Realtek ac97 audio - poor quality sound

[zomas]

Hi,

I have a Toshiba satelite A30 with a Realtek ac97 audio device.
The audio has been working fine for a few years now, but has recently been producing poor quality sound, like it is saturated.
I have been playing with sound volume, have reinstalled the latest drivers as well as the latest version of directX, but still experience the same problem.
I have also checked if there was a hardware conflict, but nothing shows...

can it be that the hardware is damaged, and i need to buy an external sound card or can this be solved otherwise?

thanks for anyone's help.

thomas

 

[Tedster]

impossible to buy an external sound card for a laptop. Did you recently update any software or drivers?

 

[F1N3ST]

No it isnt, they have a few on newegg, where those card things go. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102185 or you can buy a cheaper USB sound card.

 

[howard_hopkinso]

It is possible you onboard sound chip is on it`s way out.

You could always purchase an external usb sound card. See HERE for some examples. Also take a look HERE at the Creative website for info on notebook soundcards etc.

Regards Howard

 

[zomas]

dammit! usb soundcard it might have to be then...
thanks

 

[howard_hopkinso]

Creative does have a PCMCIA sound card, see HERE.

I`m pretty sure there will be others as well.

Regards Howard

 

[zomas]

looks neat, but already have my wifi adapter in there

 

[howard_hopkinso]

In that case, a usb external sound card is the way to go.

Regards Howard

 

[Tedster]

I stand corrected. I never heard of external sound cards.