i installed win 7 64 (clean install) since then i was facing problem with my sound blaster X-fi mb !!
so i installed VISTA 64 again, and installed required driivers and softwares INCLUDING SOUND BLASTER X-FI MB (which works absolutely fine in vista ).

Then i UPGRADED (not custom install) to WIN 7 64. and then i called up dell . They accessed my pc via remote access and they did the same thing which i ve written in my last reply ! and then it worked !

so its a long shot, as it took a looooooooooong time as u ve to install operating system twice , but it will work in the end.

pls ask if u ve any doubts .

 

[wildwestgoh]

Dell Studio 1555 X-Fi MB is just software

Ok, after reading through many articles that I googled, found bad news and also good news as well.

First, Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi MB is just a software, I repeat, just a SOFTWARE.
YES! It's not hardware base, and the hardware is IDT Audio.

Second, after you installed the IDT, go ahead and install the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi MB, yes, just like that and the software will pick up the hardware and you can start using the X-Fi "software" sound solution, LOL... sounded so cheap, no wonder the add-in was $0 feel like cheated

But after I installed the IDT sound driver, whenever I change volume or the IDT equalizer, the sound will appear distorted, I think I can still live with that.

And oh, for my case the stormy13's X-Fi MB software license does not match the license key that I have for my Dell Studio so... I use back the original software provided by Dell.

 

[stormy13]

And oh, for my case the stormy13's X-Fi MB software license does not match the license key that I have for my Dell Studio so... I use back the original software provided by Dell.

Which is exactly why I said this,

Till Dell gets the updated version from Creative (and no you can't/won't be able get it from Creative yourself), give this a try,

Daniel_K: SB X-Fi MB for Windows 7, Vista and XP and proper Realtek HD Audio driver

use the license key that came with the version you got with your laptop.

 

[wildwestgoh]

stormy13, sorry if I'm confusing you, because I can't activate the software that you provided with the keys that I have for my X-Fi MB, weird but it says the product key is not intended for the software that I got from your link.
Right now I can use back the software that came with my laptop, but still a bit disappointed, LOL.. it is not a true X-Fi afterall.

Looking forward an update from IDT to solve the volume change distortion instead (from Dell of course).

Update:
Has anyone face this problem? Sound appear distorted (sort of lagging) when changing volume, IDT/X-Fi's equalizer.
Or should this be another topic to discuss? Let me know.

 

[stormy13]

Try the solutions here,

Sound Blaster X-Fi MB in Windows 7? - DELL COMMUNITY

and I also found this,

Free Upgrade to Integrated CREATIVE Sound Blaster X-Fi MB Audio Software Solution | Dell Australia

Offer ends 26/11/2009

It is from Dell Australia and no idea how to get it from Dell, but it does look like they have an updated version.

 

[wildwestgoh]

Try the solutions here,

Sound Blaster X-Fi MB in Windows 7? - DELL COMMUNITY

and I also found this,

Free Upgrade to Integrated CREATIVE Sound Blaster X-Fi MB Audio Software Solution | Dell Australia

Offer ends 26/11/2009

It is from Dell Australia and no idea how to get it from Dell, but it does look like they have an updated version.

Oh I think I didn't mention that I already has the X-Fi MB that came with my laptop (previously Windows Vista) that run fine currently with my Windows 7, yeah you might had find it strange that the keys does not work on the software that you linked. Not same version??