Quick Sign In:  

Forum: Old versions

Topic: How to Disable the Compression in "Beats Audio" When No External Sound Card is Used

This topic is old and might contain outdated or incorrect information.

I have an HP Envy 17T I purchased in Jan. 2015 with Windows 8.1 and BeatsAudio pre-installed. Over time, I began to noticed a weird issue of highly compressed audio when playing music files no matter what app I used (Windows Media Player, iTunes, Virtual DJ, etc.). I later determined that it did not seem to happen if I used an external sound card (as during a DJ gig), but only if I used the default sound card in my laptop (i.e., by playing though the headphone jack). I finally found the source of the problem - the compression is caused by BeatsAudio. It turns out that this software app has a built-in in compressor feature that you can NOT turn off via any UI settings. I find it very ironic (and mad as heck) that a software app claiming to have a superior listening experience would overlook the ability to turn off such an annoying (and in-your-face) feature!!?

I stumbled upon a solution that involves disabling Beats Audio and substituting another audio device driver in its place. The following steps work for Windows 8.1 on an HP Envy laptop:

1. Go to Windows Device Manager > Sound, video and game controllers section.
2. In the list of audio device drivers, look for Realtek High Definition Audio. This is the device driver for BeatsAudio (a little bit sneaky, wouldn’t you say?).
3. Right-click and select Disable. The downward arrow displays on this driver, indicating it is disabled. (NOTE: At this point, you won’t be able to play any music files.)
4. Right-click and select Update Driver Software.
5. Select Browse my computer for driver software.
6. Select Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer.
7. You should see a window that says Select the device driver you want to install for this hardware. NOTE: If you see a window that says something like This is the best driver for this device, exit the window and repeat steps 4, 5, and 6.
9. In the Model box, highlight High Definition Audio Device (this is the substitute audio device driver) and click Next.
10. At the Update Driver Warning window, click Yes. You should see a confirmation window with High Definition Audio Device displayed. Click Close.
11. In the list of audio device drivers in the Sound, video and game controllers section, you’ll notice that the High Definition Audio Device now displays instead of Realtek High Definition Audio.
12. At the prompt to reboot, click Yes.

Enjoy your music now with no compression from Beats Audio!

NOTE: If you miss the compression in your music, you can always go back to using BeatsAudio.
Use the same steps above, just replace High Definition Audio Device driver with the RealTek High Definition Audio driver.
 

Posted Tue 14 Jul 15 @ 10:46 pm
I made an account specifically to say thanks for this. I today took delivery of an HP Laptop which had the Beats drivers and immediately the amount of compression drove me completely nuts. It made pretty much any music unlistenable.

But now by changing the devices it's playing the sound as I would want and expect. I was worried as one of the main things I got the laptop for was music production through my DAW, and although it's possible my interface and ASIO drivers would override the Beats nonsense, I was worried that I'd wasted my money due to this issue. You've put my mind at rest and now I can be happy.

Looking at HP's own forums this appears to be a long-standing complaint they they've done nothing to sort out, which is ridiculous.

Thanks again.
 

Posted Mon 04 Sep 17 @ 10:39 pm


(Old topics and forums are automatically closed)