Problem with audio source input with SigmaTel Driver

[RyhopeWood]

Dear all

I purchased my Sony Laptop VGN-SZ61WN/C running Vista last December and I finally got round to copying some of my audio software from my old VGN-TX1XP running XP. This is when I discovered the problem.

On my new laptop, which has the SigmaTel HD codec I am only able to select the microphone as a recording device. This is very frustrating! When I play sounds through iTunes or from CD the recorded sound is muffled because it is being recorded back through the external microphone.

On my old sony laptop, running in XP, I had RealTek HD audio drivers which enable me to select a variety of different input sources. I could basically play sounds from my CD player or ITUNES and record it to an MP3.

Is there a fix for the SigmaTel drivers that would allow me to select a recording source other than the microphone? If this is a feature of the SigmaTel sound card then I will complain to Sony as this seems to be a downgrade between the TX and SZ models!

Thanks in anticipation,

Ian

[Blencogo]

Hi Ian,

Sony, in their wisdom, have disabled the "Stereo-Mix" recording option on all Vaios running Vista.

I guess they believe this to be a justifiable DRM anti-piracy measure.

Obviously connecting the headphone socket to the microphone socket is a very crude answer and some users have reported that using the older XP Driver with Vista does bring this option back (I have not tried this but have heard it works on a FE41 using th FE31 XP sound driver).

You can approach Sony but others have tried and failed! See this previous Thread: -

http://club.vaio.sony.co.uk/clubvaio/GB/en/forum/viewthread?thread=42625

[RyhopeWood]

Hi there

Thanks for the quick reply.

I'm surprised that Sony do this for Vista machines only. So if I had ordered mine with XP then I wouldn't have the problem. Like others I feel a bit cheated since my previous Vaio allowed me to do this. I will definitely think twice about buying a Vaio next time. Maybe when sales drop, Sony will realise that this is not the best way to tackle a perceived problem with piracy.

Best wishes,

Ian