Intel Smart Sound Technology is limiting USB audio output to 11Khz

[EarlZ088]

I am facing an issue with my Audeze Penrose X as SST  is not allowing the USB dongle to transmit anything above 11Khz, which results in very poor audio quality. The dongle has hardware switch if you use it for a console and by switching to console (xbox mode) a generic driver is used to control the USB dongle and allows full audio quality. 

This is on an Acer Swift 3X with the latest audio drivers, intel updates, bios and windows updates.

[Alberto_R_Intel]

EarlZ088, Thank you for posting in the Intel® Communities Support.

In order for us to provide the most accurate assistance on this scenario, we just wanted to confirm a few details about your system:

Is this a new computer?

When did you purchase it?

What is the model of the USB dongle?

Was it working fine before with the Audeze Penrose X as SST headset?

When did the issue start?

Did you make any recent hardware/software changes? besides the updates

Which Windows* version are you using?

Does the problem happen at home or in the work environment?

Please attach the SSU report so we can verify further details about the components in your platform, check all the options in the report including the one that says "3rd party software logs":

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25293/Intel-System-Support-Utility-for-Windows-?product=91600

Any questions, please let me know.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[EarlZ088]

Hi Alberto,

Yes this is a new computer

It was purchase about 2 weeks ago

The USB dongle comes with my Audeze Penrose X with the model name "Penrose X TX" printed on its back

This is my first computer and only computer that has Intel SST
This issue started when I first used the dongle on this laptop
No hardware changes as this is a laptop
Winver says 20H2 Build 19042.1165
The issue with this is that Intel SST only allows the dongle to do 11Khz, The dongle has a hard switch to put it into Xbox mode, by doing that Intel SST does NOT take over and instead a "Generic" USB driver is used and works fine. 

See attached file for SSU

[Alberto_R_Intel]

EarlZ088, Thank you very much for providing that information and the SSU report.

According to the information in the SSU, the graphics driver currently installed on your machine is version 30.0.100.9805, which is the latest Intel® graphics driver:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/19344/intel-graphics-windows-10-windows-11-dch-drivers.html

Just to let you know, the Intel® drivers are generic, so they might not work on your platform. We always recommend to install the graphics driver provided by the manufacturer of the computer, since that driver was customized by them to work with your specific platform.

I looked in Acer's website and the latest graphics driver version they have is 27.20.100.9466, please try a clean installation of that driver following the instructions in the link below:

https://www.acer.com/ac/en/ID/content/support-product/8619?b=1&pn=NX.A10SN.004&sn=NXA10SN0040460164E2N00

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000057389/graphics.html

Also, we advise to get in contact directly with Acer support to make sure the latest BIOS version is currently installed in your computer or to gather the instructions on how to do that:

https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/support

Additionally, in the link below, even though it is not the same scenario, as you can see in there, it is recommended to contact the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) to install the proper drivers for the Intel® Smart Sound Technology, the Realtek driver might need to be updated:
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000034758/processors/intel-core-processors.html

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[EarlZ088]

Thank you for the detailed steps and providing the link, I followed every step of the link you've provided to me to perform a clean install while the laptop was in airplane mode.

Unfortunately, the problem still persists even with Acer's customized driver. I believe this has something to do with SST limiting the output to 11Khz.

[Alberto_R_Intel]

EarlZ088, Thank you very much for providing those results.

We are sorry to hear the problem persists after installing the OEM drivers. we will do further research on this matter, as soon as I get any updates I will post all the details on this thread.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Alberto_R_Intel]

Hello EarlZ088, I just received an update on this matter.

For this scenario, it is important to keep in mind the implementation of Intel® Smart Sound Technology and drivers are provided directly by the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer). So, the best thing to do in this case will be to continue the troubleshooting with Acer directly and also to confirm the recommendations that Audeze may provide for its specific headset:

https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/support

https://www.audeze.com/pages/audeze-support

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[EarlZ088]

Thanks for the suggestion, I'm not sure if I have the energy to contact the OEM as I know the inquiry will land on some contact center and will be just closed off. Id rather wait for Intel to consider investigating this further and release generic drivers that can resolve this issue.

[Alberto_R_Intel]

EarlZ088, You are very welcome, thank you very much for sharing those details.

"I'm not sure if I have the energy to contact the OEM as I know the inquiry will land on some contact center and will be just closed off." We completely understand and respect your decision in this scenario.

"Id rather wait for Intel to consider investigating this further and release generic drivers that can resolve this issue." In that case, please keep checking our Intel® Download Center since all the updates and possible driver releases will be showing in there:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/detect.html

Any other inquiries, do not hesitate to contact us again.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[EarlZ088]

Hi Alberto,

The most recent drivers from Intel 30.0.100.9864 has fixed this issue, SST now allows Dongle to use 16Bit 48Khz

[Prathamesh]

hey guys i had similar issue like alberto, i just "disable device" from device manager ->> restart now. and it worked, i faced this issue with my condenser mic which supports 24bit-192khz, but was  only showing 16bit-48khz option when the "Intel® Smart Sound Technology for USB Audio" was enabled. i have attached an screenshot of what exactly i have disabled in device manager.. 
device:- HP ZBOOK FURY 15.6 G8 Mobile Workstation.