Troubleshooting sound

When the user is streaming audio to an Airtame device, the sound is automatically muted on the user’s machine so that it only comes from the display. 

Note for Windows: Attempting to unmute or adjust the volume will not have any effect on the received stream but may unmute the Windows PC resulting in audio clashing, where it sounds from two places at once at different times.

To adjust the volume, you must use the volume controls of the display that is receiving the stream.

Problems with displays - screens and projectors

• Resolutions with/without audio support

Airtame takes the resolution that is preferred by the TV. In some cases, the detected resolution, might not support audio. This can be fixed by manually choosing the output resolution. For this, go to "Airtame settings" -> "Advanced Settings" -> "Resolution":

Now select the highest available resolution with audio, as shown below:

• (U) Unsupported resolution - This means that Airtame did not get the correct resolution list and had to use default ones. 

• (P) Preferred mode: The screen's preferred mode, may not include Audio

• (N) Non-standard Mode

• (C) CEA video standard

• (V) VESA video standard

• Audio/Video Synchronization

Some screens and projectors, including Epson, have a setting called "Image Processing" which, when set to "Fine" can cause audio to become out of sync with the video. Changing this setting to "Fast" will correct this issue.

• Problems with Windows

There are two known issues when streaming sound on windows; One is 5.1 surround sound is not supported and the other is low-power consumption devices like notebooks and tablets.

•  Hardware Acceleration 

Symptom: Audio continues to sound from the Computer at the same time as on the screen. Some low-powered devices (e.g. tablets) use hardware acceleration. In this case, the user must simply disable the audio hardware acceleration following the steps below:

1. Right-click on the sound icon in your tray (bottom right), click "Sounds" and select the Playback tab.

2. Right-click the Playback device marked with Default Device and click on Properties.

3. Go to the Advanced tab in properties.

4. Disable hardware acceleration by unticking the box and Apply changes.

5. In some cases, you will need to change the spatial sound format to Off or Windows...

    

• Audio management software

Computers running audio management software, like Waves MaxxAudio or Nahimic, may experience the audio to continue playing on the computer while doing an audio stream with Airtame. The audio management software should be completely closed before the streaming session.

It is also recommended, for a permanent solution, to disable the Windows service running the aforementioned program:

1. Press the Windows key on the computer's keyboard.

2. Type Services.msc

3. Right-click the correspondent service, i.e.: Nahimic Service or Waves Audio Services.

4. Click on Stop

5. Right-click again on the name of the service.

6. Click on Properties.

7. In the Startup Type option select Disable

8. Click on Apply.

• HP Laptops using Conexant audio drivers

Many HP Laptops are affected by a bug in their sound driver "Conexant Audio". We are continuously working on finding a consistent workaround and in the meantime recommend following the steps further down in this article. We are actively working with HP to solve this issue. 

• HP/Conexant audio fix

We have confirmation that an update from HP related to the Conexant audio driver has fixed the audio streaming problem. This solution applies for the following HP laptop models:

• HP EliteBook 840 G5 Notebook PC

• HP EliteBook 846 G5 Notebook PC

• HP EliteBook 850 G5 Notebook PC

• HP ZBook 14u G5 Mobile Workstation

• HP ZBook 15u G5 Mobile Workstation

• HP EliteBook 830 G5 Notebook PC

• HP EliteBook 836 G5 Notebook PC

To install the update: 

1. Download and install the update from HP: Conexant Audio

2. Make sure to restart the Airtame app.

3. Start a stream and enable audio.

Additional HP laptops models have received updates to the driver as well. If your laptop is not on the list it is worthy to check the HP website for the Conexant driver.

• If your laptop did not receive a fix from Conexant: 

The possible fix is to disable one option in the Conexant sound driver and restart Airtame and your PC: https://support.hp.com/id-en/document/c05851794

Option 1: 

1. Close the Airtame application

2. Right-click the audio icon in the system tray

3. Select Playback devices

4. Select Speakers, then click the Properties button.

5. Select the Spatial Sound or Physical Sound tab. 

6. Switch from None to the Windows.... option

7. Select Apply, then click OK.

8. Restart the Airtame application.

Option 2:

1. Open Device Manager.

2. Head to Unit - sound, video, game.

3. Select Conexant audio driver and click Update driver

4. Choose manually.

5. Untick Compatible hardware

6. Select Microsoft

7. Select Unit high definition audio