I just bought a new Dell XPS Gen2 laptop (specs as in profile below), which runs FS9 better than any desktop I've ever owned. But I have a problem with the sound. It's not there all the time - so I know the laptop can do better. But far too often engine sounds produce rapid stuttering, which is very disconcerting (and disappointing).Nothing I change seems to make any difference - half the time I get the sound problems, half the time I don't. (The sound is onboard - I've ordered an Audigy Z2 notebook PCMCIA card today, though not sure if that will help if I thought it would cure the problem, but, as I say, if the sound is good half the time, why not the other half?). I have tried:Rebooting - Setting the sound quality to medium, then low - using FsStart to kill off any other programmes (though as I don't use the laptop for internet I don't have any really instrusive software installed to be honest) - changing the display settings, which I have quite high, though not maximum - changing the sound files that different planes use .....Any advice on how to get nice smooth sound 99% of the time much appreciated. If the laptop can run the graphics so smoothly (it is really wonderful!) then there must be a way of getting the same from the audio side too (??).Thanks!!Martin

Give this a try:On your desktop, click on START and then RUN.Type in "DXDIAG" (no quotes).On the page which will be displayed look for the SOUND page.Then note the position of the slider for

martin,i also own a Dell XPS Gen2 nearly same specs, 2.0 Ghz instead of 2.13 Ghz and with 2 GB Ram. I fear that Dell uses a very cheap soundchip for this laptop. No hardware soundprocessing is provided with this chip only software emulating.If the other tip did not work for you, try to use a pcmcia soundcard or a usb souncard. Creative Labs offers both types of those soundcards, not cheap but those modules provide full hardware soundprocessing and will take alot of workload from your cpu.for me, i set the slider in the directx diagnostic program to basic emulation and this did not realy help. I still get sound stutters especialy when atc talks. Shame on Dell for put in such a loosy soundchip (sigmatel 975x) in the XPS Gen2.Let me know your graphic settings within fs9 as you said you get smooth grahics, me not. Which graphic driver do you use? The one provided from Dell or any other from DNA or Omega?cheersRon

The XDiag 'trick' with the sound emulation is the one I vaguely remembered but couldn't think how to access it. Thanks for jogging my memory David. I'll try it, certainly. I agree, Ron, that for such an 'up-market' machine, the sound chip is pretty miserable. As I mentioned in the original post, I already ordered an Audigy Z2 notebook PC card (might arrive today), which I hope will help. (Other than FS9, I use the laptop to play classical music, so it'll be a 'sound' investment (ooops) in any case). Pity that it's necessary in a machine costing

David - downloaded the various 'tricks and tips' files from the file library. Looks like there's some interesting reading there! I assume earlier parts no longer shown on the site have been superseded..M.

It's OK - found parts 1 & 2 !!M.

Maybe someone can advise further on this? I have tried new audio drivers, but I stll get stuttering of the engine sounds every couple of seconds - it sounds like a damaged cassette playing.What I don't understand is that I sometimes don't get the effect at all; other times (like the flight I have now) it is so bad as to spoil the whole experience. If I play the FS9 wav files in Media Player, they sound fine. I've tried changing planes, sound files, rebooting ... At some expense I bought an Audigy PCMCIA card, which causes even worse problems for some reason - the stuttering then translates into loud 'bips' and clicks..Changing the sound quality in FS9 doesn't help, nor, as I posted earlier, do any changes in the dxdiag box ...At a loss!! Anyone please help here?Martin

Use an External sound card. The one your laptop uses sucks.Bill M

As I say, I have an Audigy2 ZS PCMCIA card, which I am troubleshooting at the moment with Creative: it produces loud clicks and squeaks, much worse than the stuttering. It does this even when playing music in Windows Media Player (or other) - though nowhere near as frequently as in FS9..Martin

You might have to change the IRQ or interupt. It might be sharing it's IRQ with another componet.Bill M

HI Please see my reply in this thread:http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...&topic_id=11471Harddisc speed is a vital feature for sound production with several wave tracks running simultaneously, but this shouldn't be a feature for FS? Martin, what is the speed of your harddisc?The Soundblaster cards are in my experience not the best, (sound quality, as the ear hears it, driver prbs.) though I haven't personally tried the Audigy Card which I'm sure sounds gobs better than my 64 or Live! cards.While I realize that many use them fine with FS, for future purchases I would have to recommend something else, if getting an external card it is best to use a firewire card as it is capable of transferring much higher loads than even USB 2.0. Basic cards with this feature are quite affordable by now. Of course, that doesn't help Martin's problem, but with help from SB I can't imagine the card shouldn't work. I've always had odd sound probs with fsk4, at least, often I found that some old addon gauge that use sound brough the noize about and I just pitched those gauges. (Don't have a list, but there were some wind-gauges, can' remember, sorry, there were several.)Hope this helps a bit..-Dasher7