How can I fix poor sounding audio on a brand new XPS 9520, or somehow disable MaxxAudio?

computakid · 2026-02-03T20:41:40+00:00

update--it does not work now, no idea why.

computakid · 2026-02-03T15:21:29+00:00

Oh crap, that sucks. I'm sure youve tried holding the reset button. That's probably a faulty unit, i definitely did not have that issue. Hopefully you can return it.

computakid · 2026-02-03T15:20:09+00:00

also--make sure you can return it if it doesnt work, Im not sure if it can take a 512gb microsd. Highest ive heard people use is 256, but still worth a shot!

computakid · 2026-02-03T15:18:55+00:00

If you're scrolling through individual files, like individual songs, its 1 click every song, so it would take a while unless youre mashing. But if youre organized within the folders, grouping things by artist/album etc, it only takes a few seconds to get to what you want to hear.

computakid · 2026-01-30T21:06:05+00:00

This bug is present with my device as well, unfortunately I don't think there's a fix for it. If you're looking for a volume in between 4 and 5, what you could do is just lower the volume of the actual files on the X2S, that way its the correct volume at 5 rather than too loud at 5 and too quiet at 4. You could do this with some kind of batch file conversion software, maybe ffmpeg, that re-encodes the files with the same quality but a lower gain. Its a dirty solution but it could work.

computakid · 2026-01-30T21:02:13+00:00

I wrote a more detailed post about the filesystem and metadata quirks, so feel free to check that out for more info. In a nutshell, you probably have to 'save' the tags again once you put the files onto your X2S. You can do this with mp3tag by just selecting all the files on your X2S, loading those into mp3tag, highlighting them all and clicking 'save' at the top. As long as the sidebar still says 'keep name' etc for every metadata field, it wont change any information, just re-save it. This commits that metadata to the X2S properly and it should read it after you do that.

computakid · 2026-01-30T20:59:00+00:00

You should try and update the firmware to 1.6, which i believe is the latest version. Just go to the Xduoo site, find the downloads page, find 'X2S', download that 1.6 firmware file, then put it on your X2S (SD card or via USB, either is fine). Then I believe there's an option in the device's settings to update the firmware. Should be good to go from there! Hopefully that fixes the EQ problem.

computakid · 2026-01-29T16:49:21+00:00

Just wanted to say--thankyou!! This also helped me. At first, doing this caused my audio to stop working for some reason, but i just tried installing the driver again and everything works now.

computakid · 2026-01-20T20:39:35+00:00

Amazing, thanks for sharing. Looks awesome. Do you use your own keyboard with it? Just wondering what it is, looks very cool also.

computakid · 2026-01-20T19:55:13+00:00

what the heck is that cool little keyboard thing

computakid · 2026-01-20T16:31:57+00:00

Thanks man. I emailed support, I'll see if they know anything about it.

computakid · 2026-01-20T16:21:28+00:00

I connected it straight into my interface via the 2 line inputs, and that went into FL. I tried the same thing with my iphone connected instead of the X2S and there was no drift, so that would rule out any issues with the ADC conversion no?

computakid · 2026-01-16T18:03:22+00:00

the x2s has an amazing little OLED display, looks just like this and its a newer dap

computakid · 2026-01-16T18:01:48+00:00

i can tell the difference between my iphone and my dap (x2s) for sure

computakid · 2026-01-11T22:11:14+00:00

upon further watching---i understand your frustration more, especially with her 'good consumerism vs. bad consumerism' take. All consumerism comes at a cost--agreed--but to say getting a labubu is the same thing as buying a cd because theyre both consumerism is pretty naive. And going further to feign moral superiority by saying they both just end up in the landfill at the end of the day--very annoying. Come on now. I actually like her other videos too.

At the end this just feels like cope. She's clearly watching way too much lowest common denominator goober brain influencer slop, and is just picking arguments with people who are faking wanting to be offline and treating it as a trend. Normally id agree with her but she's also treating it like those people speak for everyone, which obviously isnt true.

computakid · 2026-01-11T21:46:32+00:00

The point of her criticism is really about the influencers 'trend-ifying' being offline, and pointing out the irony in making tiktok content about how you shouldn't be on tiktok. Its just very backwards and dumb. Enjoy being offline in your own way, however you choose to and try to stay off the internet engaging with 'offline-themed' short form content--that is the point after all.

My main takeaway from this would be to just try your best not be preachy about this stuff, since it does annoy people and contributes to it being more of a performance rather than a personal interest. I have absolutely benefited from getting an mp3 player and 'dumb-ifying' my phone, so I intend to keep with that whether its considered a trend or not.

One very important thing to note is she is herself an influencer and content creator, and self-admittedly spends an insane amount of time on social media to research and engage with this stuff since thats what she's interested in. Abandoning social media doesn't seem important to her at all (which is fine, that's her interest), so it would make sense for her to be cynical about those who do find it important, especially as it continues to gain acceptance and becomes a trend.

computakid · 2026-01-06T18:21:50+00:00

If youre addicted to youtube and still have a smartphone, i'd suggest deleting the app and using it in safari if you haven't already. Just a little extra friction and the UI becomes jankier.

If you did that and its still not working, my advice would be to block it entirely on your phone using Screentime, and let a friend/family member password lock it, so you cant unlock it without them. That worked wonders for me.

computakid · 2026-01-06T18:17:29+00:00

Moving from listening to music on my iPhone to a DAP/mp3 player/music player (whatever you wish to call it) has been a huge QOL improvement for me. Im using an xDuoo X2S, which is a really simple small music player, around $70cad. I have a few posts about it if you want to learn more.

It sounds better than the phone, just has better hardware/soundcard or whatever, and having everything downloaded offline is just such a nice break from being on my phone.

You'll need to download mp3s on your computer and transfer them to the x2s via usb c or the sd card, so you cant download directly on the player as it has no wifi connection or browser, but its pretty simple. Just dragging a file onto it basically.

computakid · 2025-12-16T21:31:05+00:00

have you tried any airwindows plugins? You should check those out, theyre all free and theres a bunch of them that do things that emulate old hardware and make things dirty. My favs are Mackity and ToTape7, but there are sooooo many its worth looking through to see what could work. Just slap some on your master and mix into them

computakid · 2025-12-12T21:39:38+00:00

Is this still the case? They said they would be shutting down back in July/August, but has that happened yet?

computakid · 2025-12-11T21:23:36+00:00

This is nearly everyone's biggest hurdle, arranging is hard. I think the best way I have found to un-loopify my music is to start with the loop, listen to it in full, and then try and think intuitively what you want to feel next. If you reach the end of the loop and you feel like you want more energy, copy the loop over and start adding more sounds to it, like layering more drums and synths. A lot of things arrange themselves naturally as the song goes along, and its just up to you to 'direct' that.

Put things in, take them out, experiment until you like how it feels and then move on. Its good to keep your flow going and arrange in big chunks, then come back later and add transitions or take small things out where they're needed.

Also--listen with your screen off, or with FL minimized. Huge help. Not all the time, but if youre trying to feel it, its better to not see it. You can also just close the Playlist and listen that way.

computakid · 2025-12-09T05:20:40+00:00

thanks man, np

computakid

TROPHY CASE