Surface 2 Speakers

[sinic999]

I am also experiencing the same thing. Cracking sound when watching videos only. However the speaker loudness seem soft in my opinion...

 

[HeyCori]

I also sent MS a message on Twitter.

 

[GSOgymrat]

I just posted a question over on the Microsoft Community website. I'm not sure if there is a better place to post it. Here is a link:

Surface 2 Speaker/Sound Problems - Microsoft Community

I clicked "Me too."

 

[TheCodifier]

The audio quality from the speakers is far from great.

 

[johnbash612]

I asked about the speakers during the AMA, it is one of my biggest concerns because as many RT owners know, the speakers were not that good. I remember when the rt released I had similar issues, since then they have gotten much better, both in clarity and loudness. I was told in the AMA that the speakers were upgraded in the 2 so I am fairly confident that a software update will fix it. Hopefully Novembers patch Tuesday will improve it.

 

[surfacedude]

how does this happen? how does a product get to release after such a public and embarrassing initial release (surface rt, which i own and love despite it's problems) and still have such a basic problem? why didn't someone find the best sounding tablets out there and say surface needs to sound as good or better? breaking into a market as tough as tablets is hard enough without dropping the ball on basic things like sound.

add to that that several folks here are reporting excessive play in the volume rocker. something as small as buttons is huge. you hit them several times a day everyday. buttons needs to feel right to give the product a high quality feel. poor buttons can make the whole thing feel cheap. and if you're not going to get the buttons perfect, then i'd rather have stiff buttons than loose ones.

the volume rocker on my old rt was great and i don't recall reading rocker issues w/ the rt.

 

[TheCodifier]

It seams Microsoft Support is telling people that it is not a software issue and recommends an exchange.

Surface 2 Speaker/Sound Problems - Microsoft Community

 

[pbankey]

I am still convinced that they are wrong and that it is a driver issue. All too often hardware issue requiring servicing get thrown around as solutions when it's really not the case.

 

[cygnus11]

The latest post in the thread I created on the community site says that they exchanged the device and the speakers on the new unit sound exactly the same. This is not a hardware problem. The crackling, which is really a separate issue for the speaker loudness/hollowness issue, only occurs in some very specific apps. This is most likely a driver bug.

I think the speaker loudness issue will eventually get fixed with a firmware update. I'm not too worried about this anymore.

 

[TheCodifier]

One guy exchanged his device and the new one have exactly the same sound issues.

I think that, indeed, Microsoft Support doesn't know any better than suggest an exchange...

 

[HeyCori]

One guy even reported sound problems while using bluetooth speakers. It has to be some sort of software issue.

I was using my headphones with Xbox Music and the sound was amazing. One song came in so clear that I actually took my headphones off because I thought something was broke.

 

[cygnus11]

One guy even reported sound problems while using bluetooth speakers. It has to be some sort of software issue.

I was using my headphones with Xbox Music and the sound was amazing. One song came in so clear that I actually took my headphones off because I thought something was broke.

I had a similar experience with Xbox Music. The sound on the Surface 2 with high quality headphones is really incredible (with the exception of what I believe to be some IE11 flash/streaming video bugs).

 

[segana]

I'm that guy!!!! Lol

Yeah, speakers are the same on the exchanged unit and as I mentioned, all my testing points to software now rather than hardware.

As annoying as the issue is, it doesn't take away from how good the Surface 2 is for me, so I'm happy now to sit and wait for an update from Microsoft for this.

 

[photobriangray]

Something to check, I went into the advanced settings in the control panel for audio devices and disabled the Enhancements under the properties for the tetra speakers. That seems to have cured some of the tinny sound and crackling. I then checked the what was selected under configure and noticed the built in speakers are not set up as full range speakers. Set as full range and audio appears to be best it can be, though not loud. Should do until we get the update.

 

[christenmartin]

Speakers are definitely quiet. That is not what you want in a speaker. I'll bet a fix is coming, if not, eh. The quality is good on mine but the volume seems a little light.

 

[kcaneiro]

Based on the Microsoft thread that was posted, I exchanged my unit on Friday am at the local Microsoft store. The technician was able to hear that the unit was very tinny and they gave me a new unit. I went home - loaded everything - went to XBOX music - and the same problem again. I also turned off the enhancements from the speaker - which I thought might be causing them to work as some kind of synthetic surround sound (based on Microsoft claiming that the surface 2 has Dolby enhancements). This made it slightly better.

I'm not sure what a full range speaker setting is - I set mine for left/right.

I can really tell the difference back to back with the Surface RT. I'm thinking it might just be software at this point. I have the warranty and the extended warranty - and my local Microsoft store has always been helpful (shout out to the Freehold Microsoft store)... So I'm not super worried at this point.

K

 

[berty6294]

So my Surface started making popping noise today randomly (but just about every minute). Nothing playing at all, just the popping...

 

[berty6294]

Eh actually my speakers stopped working altogether and just made popping noises every time it was supposed to play a sound. A simple system restart fixed it for now.

 

[HeyCori]

Like other people I also turned off the enhanced audio option. That didn't completely fix the problem but the actual sound quality seems so much better. Music sounds a lot closer to actual music and not a tin can radio station.

 

[EBynum]

Since the speakers are not sounding too good, I decided to use headphones last night for my usual hour of streaming video. Unfortunately, my experience with headphones was a mixed bag.

The good: Xbox music sounded fantastic. Also, streaming YouTube from the website via the metro IE browser was flawless. The bad: Streaming video from Amazon Instant Video using both the metro and desktop IE browsers was absolutely terrible. Every video I tried to stream crackled like crazy. It was practically unbearable.

Can anyone else verify that streaming through Amazon Instant Video is producing really bad sound (with breakups and crackles)? Hopefully this is just a driver fix. My Surface RT never gave me a problem with Amazon Instant Video.

I'm having the same problem when streaming through Amazon Instant Video. The sound crackles like crazy, like you said. Tried a few different videos in both versions of IE and they all crackled. Never had this problem with my Surface RT. No crackling when I play videos from Xbox Video, or anything else. It just seems to be with Amazon Instant Video. I hope this can be fixed with an update. And I wish Amazon would hurry up and make an Amazon Instant Video app for Windows.