Disabling Conexant SmartAudio headphone limiter

[lti]

I want to remove this stupid limit on the audio output level so I can connect my laptop to an amplifier without needing to turn the amp's volume up so high. I don't see any way of disabling it in the special SmartAudio control panel. I have seen people say to click on the big headphone icon in the SmartAudio controls, but no headphone symbol does anything when I click on it.

Using the Windows generic audio driver is supposed to fix this, but I don't know if it will break the headphone and speaker switching. I don't know why that is controlled by software now. I don't have any need for the special "enhancements" or an equalizer, so the generic driver would be fine for me. I just need a good quality audio output.

Also, I've recently noticed that the audio is really badly distorted, but I don't know if that is caused by my headphone amp or the computer's audio hardware. I don't know why I never noticed it before.

This is the same old Toshiba Satellite L750 piece of junk running Windows 7. I don't know if there is a different audio driver (newer or older) from Conexant that allows the stupid limit to be disabled without breaking the headphone switching.

[lti]

Re: Disabling Conexant SmartAudio headphone limiter

From what I can tell, there is a version of the driver where this limit can be disabled, and sometimes the limit is still enabled with the generic driver. If there is a driver that allows the limit to be disabled, I would like to know about it. I don't know the exact part number of the codec used in this laptop.

I don't want to mess around with a workaround like an external amplifier (which would need a ridiculous amount of gain to get a line-level output) or a USB audio device (although I would like a line-level input on this computer). If the sound quality is as poor as it appears to be, I would have to get a USB audio device, but that would take up one of my computer's three USB ports, two of which are unusable because they are in the way of my mouse.

[lti]

Re: Disabling Conexant SmartAudio headphone limiter

It looks like I'm using the latest driver. The driver on Toshiba's website has the same version number as the driver that's currently installed (8.51.2.51). Strangely, Toshiba has two downloads that list the same version and a few older versions. All of those drivers are older than the computer, so it should have had the latest driver from the factory. With my luck, switching to a different driver will either make the sound so bad that I can't use it or it will not mute the speakers when headphones are plugged in, and the sound still won't be any louder.

I remember the sound being louder when this computer was new, but I don't remember if that was caused by all of the stupid "enhancements" being enabled or if it was something Toshiba did when I had to send this computer back for repair. The enhancements are not something I want and only make the sound worse.

Is there a legitimate purpose for the software-controlled headphone and speaker switching? I don't see any point in making speakers and headphones play sound at the same time or forcing one program to only use one output (speakers or headphones). I just want the speakers to mute when headphones are plugged in like they're supposed to, and I'm afraid that switching to a different driver will break that basic functionality and defeat the purpose of using headphones.

Also, I'm surprised by the amount of people who plug speakers into the headphone jack on their laptops and then complain that Windows says headphones are connected. Do they seriously expect the computer to detect exactly what is connected to the headphone jack?

[lti]

Re: Disabling Conexant SmartAudio headphone limiter

I'm using the generic Windows driver now. It might be slightly louder, but not enough to make external speakers usable. It might also sound worse, but it's hard to tell without a direct comparison between the two. I think the generic driver has its own limiter or the limit is in hardware.

I can make an amplifier with a gain of 8.5 to get a line-level output, but that will amplify background noise and make the sound quality even worse. I could also get a USB audio device, but any within my price range kind of suck. I would also need a USB hub.

[joshnz]

Re: Disabling Conexant SmartAudio headphone limiter

Sounds like your fighting a loosing battle.
I'm not to sure what can be done.

[lti]

Re: Disabling Conexant SmartAudio headphone limiter

Sounds like your fighting a loosing battle.
I'm not to sure what can be done.

No, there is nothing I can do. Changing the driver was the only thing that had a chance of fixing this. If anyone wants a line-level output from their laptop, they will need a USB audio device.

The output voltage from the headphone jack is only 0.235V and drops to 0.193V with a 33 ohm load. That limits the output power to 1mW, which is good for cheap headphones. I wonder how much background noise I would get if I amplify this signal until I get a line-level output.

The audio hardware on this computer is made for idiots. They have to have the volume limit so kids won't hurt their precious little ears, and the same kids don't see any reason to connect real speakers when the computer already has built-in speakers. If they do connect speakers, they use one of those "portable" things that doesn't sound any better than the speakers in the laptop. Protecting idiots from themselves is also the reason why the VGA port doesn't have the retention screw holes anymore. Nobody with a brain would leave a VGA cable hanging where someone could trip over it and break the computer. Now the VGA cable falls out if you breathe on it.

[joshnz]

Re: Disabling Conexant SmartAudio headphone limiter

It's not just laptops that limit volume phones do it to.
On some laptops you could plug into line out to get more volume.

[joshnz]

Re: Disabling Conexant SmartAudio headphone limiter

You should be able to amplfy it quite allot without to much noise

[momaka]

Re: Disabling Conexant SmartAudio headphone limiter

You should be able to amplfy it quite allot without to much noise

+1

I've built a simple 5-transistor SE class A mono amplifier before with a gain of slightly over 10 V/V (20 dB). Tried powering some decent size 3-way 8-Ohm speakers. There was no audible hiss or hum noise from the amp at all.

[lti]

Re: Disabling Conexant SmartAudio headphone limiter

The sound isn't good enough to amplify anyway. It sounded pretty bad before I started, and it sounds even worse with the generic Microsoft audio driver. It puts emphasis on certain frequencies so some instruments are louder than they should be. Someone probably decided that they need to make "HD" audio sound different so people will hear this huge difference and think it must be better because it's "HD."

Every computer I have sounds the same except for the two with Conexant audio chips. That second computer has really badly distorted sound and makes high frequencies loud enough to cause pain while the rest of the audio range is barely audible, but that could be the fault of the amplifier for the headphone output.

I guess I need a USB audio device now.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Disabling Conexant SmartAudio headphone limiter

Had no issues with Conexant audio, but my last experience with it was with a chip made in 2007 (Conexant SmartAudio 220 aka Hermosa).

If you buy a USB soundcard, please get something decent like a Creative, or at least something with a C-Media chip in it. Otherwise your next rant will be about the USB sound device you just bought...

[lti]

Re: Disabling Conexant SmartAudio headphone limiter

I don't have the money to keep buying external hardware to fix this laptop's flaws. It's a money pit that's turning into a desktop computer. I've already had to pay $50 in shipping back to Toshiba for repairs, $30 for a crappy wireless mouse (the battery only lasts two months and it has the loudest buttons I've ever heard in anything) because that really good Synaptics touchpad is unusable and my old USB mouse doesn't work due to some software issue, and about $40 to repair a monitor so I have a decent display to use. I might need new RAM and a new hard drive shortly. The keyboard sucks, so I might end up getting one of those USB to PS/2 converters so I can use the keyboard I have collecting dust and my good mouse (it supports USB and PS/2). If I do get a USB sound device, it will have to be cheap.

In the price range I'm looking at, most of those devices use C-Media chips. I would like to have a line-in jack and Linux support, even though I'm currently only using Windows. I don't see any with both of those features.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Disabling Conexant SmartAudio headphone limiter

In that case, i'd clean the laptop real well and ebay it. Then just buy something else.

[lti]

Re: Disabling Conexant SmartAudio headphone limiter

I don't know why I said the touchpad is completely useless. I can use it if I turn the pointer speed all the way up, but scrolling is a pain and the software is buggy. I am sometimes unable to scroll in Firefox.

I'm afraid that a new computer will have similar issues, and I don't have that kind of money right now. I would get a better keyboard and hard drive and a display with a usable screen resolution if I get a business-class laptop. The only way I could have had a better computer at the time I bought this one is if I got a Dell, Asus, or Lenovo instead. I might have ended up with a better keyboard, better quality hardware, and USB 3.0.

If I do get rid of it, my parents would probably take it. They're always telling me that they want a newer computer and they wouldn't have a problem with this one.

If this computer had good quality sound, the amplifier would be easy, and it would be useful for lots of portable devices with volume limited headphone outputs. The hardest part would be the power supply if you wanted it to be powered by the computer.

Strangely, this laptop's built-in speakers are quieter than anything else.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Disabling Conexant SmartAudio headphone limiter

I'm afraid that a new computer will have similar issues

Then you'll be stuck with this pile of trash forever. Do some research before buying and you'll definitely find something that will suit you.

[momaka]

Re: Disabling Conexant SmartAudio headphone limiter

Do some research before buying and you'll definitely find something that will suit you.

Agreed.
There are actually some decent consumer-level laptops out there that aren't trash, even from some of the cheaper Compaq/HP models.

[lti]

Re: Disabling Conexant SmartAudio headphone limiter

I tried to research and get a good one. All I could find was that Toshiba laptops were good and the Intel Core processors were faster than anything else. I couldn't find anything about the quality of the hardware, but I didn't look very hard because I didn't know that it was possible to make such a bad keyboard and display.

I think I have an average consumer-grade laptop from that time period. The only way to get a usable screen resolution at the time was to get a 17" screen, and all of them would have had zero contrast and too much blue. Nobody can tell what brand of hard drive it is going to use until they buy it and look in Device Manager. You can't tell that a certain model of computer is going to have serious hardware failures after a few months when that model hasn't existed for that long or people think computers are supposed to crash that often.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Disabling Conexant SmartAudio headphone limiter

My main computer crashes every now and then, but it's a heavily overclocked system that hasn't been upgraded in almost 5 years, so that's to be expected.

My laptop computer does not crash at all, and it's a piece of junk brought back from the dead (been dropped by its original owner). It's an Acer 5742G with ATi dedicated graphics. Had it for (IIRC) 8 months now with no complaints. Okay, i have to thank the previous owner for replacing the screen with a matte one after he smashed it, but 1366x768 LED screens can be had for fairly cheap. I think this one is from a HP laptop.

Yes, it's flimsy. The Lenovo i traded for this Acer was miles ahead in terms of build quality, but a bit behind in performance. Yes, it's only got a single built-in speaker.
But other than that, it's a good laptop and its performance never let me down so far. Good CPU, good battery, decent graphics, good audio. Much better than the Lenovo which had a ground loop on the audio amp most likely, there was some switching noise in the background. On the Acer it's zero, it's got absolutely no background noise when using a grounded power adapter in a grounded outlet. Good performance on both headphones and line out. The built-in mic is kinda crap, but good enough for skype. Good performance on external mic/line-in too. It's got a Realtek sound chip btw.

And yet i don't recommend Acer/Emachines/Packard Bell, but still, they've moved up a lot in quality since the last years. Toshiba OTOH, is known for playing dirty tricks lately, including messing around with the BIOS to prevent CPU upgrades. I'd look for, in this order: Lenovo, Asus, Acer. As in, if all else fails, get an Acer. It's gonna play nice with you if you take care of it.

[shovenose]

Re: Disabling Conexant SmartAudio headphone limiter

I would get a higher end Lenovo or Asus.
Toshiba, HP, Acer, Gateway, and eMachines are trash.
Dell and Samsung are alright.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Disabling Conexant SmartAudio headphone limiter

Oh yeah i've forgot about Dell. On the bulky side nowadays, but still good machines.