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
    2013-12-11T01:12:19+00:00

    The sound is not loud enough.  Simple as that.  It is not even half as loud as the original Surface.  YouTube videos are barely audible even at full volume.  I never use headphones.

    Could you check the sound driver version and if you have the sound enhancements enabled?

    I do not have this issue.

    Thanks.  My driver version is 9.17.13.2774, dated 11/26/2013.  I'm wondering if I try to return it under warranty.  But from what I have read, people seem to still have the problem on the replacement device as well.  I'm losing optimism  that a driver fix is coming. 

    Did you check the enhancements check box? It should be enabled.

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-12-11T04:50:12+00:00

    No improvement here. I still have degraded flash performance - sound (and to some extent video) stutters and crackles.

    Also, any sound played above 80% through the speakers still distorts, I imagine it's just pushing the internal speakers too hard - recall the 'sneak' fix where enhancements were disabled effectively reducing the volume below the overdrive threshold.

    I'm testing with two Surface 2s side by side, identical problems.

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-12-11T13:25:11+00:00

    Same thing here. Hulu and movies still crackle at full volume (aka when watch with a friend). Still need to test more but I don't think there was an improvement to the sound crackle when listening past 85% volume.

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-12-12T14:43:04+00:00

    I have compared my surface 2 and my mother's surface rt and at the same volume her surface sounds way better. I hope they fix it

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  5. Anonymous
    2013-12-15T22:23:56+00:00

    Finally I exchanged my surface 2 with a new one. The sound is much much better. Therefore I think this is a HW issue. As example with my old surface 2 the left speaker was much quieter than the right one. No I am happy!

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