UAD vs. HDA Drivers Dell XPS

I just received a new XPS 15 9500 in the mail today and intend to open and set up this weekend. It's replacing a XPS 13 9350 (a few years old now). Minor complaint I've had with the XPS 13 is that newer UAD (audio) drivers are incompatible (no sound or simply won't install) and you are stuck using legacy HDA drivers that aren't updated as often. In looking at the file size of the audio drivers for the XPS 15 9500 (Dell's web site) it appears they are also the legacy HDA drivers. Has anyone tried installing UAD from Microsoft Catalog or similar...i.e. generic without MaxxAudio or other enhancements? I've had good luck with the UAD on my desktop and with the new Realtek Audio Control app. Would like to use these on my laptop(s) as well. Thanks.

Windows version will be Windows 10 Pro 20H2

I work the Dell forums. In MOST cases the Dell supplied specific model sound drivers are required for proper sound operation and jack detection. We see a lot of sound problems because the Dell sound driver wasn't used.

Thanks to both of you on your responses. I'm not having issues with driver update issues or anything like that. I was curious if Dell hardware still prevented installing more modern UAD drivers or whether they were still required to operate with only the legacy HDA drivers. I have learned to prefer UAD for the following reasons:

- Simple, smaller in size, and lower use of resources...even though the 9500 appears to be a very powerful laptop
- Dell (and other manufacturers) drivers add other software like MAXXAUDIO, Dell Audio (in the control panel) and seem to be more bloated.
- The generic drivers provide the simple sound I need and are updated more frequently.
- Nicer and more modern audio control panel (from Microsoft Store)

I believe the only reason HDA still exists is for the people still running older versions of windows or older builds of Windows 10. The same goes for video drivers now...legacy vs. DCH. I may have to just try and see if the XPS 15 will accept a new UAD driver. I was hoping someone else had already tried or was running them. I was unsuccessful ever getting one to work on the older XPS 13.

If it came with MaxxAudio, which is needed for proper audio jack detection, it will only work with the Dell Realtek driver.

I did some field testing of two new XPS (15) laptops this past year for Dell. I didn't find the Dell Realtek audio drivers or MaxxAudio to be an issue. Everything (Audio) worked as it was supposed to. I had some latency issues with one but that had nothing to do with Realtek or MaxxAudio (and may have been fixed before that model went on sale).

Well...for those that are interested...I ended up getting generic UAD drivers from Microsoft Update Catalog to work. Only 11MB download and seem to be working ...just install directly from Device Manager. The 9500 doesn't have any external ports so didn't need that function. Actually, it took me a while to try and get rid of MAXXAudio...when the original Dell drivers were installed, I somehow ended up with two different Waves MaxxAudio icons in the Start Menu, to go along with all of the services. Only one of the Waves links worked though. Anyways, I had to uninstall one of them directly (Microsoft Store), uninstalled the Realtek Drivers from Programs and Device Manager, and used DDU to try and get more stuff left behind. I also ended up using Unlocker and Search to get rid of a lot of orphaned MaxxAudio files left in multiple locations on the drive. I do still have a bunch of orphan registry entries left over that a cleaner doesn't get rid of but I think they are harmless.

Lol...just because I can get it to work doesn't mean I recommend it. It actually sounded alright, but for whatever reason, when I went to try out the microphone, it was extremely muted, and you could barely hear when played back. I ended up reinstalling the Dell drivers and the Microsoft Store app, and while the microphone isn't great, especially compared to my current 9350, it is better than when the generic Realtek drivers were installed.