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Please note, this software is designed to run on the following Lenovo ThinkPad models:
- T510 / W510
- T520 / W520
- T530 / W530
Especially Lenovo ThinkPad T530 and W530 computers have very bad quality of sound playback (tiny flat sound). This driver aims to correct this as much as possible using software.
If somebody from Lenovo would agree to embed this technology into Windows soundcard drivers, I would gladly assist in all ways with the driver integration.
Installation
If possible, revert the sound drivers to the standard Microsoft High Definition Audio, uninstalling all Lenovo sound driver updates, Dolby enhancements, etc.
Unzip and the executable. Select Driver installer/uninstaller from the interface, select the device which says 'Speakers' (do not select the headphones device). After this please carefully read the instructions on the screen.
Usage
One can keep the application icon on the Windows desktop to adjust sound parameters as necessary.
The application has two controls:
- Amplification
- Correction Amount
Due to limited physical properties of the tiny Lenovo speaker, the application has to make certain compromises in how the sound is processed. In general, the sound level can appear lower than without the processing, also certain movie soundtracks and music can appear too quiet. Therefore the 'Amplification' slider is introduced to compensate the possible changes in the volume.
For certain types of music (such as percussive music with lots of bass frequencies) it might be necessary to use lower values, while for other types of sound (orchestral, piano, movies) it might be desired to increase the volume.
The 'Correction Amount' slider allows to blend between the original unprocessed sound and the corrected sound, as depending on the material some listeners may prefer not to apply the correction all the way.
Notes
Acoustic measurements were taken from the ThinkPad W530 computer, thus the driver will provide the best quality enhancement for T530 and W530 models, which are acoustically similar. This software adds the missing bass frequencies (as much as physically possible) and makes the poor quality speakers sound much better.
I received reports that ThinkPad T510 and T520 (and thus W510 and W520 as well) computers are also benefitting from this enhancement. However the driver might not be suitable for ThinkPads T500, W500, as well as other ThinkPad series. Though technically it will work on any computer (including non-Lenovo laptops), the specific frequency correction curve which is built into the driver may not be suitable for any other speaker configuration and thus may degrade the quality instead.
This driver was written only for Windows 7 and probably will work on Windows 8 as well. Both 32-bit and 64-bit versions are supported.
The side effects of installing this driver are:
- All DRM audio will be disabled, such as music from Microsoft URGE store, and Blu-ray discs.
- Certain files will also fail to play using Windows Media Player. You will need to use an alternative player, such as VLC.
- However Music from iTunes store will still work.
- Standard sound card driver audio effects (Dolby enhancements, equalizer, etc) will not be available. Settings such as environment, reverberation and equalization will disappear.
- This fix might be incompatible with 3rd party sound changing effects software, such as pitch shifting, voice morphing, etc.
Technical information
This program will install an LFX system audio effect with a long chain of equalization and modify the egistry to replace the standard RealTek and Microsoft driver effects.
The file SpeakerFixDriverAPOLFX.dll will be copied to the Windows system folder and registered as an audio object.
The technology which is used to create this driver is described on this Microsoft's page:
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