Choose the “Browse my computer for driver software” option.

In the resulting dialog, switch to the “Driver” tab then select “Update Driver”.

Expand the “Sound, video, and game controllers” node to locate the “Realtek Audio” device, then right-click it and choose “Properties”.

Launch the device manager by searching for “Device Manager” in the start menu.

Installing the Microsoft High-Definition Audio Device Drivers The instructions below will walk you through the process.

There’s no downside to this, except that you will have to manually install them now and after any Windows update that reinstalls the default Realtek audio drivers.

The problem is especially noticeable when the sound card hasn’t been “warmed up” and a sound (such as that triggered by an alert) is played after some silence, in which case it can take almost a full second for the sound to be played.įortunately there is good news: Microsoft has “generic” audio drivers for all high-definition audio devices – including Realtek’s – that work significantly better. This problem has been especially noticeable by users of Deal XPS 13 and 15 models as well as users of the Dell Precision 5520 and Dell Precision 3520 models, which are especially susceptible to this problem. This lag, once noticed, becomes incredibly annoying and can be a constant source of stress and irritation. The quality of recent Realtek sound controller and audio drivers has taken a nosedive in recent years, and the automatically installed drivers on Windows 10 have introduced a significant delay in the time it takes for sound to come out of the speakers after it is initiated by the PC.

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