Hey there, I have a Defiance laptop (Windows 10) which I got from PCS in 2021, and I've always wondered about its audio quality (including headphones) compared to my previous PCS laptop. Unfortunately, that old laptop completely died so I can't compare them directly to see if the issue is real or my imagination.
The current laptop's sound isn't terrible, and the Sound Blaster Atlas program helps a bit, but I came across this old thread from around the time I got my laptop, regarding a similar issue with a Defiance laptop:
www.pcspecialist.co.uk
For them the solution was to use the driver uninstall program DDU to remove the Realtek drivers, and that seemed to fix the audio quality. I'm going to try that with some helpful computer people I know, but I wondered something else first.
My old PCS laptop (that's now dead) had an older version of the Clevo Control Center (2.0, I think), which by default was doing something to the headphone quality. But I went into the audio settings of the program, changed the headphone settings to "Direct audio", and also uninstalled the CCC, which fixed the sound issues I had. (I kept the Realtek drivers, but never had any further sound issues or other problems with CCC being uninstalled. I didn't even need to use any audio adjustment software.)
The CCC 3.0 of my current laptop doesn't have any sound settings, but I wonder if it's secretly fiddling with the audio somehow. I'm hesitant to uninstall it this time though, as I've heard other stories of that possibly causing the headphone jack to stop working! I'd rather not go messing with it (uninstalling and reinstalling) if it's not causing any problems.
So I ask if anyone knows if CCC 3.0 affects a laptop's sound at all? Has anyone here uninstalled CCC 3.0 and noticed a change in audio quality?
FULL SPECS:
Chassis & Display
Defiance Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD 240Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor 10870H (2.2GHz, 5.0GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 3080 Max-Q - 16.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st M.2 SSD Drive
250GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 2300MB/W)
2nd M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated Micro-SD Memory Card Reader
AC Adaptor
1 x 180W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Battery
Defiance Series Integrated 3 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (73WH)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ Wi-Fi 6 AX1650 M.2 GAMING + BLUETOOTH 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x THUNDERBOLT 3 PORT + 3 x USB 3.2 PORTS
Keyboard Language
17" DEFIANCE SERIES UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
The current laptop's sound isn't terrible, and the Sound Blaster Atlas program helps a bit, but I came across this old thread from around the time I got my laptop, regarding a similar issue with a Defiance laptop:
Poor sound performance of my new Defiance VIII
Hello My configuration is: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/defianceVIII-17/k5A5EqWu84/ Im experiencing issues with my defiance VIII laptop's sound perfomance(The audio system is Sound BlasterX Atlas pro-gaming). The built-in speakers sound plastic, lofi, harsh and...
For them the solution was to use the driver uninstall program DDU to remove the Realtek drivers, and that seemed to fix the audio quality. I'm going to try that with some helpful computer people I know, but I wondered something else first.
My old PCS laptop (that's now dead) had an older version of the Clevo Control Center (2.0, I think), which by default was doing something to the headphone quality. But I went into the audio settings of the program, changed the headphone settings to "Direct audio", and also uninstalled the CCC, which fixed the sound issues I had. (I kept the Realtek drivers, but never had any further sound issues or other problems with CCC being uninstalled. I didn't even need to use any audio adjustment software.)
The CCC 3.0 of my current laptop doesn't have any sound settings, but I wonder if it's secretly fiddling with the audio somehow. I'm hesitant to uninstall it this time though, as I've heard other stories of that possibly causing the headphone jack to stop working! I'd rather not go messing with it (uninstalling and reinstalling) if it's not causing any problems.
So I ask if anyone knows if CCC 3.0 affects a laptop's sound at all? Has anyone here uninstalled CCC 3.0 and noticed a change in audio quality?
FULL SPECS:
Chassis & Display
Defiance Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD 240Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor 10870H (2.2GHz, 5.0GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 3080 Max-Q - 16.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st M.2 SSD Drive
250GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 2300MB/W)
2nd M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated Micro-SD Memory Card Reader
AC Adaptor
1 x 180W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Battery
Defiance Series Integrated 3 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (73WH)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ Wi-Fi 6 AX1650 M.2 GAMING + BLUETOOTH 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x THUNDERBOLT 3 PORT + 3 x USB 3.2 PORTS
Keyboard Language
17" DEFIANCE SERIES UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
