Sound is too loud (internal and external speakers)

[Rul3r]

Hi,

I have a Surface Pro 2 since 2 days. But there seems to be a 'little' problem with the audiovolume. It is too loud. I mean really too loud. So loud that I even can't turn it higher as 40-50 without nearly destroying my ears (and I usually have no problem with high volume). So loud that I probably could use this device to fill a complete concert hall with sound.
The problem appears with the internal speaker and headphones/external speakers.

For example: Windows volumecontrol is on 8. I use my external speakers. Windows Media Player is on 40 and Spotify is used at ~70%.
For a normal and appropriate volume out of the surface I have to set the volumecontrol of my external speakers to ~5-10% (Note: on my desktop they are on 25% with windows volume on 20 and the media player on 55).

Or with headphones: volume on 5-10 on the surface is nearly as loud as my desktop with the same headphones but volume on 20 and activated amp of my asus xonar dg.

I tried probably all of the audio settings in the systemcontrolpanel, nothing changed. I uninstalled the realtek drivers (in the device manager; but after the reboot they werent marked as 'unknow device' or something. It appears to me, that the drivers are automatically installing again on reboot, because after installing with no reboot, I cant play music with the media player (no audio-device found). After reboot without installing the drivers myself, the media player works).
Nevertheless, I installed the realtek drivers out of the driver package for surface pro 2 from microsoft. Nothing changed.

I've read that in the 'audio enhancements'-section of the speaker there should be some options to check/uncheck. However, I can't find anything of this.
The audio-enhancement panel looks like this (NOTE: the 'Aktivier' behind the checkbox is uncomplete. I assume that it should be 'Aktivieren' (engl.: activate)):






Also the volume level of the source (or whatever the grey bar behind the green bar should stand for) seems to be really high:





this is a screenshot from just setting the sound volume (to 7) to get this 'pling'-sound. The grey bar from 'Lautsprecher' hitted the top. This isn't normal. It appears to me, that there is somewhere something active like a amplifier. It also looks like a software problem, because of the grey bar that is hitting the top.

Has anyone a idea of what reason of this strange problem could be? Or could tell me somebody if this is normal or what the normal audio level of the surface pro 2 should be?

EDIT: All available updates and newest firmware are installed.

 

[mennogreg]

I know several reviews stated the Surface Pro can be loud, but I've never experienced it THAT loud as you have. Try going into Control Panel and clicking SOUND. Then check the Properties and configuration of the speakers and see if something is amiss. Another recourse you can try, if you've exhausted other options and you've only had it two days, is to run a refresh of Windows (documents and such will remain, but it'll erase all but pre-installed applications).

EDIT: On mine, Enhancements is checked.

 

[Rul3r]

Hi,

'audio enhancements' was checked too at the beginning, but I unchecked it, to see if there are any changes (there were no changes). This 'audio enhancements' tab isn't also unavailable on the headphones, so I do not think, that that causes the problem. Are on your surface more things under the audio enhancements tab?

A complete reset would be the next thing to do. If this won't help, I really consider to do a clean install with a clean win 8.1 image.

EDIT: Could be a driver problem. I've selected 'use old driver' on the properties window of the relatek chip. After that, the windows sound (e.g. the 'pling'sound from volume control) was fine. Could set in on 100 and it was like it should be (the grey bar in the mixer was not hitting the top)

I plugged in my external speaker. A window popped up which was saying, that the audio jack will be installed. So, the driver installed itself again. The result was, that the sound on the speakers was as loud as before.

After I restarted the surface everything was broken again. Windows sounds were to loud and the grey bar in the mixer is hitting the top again...

EDIT 2: Resetted the Surface completly. Only created a new user account. First thing I did was to check the speaker volume of the surface. It was still too loud. So I deactivated the audio-enhancements. Although the enhancements were deactivated before too, the grey bar didn't hit the top and the sound semmed to be normal, even after reboot. However, the sound over the audio jack is still too loud with media player on 4 and volume on 20. (with external speakers/headphones the grey bar isn't hitting the top either, but it also wasn't hitting the top before reset.)

Someone could please check how high the grey bar behind the green bar in the audiomixer is going up (e.g. when you are setting the volume to another value so that this 'pling'-sound appears) and if the audio-enhancements are activated or not?

 

[coskier]

We are experiencing the same issues. Volume is way too loud for my 8yo (the primary user of the product) even on 2. I have used the volume rocker to turn the volume all the way to 0, and the sound still comes out from whatever app we are using. In app volume set to 2, and still too loud. Does anyone know how to fix this yet?

 

[be77solo]

Wow, interesting... mine is too quite ha. When playing music at 100% its quieter than my cellphone. Using stock drivers and settings.

 

[SurfaceGeek]

I hope this question adds something to this thread. My Surface speakers seem to be working fine. They are not too loud or too quiet. But when I looked into my speakers I saw some type of plastic running along the bottom of both speakers. It looks like it is covering a small portion of the speaker up. Did anybody else notice this.

 

[daniielrp]

The internal ones I find very quiet, but with headphones/speakers plugged in I'm about the same as OP - 40-50% can deafen.

 

[GoodBytes]

If you experience this since day 1, then it could be a faulty wiring on the circuit board, where too much voltage is sent through the audio output, before the headphone/speaker switch circuit, so it it affects both.
It's best to return it, and order a new one. The high volume can break, (if you push the volume too high by mistake), the headphone and speakers (well the one in use at that moment). Beside it's better now, where you can get back a new one, then later and have a refurbished unit.