Audio randomly jumps between normal volume and low volume

[muminki778156c02e5]

here are newer MSI Realtek audio drivers that came out in December 2021:

6.0.9275.1
6.0.9272.1

choose one of them, install and reboot.

Hi, thanks for that, but in my case didn't change anything for better. Still quiet speakers, volume 100% sounds like 50%, going to one speaker sometimes.
Shame MSI. Regards.

 

[sabautatarda150f02d5]

Hi guys!
So I used the 6.0.9275.1 driver just now and the sound on my laptop (GP66 Leopard 10UG) was amazingly loud. Then I plugged in my headphones to play some games and when I unplugged them, the speaker volume turned to low again and even lower on the left speaker.
Here's something interesting: I played with the taskbar volume really fast with my mouse while listening to a song and noticed that it can go loud again for a fraction of a second while sliding it really fast, but turns down again immediately.

 

[terieme14c202c8]

On my GE66 2021 model, Driver Genius (Driver update program) just came up with:

Realtek High Definition Audio Drivers (MSI)
- 6.09279.1

I haven't tried it yet, since v2.82 just works like a charm. But if anyone else tries it, please report how it works ;-)

 

[stdstringclas153b02d3]

It has not fixed the problem for me. The laptop needs to be changed in my case. I have updated firmware, drivers, no effect.

 

[terieme14c202c8]

Hmmm

V2.82 linked to in an earlier post always works like a charm. Admittedly I don't see any reason to upgrade from that (anymore).

 

[stdstringclas153b02d3]

In my opinion, this hardware problem, not software.

 

[stdstringclas153b02d3]

Technically saying, it's NOT the problem with random volume - only the problem with random turning off and on speakers (seems like laptop has them few), what gives you an illusion increasing and decreasing the volume level.

Moreover, right speaker growls every now and again (quietly), so it is definitely the mistake of MSI Quality Control and low quality of using materials. Apple M1 Pro Max is free from such banal drawbacks.

 

[yarossh15b902e6]

i have gs66se and using drivers for rtx 30 series laptop (gs66ue) seems to have fixed the problem.
I'm not sure if sound enchancements are as good as with the orginal drivers, but it sounds better than v2.82 to me.
In my case i used 6.0.9079.1 instead of 6.0.8907.1

 

[terieme14c202c8]

Just updated to v6.0.9292.1 (via DriverGenius).

Also updated was;
- RealTek hardware Supp.,
- RealTek Audio Eff. Comp.,
- RealTek Audio Uni. Serial Drivers.

Will report results...

Edit: All drivers marked 2022 versions

 

[terieme14c202c8]

UNREAL C:R:A...!!!!

New driver NOT working!!! Reverting to v2.82

COME ON MSI...!!!

 

[dvdori14e602cc]

Switching to version 2.82 worked for me for a while. But not long ago, my computer did some sort of auto update that broke the Nahimic control panel. Ever since I updated drivers to fix the problem, the volume issue has returned. I have tried reverting to 2.82 but for me that broke my sound entirely and it took hours to fix. Even the drivers through MSI didn't work and I had to download a Realtek driver direct from Intel to get my sound back.

After that, I decided to go full scorched earth and update every single thing possible. Reinstalled Windows and upgraded to Windows 11, updated all possible drivers included updating all BIOS and EC, performed EC reset.

At this point, not only am I experiencing the volume issue, but now the equalizer in Nahimic has zero affect on sound anymore. This issue cropped up before I even reinstalled Windows and updated to Windows 11, and the issue has carried over.

If I didn't mention earlier, I have a GE66 Raider, so this isn't even relegated to the GS models alone. This seems to be a pretty widespread flaw, whether software or hardware. And MSI doesn't seem to have any clue how to fix it, given they've held one of our computers for 6 weeks only to return the computer with new motherboard and speakers, and experiencing the same problem. That pretty much proves there's either a defect in the design or manufacture of these computers, or there's a software problem that needs to be patched. Either way, MSI has had well over a year now to resolve the problem and hasn't. Meanwhile, people are no doubt starting to have their warranties expire and I'm sure MSI is starting to tell them they're out of luck.

Personally, if they don't resolve this issue for me, I'm taking them to small claims court for some kind of compensation. That is unless MSI is willing to offer some substantial compensation themselves, but I won't kid myself with that possibility.

Just to illustrate for anyone how bad this problem is, my Pixel 5 has obviously louder and clearer sound than this $2,500 laptop. I've tried playing the same video or song on both, and the difference is night and day.

 

[jtrevor9158302e0]

Two unsuccessful RMAs and an expired warranty later, and I'm still experiencing the problem. MSI informs me I'm out of luck: they let the warranty run out without fixing this, despite my clear documentation the problem existed beforehand. No surprise, especially given how I was treated last time I called about it: I was "informed" I had never tried their troubleshooting steps (I have - 6 or 7 times), that only I am experiencing the problem (despite the existence of this and related threads, which I pointed them to), and that I had installed an operating system other than Windows so they didn't need to support me anymore (which was an outright lie - I was still on Windows 10). The best part - when I asked to speak to a manager: "What luck, I AM a manager. So you don't need to speak to anyone else."

On a related note, I managed to capture both issues (random static/popping from left speaker, and right speaker randomly changing volume without being told to) on video. Can't upload it here though.

 

[sabautatarda150f02d5]

Hello guys! I think I solved the speaker problem on my GP66 Leopard 10UG. After staying on Realtek 2.82 for a while I got annoyed that the volume didn't switch when I plugged my headphones in, so I decided to give it another go with newer drivers.
I used the following drivers from the official support page listed in the Utility section oddly ( MSI Global - The Leading Brand in High-end Gaming & Professional Creation ):
- Realtek 6.0.9289.1
- Nahimic Driver (although I have a 10th gen CPU, only APO4 worked)
- Nahimic Windows App
- Intel Smart Sound Technology driver (don't think this one is too relevant)
Sound was still bad with pops and volume changes, till I went back to the Utility section that pointed me to download Realtek Audio Control from Microsoft Store. Now it's sounding quite good and haven't had any issues all day. I think Realtek Audio Control is an important part of the driver or package, as it lists all audio enhancements as Nahimic and has MSI branding.
I'll keep you posted.

EDIT: In Realtek Audio Console you need to keep the sample rate at 48000Hz for the laptop speakers (bit rate makes no difference). If you go higher, the speakers lose volume. Thank goodness you can adjust this setting separately for the audio jack. Still no volume change or other problems, still hard for me to believe but I think it's fixed. I will get "Don't buy from MSI again" tattooed somewhere in case I hit my head and get amnesia. The necessity of installing five different things to get your audio to work is unacceptable.

EDIT 2: This is my third day with these drivers and the audio has no problems. Of course this laptop has some extremely low quality integrated speakers that cannot push too much volume, don't have any bass and very poor mid range. My wife's Dell XPS, which is half the size, blows my MSI out of the water. Sound is boosted by Nahimic artificially and it's far from natural to my ears. Some MSI engineers are highly incompetent and the brand doesn't care about it's customers. We all have expensive MSI laptops in this thread and expected more.

Here's a screenshot guys:

 

[sabautatarda150f02d5]

After a week, the sound is still ok. Enough volume, no speaker turning off, no popping. With the drivers above. Hope it will work for you too.

 

[sabautatarda150f02d5]

Nah, all audio suddenly shifted to the left speaker with random spikes and dips while playing Mafia: Definitive Edition. I hoped I had it fixed. Don't mind my post above .
Never buying MSI again.

 

[steeve.alusso151102d8]

So ... Joining the group of "got damnit MSI" - surprise I have this issue too, Going through ALL possible threads/Internet/etc. I could not get rid of this volume lowering on my GE66 from 05/2021. However - and finally - I think I have foudn a way. At least I have made it work twice. Had to do it again after a driver update. So be careful with that!

Here's what I did:
1. Download Realtek v2.82 HD audio driver from their website. You can find it HERE. Note it also available other places if DL is slow. Just get Realtek v2.82 clean!
2. Go into device manager > Sound, video and gaming controls > and completely delete and remover driver for "Realtek (R) Audio".
3. Run the downloaded file. This will remove and install the Realtek driver. Once your laptop asks to reboot - reboot.
4. And then VIOLA! This is it for me. My sound now works uninterupted. Same volume ALL time #halleluja!
5. Please note: that at all time I had Nahimic App and Companion installed. I don't think Nahimic the issue. I think it's a windows issue and this is why MSI can't solve it. Believe me, I had all uninstalled. But the issue persisted. So I installed all Nahimic again. Issue still there. Then I did step 2-3 - and BANG - all good now

I hope this works for others too. Cheers and have a good one ;-)

Thank you, Works for the GP66.

 

[bilalakkus444158a02e9]

Hi, I have the same problem with my GE66 Raider. I bought this laptop as refurbished by MSI. So I guess former owner of this laptop faced the same issue and returned it then MSI service did nothing about it and sold it back to me. Anyway if anyone could solve the problem for good please share it here. We are waiting for it!

 

[stdstringclas153b02d3]

bilalakkus

You cannot do anything with it because this is a hardware problem. If MSI sold such a laptop back to you, that is burning incompetence.

 

[jtrevor9158302e0]

That doesn't surprise me. I sent my GE66 Raider in for two RMAs and they failed to solve both times. The warranty ran out before I could execute the third RMA (due to grad school) - and when I tried to set up the third one, an MSI customer support manager accused me of lying, even when I pointed him to this thread. They also managed to dent the top despite me sending in original packing material both times -nice.

However, all is not lost. I have found there's a way to fix this:
1. Disconnect your computer from the Internet.
2. Follow the instructions at the following link, which will prevent Windows Update from reinstalling the Realtek audio driver: Prevent Windows Update from Updating Specific Device Driver | Tutorials (tenforums.com) . You do NOT want to turn off all driver updates, just this specific one.
3. Uninstall the Realtek audio driver from Apps, then reboot. After reboot, go to Device Manager and make sure it's no longer listed. If it is, uninstall from Device Manager and reboot again. (You may also need to uninstall directly from Device Manager if it was never listed as an App.) If a generic "High Definition Audio Driver" is already installed, don't touch it, and go to step 5.
4. After reboot, Windows probably installed a generic "High Definition Audio Driver", and you should have sound. Check Device Manager and make sure it's listed. If it is, you're good - you can reconnect to the Internet then run Windows Update to make sure all is well. You may get a weird Windows Update error due to what you did in step 2 but this should clear up if you run it again. If it's not listed yet or you don't have sound yet, reboot again while still disconnected from the internet. If that fails, reboot after reconnecting.
5. If you're still having trouble, try uninstalling Nahimic also. I did in step 3, so I don't know if it's part of the problem or not.

The root problem is that the audio hardware in the GE66 Raider is incompatible with Realtek audio drivers. And, despite what other posts in this thread state, I found ALL Realtek audio drivers - the one Windows Update installs, both of the ones available from the GE66 section of MSI's Support site, every Realtek driver linked to or mentioned in this thread, and multiple drivers both older and newer than all of the above - have the problem. The only solution is to uninstall the Realtek driver, then prevent it from reinstalling. The generic Microsoft driver isn't as good - sounds won't be quite as crisp or nuanced - but at least you won't have volume throttling anymore! Hopefully, some day someone can figure out what causes the incompatibility, or a Realtek driver update will fix it. But I'm not holding my breath.

EDIT: It's possible that non-official Realtek drivers might solve the issue, but I didn't try any of those.
EDIT 2: The person below me said they found it was a speaker problem. While that's possible, I'll note that my speakers were swapped during one of the RMAs and it did no good. It's possible though that I just got a second set of defective speakers.

 

[stdstringclas153b02d3]

I had the same problem with GS66 Stealth. Service just changed my speakers and everything was fine. Before that, they tried to convince me, it was a software problem.

Gave me a lot of links to many various new diver updates... Finally, it turned out I was right. It was a hardware problem.