Intel Smart Sound Technology causes low volume on Bluetooth audio

[Mister_M]

Hello everybody,

I saw, that there are a lot of threads regarding the Smart Sound Technology and Bluetooth audio. But most of them weren't solved due to missing answers of the post owners.

My problem is, that I wear hearing aids (Phonak Audéo Sphere Infinio I90), which are connected as headset via Bluetooth. I have a Samsung Galaxy Book4 Ultra with Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6E AX211 160MHz.

In Windows 11 23H2 everything worked fine. With an audio volume of 20% everything was loud and clear enough for my hearing loss. I didn't need to crank up the volume any further.

Then came the update to Windows 11 24H2 and shortly after that, the Intel(R) Corporation - MEDIA - 20.40.11112.10 via the Windows Auto Update.

Now I have to push the audio volume to the max with my hearing aids to get at least near the volume I reached at 20% before.

My current Bluetooth driver is 23.140.0.5, which came via Windows Update (but the problem even existed with the OEM driver 23.60.0.1).

What I found out is, that when I'm disabling the Intel® Smart Sound Technology for Bluetooth® Audio in the device manager, the hearing aids aren't recognized as a headset anymore, but as "normal" headphones and the audio volume is back to normal (means, that I have the required volume at 20%). Re-enabling the Smart Sound Technology for Bluetooth Audio, the hearing aids now are recognized as headset and I have to put the volume to 100% to not even get the same volume as with the 20% before.

For me with my hearing loss, this is really annoying. Before the automatic Intel Media update everything worked flawlessly...

From the Microsoft support I heard that the Bluetooth audio is handled differently by the new Intel media drivers in Windows 24H2. 

So in my situation, this is not a feature, it's a bug!

Can anyone help me out here? It's annoying to disable the driver when I need the volume and then to re-enable when I need the microphone of my hearing aids.

Thanks in advance

[JedG_Intel]

Hello Mister_M,

Thank you for posting on Intel Community Forum.

I'm sorry to hear that you're facing issues with Intel Smart Sound Technology and to address this properly, please share the information below.

1. Have you tried to roll back the OS to Windows 11 23H2 for testing?

2. Have you tested the Bluetooth device with other systems to see if the issue persists?

3. Have you checked the volume levels in both the system settings and the Bluetooth device itself?

4. Have you tested other Bluetooth audio devices with your system to see if the issue is specific to one device?

I look forward to your response.

Best regards

Jed G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Mister_M]

Hi,

answering to

1. Yes, under 23H2 with an older Intel MEDIA driver, everything works fine.
2. Yes, on the other System with Windows 11 24H2 and an older Intel Smart Sound version 10.29.0.9947 the hearing aids work absolutely fine.
3. Yes, I did. It's not a device issue, since the volume turns back to normal, when I disable the Smart Sound for Bluetooth Audio driver in the device manager.
4. Unfortunately, my other Bluetooth headset is a Bluetooth LE-Audio headset and can therefor not be compared to the hearing aids.

Regarding the aspects 1, 2 und 3, and the fact, that the volume was ok before the automatic Windows update of the Intel MEDIA driver, it seems to be a driver issue.

[JedG_Intel]

Hello Mister_M,

Thank you for sharing all this information. I'll be investigating this issue and I'll give you an update as soon as possible.

Best regards

Jed G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[JedG_Intel]

Hello Mister_M,

I'm writing to give you an update after checking investigating this.

After review, it appears that the issue is not related to the wireless card but rather to Intel Smart Sound Technology. This may be influenced by recent changes introduced in the Windows 11 24H2 update.

Given these findings, I recommend reaching out to your laptop manufacturer for further assistance. They will be best equipped to provide support and guidance specific to your device and the software updates involved.

I apologize for any inconvenience that this issue has caused but unfortunately, our support is limited due to the nature of system being used. Rest assured that the laptop manufacturer should be able to provide you with the support you require.

With this in mind, I will now close this inquiry. Should you have other questions or concerns, please submit a new question as this thread will no longer be monitored.

Best regards

Jed G.

Intel Customer Support Technician