Latest Realtek HD Audio Driver Version

ddelo said:

You bet... and we don't expect anything less than your previous one.
Latest Realtek HD Audio Driver Version - Page 212 - Windows 10 Forums

Have a great weekend John!

Ha! I had a very busy, and eventful, weekend - but was not able to test anything at all (new home in a new location with the closing in 4 days - got a lot to finalize this week).

I took the day off today to get more of that work done, but all of a sudden I find myself with a good chunk of time because 2 issues I planned for the entire day have worked themselves out already.

So, on to testing!

larc919 said:

I'm holding on 8648 and will wait to see your opinion of 8688.

Within the next couple of hours, I'll post it.

oliver44 said:

some references for 8688

The Speakers - Black Future (Official Video) - YouTube

Third ≡ Party - Midnight (Official Music Video) - YouTube

Julijana Sarac I Put A Spell On You | Relaxing Blues Rock Music 2018 | Audiophile Hi-Fi (4K) - YouTube

The Alex Tintinalli Band Nothing To Lose | Relaxing Blues Rock Music 2018 | Audiophile Hi-Fi (4K) - YouTube

Good links - I might use one or more of those in my testing as well.

Caleb171 said:

8688 have a good balance of mid, mid-low and low, unlike the drivers that came after the famous 8648 and the terrible 8691, posted in StationDrivers forum, but there's a noticiable lack of highs. Seems to be a case of personal taste, but personally I will stay with the more overall balanced 8648.

There's one staying with 8648 already. Since that is what I am using right now, I'll do a direct comparison. This time, I will definitely go through all of the pieces I select, both on 8648 and the current latest, along with some online content (most likely from that great list by oliver44 above), as well, to truly get a good feel.

======================

I'll go ahead and mention a couple of things:

1. When I test music, almost everything I test that I post links to will be actual FLAC files I have locally on my computer, on an SSD, thereby eliminating any sort of issues from lag / connectivity.
2. Anything that is strictly online I will do my very best to test in multiple browsers - I currently have Firefox Nightly (updated daily ), Chrome, Edge, and Edmium aka Edge based on Chromium installed (oh, and IE, but I am most certainly *NOT* testing that browser).
3. Please remember that my tests are, even when conducted at this level of sophistication, still highly subjective, so they are my experiences and my opinions only, nothing more

======================

Here we go!

Methodology:

• All volume levels set to 75% (I had to guestimate on the volume control on my headphones, but as it takes 2 full rotations from edge to edge on the inline contorl, I used 1 full and 1 half, thereby equating to ~75%). I used Windows Media Player to play the local FLAC tracks.
• Tested between 8648 and 8688
• I used 5 locally stored FLAC encoded files
• I used 3 videos from YouTube
• My RealTek HDA EQ was set using the Powerful preset mode throughout the entire testing time period.
• Videos were tested SxS in Chrome and Fx Nightly
• Finally, you have no idea how unbelievably HARD it was for me to exercise restraint and not charge the volumes up all the way when doing this!!!!

I used 5 .FLAC encoded tracks locally:

1. 30 seconds to mars - Capricorn (A Brand New Name)
2. Fifth Angel - The Night
3. Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. & Faith No More - Another Body Murdered (Judgment Night sounrtrack)
4. Alice in Chains - Would?
5. Rob Dougan - Clubbed to Death (Kurayamino mix)

I then listened to the following videos SxS in Chrome and Firefox Nightly (by SxS I mean that I queued them up in both until I had a <50ms difference between the 2, effectively playing one over the other, and then would mute one browser, then unmute and mute the other browser, to compare the sound from both browsers, throughout a 10 minute piece for each video, the time signatures of which I will note in each bullet - see this example that I just posted: SxS browser sound comparison - YouTube - and full disclosure and caveat, since uninstalling and also installing the drivers calls for a reboot, I have to do this manually for both sets of tests - which means that I will never get the exact same synchronization for each sample on the different drivers. However, as I have numerous friends that are DJs, and I can tell when things are out of sync at a pretty close rate, I won't test the samples on 8688 until I am reasonably sure I am damned close to what I had the overlaid tracks when on 8648.) :

• Miss Monique - FGVIII [Freegrant Music Anniversary] // Progressive House - Miss Monique - FGVIII [Freegrant Music Anniversary] // Progressive House - YouTube - First ten minutes, t=0 tp t=600
• Iron Maiden - Where Eagles Dare drum cover by Ami Kim (#72) - [New] Iron Maiden - Where Eagles Dare drum cover by Ami Kim (#72) - YouTube - entire video as it is only 6:35 long
• Carl Cox @ Time Warp 2019 - ARTE Concert - Carl Cox @ Time Warp 2019 – ARTE Concert - YouTube (so no one can get completely mesmerized by the eye candy, geeks) - from time 2m to time 12 m

Finally, I used the following videos also for comparison, but without the overlaying on multiple browsers, so each was listened to (in its entirety, also) in Firefox Nightly only (thanks again to Oliver44 for the recommendations!):

• The Speakers - Black Future (Official Video) - The Speakers - Black Future (Official Video) - YouTube
• Third ≡ Party - Midnight (Official Music Video) - Third ≡ Party - Midnight (Official Music Video) - YouTube
• Julijana Sarac I Put A Spell On You | Relaxing Blues & Rock Music 2018 | Audiophile Hi-Fi (4K) - Julijana Sarac I Put A Spell On You | Relaxing Blues Rock Music 2018 | Audiophile Hi-Fi (4K) - YouTube

This time I decided to forego the video game play as this music here will suffice.

Currently completing the 8648 part of this review. Will edit post with the rest after swapping drivers and performing the same tests again.

(Currently conducting tests on 8688).

Ha! I thought something was wrong with 8688 - it just sounded subdued. Couldn't figure out what it was, because the sounds were damned near crystal clear, just subdued, almost as if in reverse of my last review.

Then I checked the system volume - it was reset to 67%

(Restarting tests on 8688.)

Still testing, but I've noticed something ... odd.

This time I've verified all vol levels are identical lol.

This driver seems much more clear through all the ranges - better bass, better midrange and better high end. however, at full volume, I get distortion on the high end that I was not getting on the 8648 drivers. It's almost as if ... for lack of a better description, as if the driver is adding a bit of amplification to the sound output, so that I am getting distortion (like I should have always gotten) at full vol.

The clarity of, say, both guitar and bass in the intro for The Night, the individual piano notes from Clubbed to Death, the bass and drums from Another Body Murdered, the pure bass lines from both Miss Monique's 10 min test and Carl Cox's 10 min test, the ripping high hats, crashes, and various other cymbals from Ami Kim's drum cover of Iron Maiden - each and every individual sound sound crisper and clearer on 8688, which results in a more melodic, fuller, richer sound. But I'm still concerned about the added distortion at the higher vol levels.

For now, I'm gonna stick with 8688 - the clarity over 8648 is discernibly noticeable on everything I threw at it. I'll just have to not turn the volume all the way up fully. This actually works best when I set the Windows system vol to about 92-95%.

Oddly enough, though, when I cranked Carl Cox's set up fully, I have 0 distortion.

Finally, as an aside - Firefox Nightly playing YouTube videos was juts a bit more punchy, harder hitting, than Chrome playing the same video (from the SxS video playback test).

There you go, folks. What say you?

6.0.1.8678 available to download from Microsoft Update Catalog. See first post for more details.

I think the first post needs editing @Brink.

Last Updated: May 9, 2019
HDA DRIVER VERSION: 6.0.1.8678

(Only 64-bit Windows 10)

Download at: Microsoft Update Catalog

Direct download links from Microsoft Update Catalog:

Download 6.0.1.8678 CAB for HDA "Windows 10 S, version 1809 and later, Servicing Drivers,Windows 10, version 1809 and later, Servicing Drivers" - 140.1 MB

For how to install: How to Install a CAB File in Windows 10

See also: Determine the HDA Realtek driver needed for your Audio - Windows 10 Forums

Updated May 9th 2019 ?

Let's do the time warp, again!

DooGie said:

I think the first post needs editing @Brink.

Updated May 9th 2019 ?

LOL, oops. Now fixed.

johngalt said:

For now, I'm gonna stick with 8688 - the clarity over 8648 is discernibly noticeable on everything I threw at it. I'll just have to not turn the volume all the way up fully. This actually works best when I set the Windows system vol to about 92-95%.

Oddly enough, though, when I cranked Carl Cox's set up fully, I have 0 distortion.

There you go, folks. What say you?

You outdid yourself this time!
Great review and test. Thanks a lot mate!!!