Surface 2 Speaker/Sound Problems

Anonymous
2013-10-23T17:22:07+00:00

I just purchased two new Surface 2's and I am noticing a significant reduction in volume from the speakers compared to my old Surface RT.  The speakers also lack any kind of bass.  They are very "tinny" and shallow sounding.  When using headphones, there is plenty of bass sound and the volume level is not an issue.

I am also experienceing a significant amount of sound crackling (from the speakers and attached headphones) when streaming video from Amazon Instant Video using both the desktop and metro versions of IE.  I do not experience this crackling problem with other sound sources like Xbox music, gaming, or other website streaming video (i.e. YouTube).

Since I was experiencing this on two different Surface 2's, it seems unlikely that this is a hardware issue.  This is most likely a software/driver issue.  Is there anything that I can do to resolve this problem, other than wait for a possible software or firmware update?

Thanks.

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-02-08T02:52:19+00:00

    Omg! Today, I went to a Microsoft store and exchanged my surface (I was gonna do it online, but didn't have enough on the card for a hold) so, the guy took mine and the test one in the back where its quiet, and he was at first assuming I was wrong or something, maybe cuz I'm only 14, but he came back and said theres definitely something wrong. So we exchanged it, and the speakers are actually AUDIBLE, AND the buttons aren't as loose, and its loud before and after the updates, which I was really worried about installing, but had to bcuz it was unbelievably slow! So, everyone just exchange it, but try to go to an actual store if you are able, and test it first

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-01-28T07:42:56+00:00

    Yeah, the audio issue makes Amazon Prime Instant Video basically unmatchable.

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-01-23T10:13:49+00:00

    I'm only getting this problem with Amazon Prime... everything else works fine on Surface 2. Not sure what the problem is. Netflix, YouTube, and music all stream fine. Sometimes there's a burp in Spotify when the connection is rough, but that's pretty seldom. Prime is unbearably awful... no matter what video, after 45s to a minute there's persistent crackling.

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-01-21T10:44:53+00:00

    Seeing as nothing has been marked as answer I'm assuming MS still hasn't fixed this and its been over 3 months since release. This is getting pathetic. Its affecting listening to music, watching recorded videos, streaming videos, Skype calls and everything else that needs sound. MS please fix!!!

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  5. Anonymous
    2014-01-18T02:33:09+00:00

    I believe I might have found a solution. I had problems with audio crackling when using amazon prime or other streaming video surface on the internet. I utilized a warranty exchange, and received a new unit. After receiving the new unit I ran all the updates but still had the same problems with crackling during video playback. I attempted to adjust audio setting and roll back the audio drive, but nothing worked. Finally I attempted to adjust internet explorer. I went into desktop mode an opened IE. I opened the IE setting, went the advanced tab, and reset the IE settings to default. I restarted my surface, and low and behold I no longer had any crackling during streaming video playback. I'm not sure if this will solve everyone's problem but it's worth a shot.

    Let me know if it works.

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