Surface 2 Speaker/Sound Problems

Well this is true... 

Apple's single greatest achievement is not the iDeviceXXX, but the way they make their users feel that any fault, any crash, any bug, any problem, must surely be the user's fault. The OSX spinning circle triggers the thought "oh, what did I do?" but in Windows if there's a problem the user thinks "Oh, Windows has crashed again". In truth, when you consider the amount of hardware makers, component manufacturers, PC builders, Premium and Budget Brands, Desktop, Laptops, Netbooks, it truly is to Microsoft's credit that Windows will run on almost anything you could possibly get your hands on.

However...

The Surface, in all its incarnations, replicates the Apple Mac/Macbook model, of a small range of similarly specced devices to ensure software, hardware, drivers and firmware are rock solid and reliable. Here, the Surface fails and thus Microsoft fails. The Surface is Microsoft through and through and it's full of bugs, which sort of proves Apple right when it comes to their "it just works" catchphrase. I love my Surface 2, I really do, but every day i'm wondering whether one of the following might happen:

1 - Will it wake up or remain in the "Sleep of Death", forcing a hard reset?

2 - Will the audio drivers load properly or will my device be completely silent?

3 - Will my Mail App settings have reverted to a default that I did not create, meaning none of my accounts can sync and I have to remove them and re-add them?

4 - Will the touchscreen respond for the first 20 seconds after the device has booted?

5 - Will my audio pop, crackle and whistle, or will it be so quiet I have to angle my hands around the top corners of the device to hear anything?

6 - Will I have to perform a complete system reset because my most-used Apps are crashing?

7 - Will the Windows button simply stop responding when I use Facebook or Twitter, among others, forcing me to close the apps down and, probably, reboot the machine?

8 - Will I have to dig around the Control Panel to perform a workaround for a bug that hasn't been fixed 2 months after this device and 14 months after the Surface 1 was released?

9 - Will my touch cover put the device to sleep or not when I close it against the screen?

I do not believe these things happen with the iPad. It may not be as versatile a device, but it just works. I hate saying these words but they appear to be true. My personal opinion is that the original Surface should've launched with a slightly modded Windows Phone 8 OS, with more tiles on the screen. The Lumia 1520 is proof that it can work. WP8 has much better app support (though not 100% from devs) than Windows RT. However, the advantages of having a desktop cannot be underestimated so I understand why RT was created. When you boil it all down though, a thread like this simply should not exist because any beta tester with half decent hearing can tell you that it's too quiet and that the audio "enhancements" are awful, resulting in volume bursts and dips when you start playing a new song in XBox Music. Simply not good enough.

If ever a device needed to excel it's the Surface. Apple have all the media goodwill these days and will be routinely forgiven for pumping out endless tweaks masquerading as "innovations" in their annual updates for the iPhone and iPad. They don't do anything new any more, but other than when you have to upgrade your iOS version (when all **** can break loose!) their products generally just do the job. The Surface is more than capable of matching, even beating the iPad in terms of range of software and hardware, but when the basics aren't right it stands no chance and the press are right to say that Microsoft hasn't learned any lessons after the original Surface was released.

I'm probably going to have to send my Surface back and get it replaced because i've had enough of messing around; I want it to work or i'll find something else that does instead. I shouldn't be a beta-tester after spending £439, I should be paid £439 to list the bugs!

Apple users are stupid enough to believe they're holding their device the wrong way...and Apple will carry on dumbing down as long as Android remains as fragmented as it is (don't upgrade, your apps will stop working!) and Microsoft keep screwing up their new releases. If my replacement Surface has even one of the bugs listed above it's going on eBay and i'll have to look at one of the full Windows 8 tablets from Asus, Samsung, Lenovo or Toshiba...I trust my Windows Phone only because it's a Nokia device not a Microsoft device, a fact I am loathe to confess.

Early adopters are silent when happy and deafening when unhappy...and twice in a year they have been unhappy about the Surface and unhappy about Microsoft. We can mock Apple all we like...they replace faulty items instantly in-store where we have to do it via phone or online because there are no stores, and nobody in the world is sat down with their iPod right now wondering how to sort out a "sleep of death" or touchscreen response issue. It's just taken 36 seconds for my Surface to wake up (I've just tried it right now) and for the touchscreen to respond so I can type in my password. 36 seconds, and my Modern UI background picture has been replaced with a wall of grey...will have to reboot because now there's a message on the desktop about a shortage of available memory and the need to shut down some apps, even though nothing is running...

It's like Vista all over again only with greasy fingerprints instead of CPU spikes.

Well, the Apple devices usually do not have a problem because when they have it the CEO release an statement saying that they (the users) don't know how to hold the device and to avoid that user stupidity they (Apple) will send them a free skin case. 😉

Hi there, 

I have had the same problems and the only fixes i've been able to find involve doing the following:

1 - control panel

2 - sound

3 - ensure speakers are default device and select 'properties'

4 - go to the 'advanced' tab

5 - untick Hardware Acceleration and Signal Enhancments.

Plug in some headphones and repeat the process for them.

Headphone audio remains very loud (good!) but speaker volume is poor without the 'enhancements' which actually make the sound quality worse with what sounds like heavily over-compressed audio to boost the gain.

Speaker quality is the only thing i've noticed that's worse on the Surface 2 than Surface 1. I wish there was a control panel for these supposed Audio Enhancements so I could play around with them and try to retain some of the volume.

Also, has anyone noticed how if you have headphones in and switch apps while you have music playing, you lose volume control completely until you log out/reboot? That's just poor.

There needs to be a major Nvidia update for the audio and a major firmware update for the volume levels and the 'sleep of death'. I love the Surface, I really do, but it's bogged down by the kind of problems iPad owners don't suffer from (unless they do an O.S upgrade!) and this will scare off the users who just want to pick up a device and play...not have to bugfix.

Still think they should've ported the rock-solid Windows Phone 8 O.S onto a tablet and allowed a greater number of tiles on the screen...anyway, i'm ranting; hope the above tips help.

I've had my replacement almost a month now.  I'm happy to report sound is still excellent (to a non audiophile anyway) across media types.  Further, Bluetooth sound seem to be performing better.  I can now have an external speaker running and when I turn on the headset it auto connects and silences the external.  Conversely, turning off the headset auto resumes to the external speaker.  I had to fight it a month ago or so to go back and forth.  I am pleased beyond expectations  with my Surface 2 now.

My Surface 2 came originally with good sound, but soon showed the problem of low, tinny sound (driver dated nov 2013). I have got a replacement and that is ok. Driver is now dated aug 2013.

I've already got one MS software update since, but fortunately the sound driver is untouched and working fine.