How to Hack Dell's MaxxAudio[]
(On 06 December 2013, djklmnop posted to the user forum at NotebookReview the following audio hack for the XPS 12 that theoretically will also work on the XPS 15):
Realtek driver mod and Creative X-FI with realtek chip
Once again, my journey to making my XPS 12 laptop the best it can be led me to the following (which applies to the XPS 15 as well):
I was not impressed with the default sound driver and the Dell's MaxxAudio. It made everything sound too harsh, so in my attempt to get Dolby Home Theater v4 onto this laptop given it's a realtek sound card, I managed to do one better. Someone has created a mod that has DTS, Dolby HT, and a slew of other effects including Creative X-FI. Follow the directions on the following page and you'll have great sound in no time:
LINK: Realtek driver mod and Creative X-FI with realtek chip
Our sound card chip model is: ALC668
Update:
After messing with all the settings, I found the cleanest sounding setup possible. Truthfully, most of the sound technology sounds terrible. Usually you want the cleanest sound possible, and with this driver, it employs SIX enhancements. This means that if you turn them all on, your sound goes through ALL SIX of these sound processing. By the time it gets to your ear, it sounds like crap. The six processors you get with these hacked drivers are:
In the Playback Devices property menu:
1. SRS
2. Sonic Focus
3. Dolby v2 (sucks compared to v4)
4. DTS
Other:
5. SRS (found in the Control Panel) - RealTek settings (yes, theres two SRS processors!)
6. Creative Labs X-FI (This is the best, I only use this for the cleanest sound)
I turned them all off except for X-FI. And in X-FI, don't select Headphone. Keep it at 2.1 channel so it wont try to modify your sound. The only thing I use in X-FI is the 3D sound and the Crystalizer. It's great because the effects are very subtle and clarity stays put.
Turn off Items 1 thru 5 as seen below:
Attachment 105817
Attachment 105816
Here's a video you can use to test your sound--play it in HD:
LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3PDXmYoF5U