Can Waves Maxx Audio be replaced with something else, if so, what? and how?

[cdschmidt24]

I'm a court reporter (voice writer). I use Eclipse and Dragon Naturally Speaking to do my job. I recently purchased a pair of room microphones from Sound Professionals. In order to use them
I had to install a specific Andrea driver for them. However, apparently, the driver is not compatible with Waves Maxx Audio, so it had to be disabled.

As I've read in other forums, once you disable it, the audio jack does not recognize your earbuds, and that is the problem I'm having. I would like to install something to replace Waves Maxx Audio, but I'm not familiar enough with that to know what is best and exactly how to do it. If I have step-by-step instructions, I can handle it.

I've been told by Sound Professionals that WaveMaxx Audio and Intel Smart Sound Technology are both incompatible with the Andrea drivers. I do not want to have to return the mics as they are very good at picking up sound in a large courtroom full of people. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Ferather]

Are those USB microphones or 3.5mm? I am guessing USB because of the driver. I guess also its a Dell laptop?

 

[cdschmidt24]

Yes, they are USB microphones with an Andrea external sound pod. It is the Ultra-high output USB sound adapter with advanced noise and echo filter.

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Yes, they are USB microphones with an Andrea external sound pod. It is the Ultra-high output USB sound adapter with advanced noise and echo filter.

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And yes, Dell. Precision 7680.

 

[Ferather]

Ok thanks, just trying to get my head around why Waves Maxx Audio is an issue. Waves Maxx Audio is software that should only run on the Realtek ALC built into the Dell.
The USB microphones are added external devices, they are independent to the Realtek, this is also why they have their own driver (Andrea drivers).

Example: Dell 7567 Waves MaxxAudio Doesn't Detect USB Headset : r/Dell (reddit.com)

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From what your are saying, I would guess the Waves Maxx Audio is trying to run on the USB? You might be stuck in a box with it, as its probably the Waves Maxx service.
OEM laptops are usually tied into various changes, one of them being [headphones re-direct], where a generic driver for Realtek wont work.

The quickest 'possible' solution would be to disable the Waves Maxx service, restart the laptop and see if you have headphones and working mics.
With the service disabled the Waves Maxx software wont (or shouldn't) work, you can however start it, or enable start-up whenever.

Go to your desktop, press the winkey on your keyboard to open start, then type 'services'.

 

[cdschmidt24]

Thank you. A few more questions. Under services, I have Waves Audio Services and Waves Audio Universal Services. Which should be disabled? or both?

Are there safe alternatives to Waves MaxxAudio that I can then disable or uninstall Waves and reinstall something new that will run with Realtek? Sound Professionals tells me that the issue is what I need to make my headphone jack work. The only things they know to be incompatible with the Andrea drivers are the Waves Maxx and Intel Smart Sound Technology.

 

[Ferather]

I am not sure which one you need, you will need to trial and error, both off, or, one of them on. I am guessing you have tried the default Windows drivers for the Realtek?
Under normal conditions, the built in Windows driver will work on a Realtek and get most of the functionality (but without any software).

If you have the driver installer for the Realtek Waves, you can try and remove everything Realtek Waves and try without.

Use the uninstaller if it comes with one, else uninstall via 'Device Manager', then use Driver Store Explorer, to remove anything remaining.
In some cases Windows will automatically download an official Realtek driver, in which case you need to turn that off.

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Regedit: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DriverSearching
Create a new DWORD: DriverUpdateWizardWuSearchEnabled (if it exists, set it to 0).

 

[cdschmidt24]

Thank you, I will see what I can come up with. I greatly appreciate you taking the time to respond.

 

[Ferather]

Good luck, I can also help more if needed.