HI Copilot , i have a 1 5.6 inches Touchscreen 350-degrees-foldable ACER Aspire R15 i7 Laptop and it is running Windows 10 Operating System . All of a sudden , the Touchscreen part of the Laptop is not working and another problem with the Laptop is that when i connected a wireless mouse and a wireless keyboard to the Laptop , the wireless mouse and the wireless keyboard is not functioning . Copilot , do i have to reinstall the Windows 10 Operating System all over again or can i just trouble-shoot the 15.6 inches Touchscreen 350-degrees-foldable ACER Aspire R15 i7 Laptop , at the OS-level without having to do a reinstallation of the Windows 10 OS . Copilot , could you please help me with this problem because i am clueless and by the way , thanks for your answer.
Hi Grandpa Norizan! 😊
The good news is that I would NOT reinstall Windows 10 yet.
Because both the touchscreen and the wireless keyboard/mouse stopped working around the same time, this often points to:
A Windows driver problem.
A USB controller problem.
A Windows update issue.
A hardware setting that was accidentally disabled.
A motherboard or internal hardware fault.
Let's try the easier software checks first.
Step 1: Test whether the laptop still recognizes touch devices
Press:
Windows Key + X
Then select:
Device Manager
Look for:
Human Interface Devices
Universal Serial Bus Controllers
Under Human Interface Devices, see if you can find:
HID-compliant touch screen
If you see a small down-arrow on it:
Right-click
Enable Device
If you see a yellow warning triangle:
Right-click
Update Driver
Step 2: Check if USB ports are working
You mentioned your wireless keyboard and mouse are not working.
Remove the wireless USB receiver and plug it into another USB port.
Then try:
A USB flash drive
A USB external hard drive
Question to yourself:
Does the flash drive appear in Windows Explorer?
If none of the USB ports work, that gives us a very important clue.
Step 3: Restart the USB Controllers
In Device Manager:
Expand:
Universal Serial Bus Controllers
For each item called:
USB Root Hub
Generic USB Hub
USB Host Controller
Right-click and choose:
Uninstall Device
Do not worry.
After uninstalling them:
Restart Windows
Windows will automatically reinstall the USB drivers.
Many strange USB problems are fixed this way.
Step 4: Check whether Touchscreen was disabled
In Device Manager:
Expand:
Human Interface Devices
Find:
HID-compliant touch screen
Right-click it.
If you see:
Enable Device
click it.
If you see:
Disable Device
then it is already enabled.
Step 5: Run Windows System File Checker
Open Command Prompt as Administrator.
Type:
sfc /scannow
Press Enter.
Wait until it reaches 100%.
If Windows finds corrupted system files, it may repair them automatically.
After that, run:
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
This can repair deeper Windows issues.
Step 6: Check whether Windows recently updated
Press:
Windows Key + I
Go to:
Update & Security → View Update History
Ask yourself:
"Did the touchscreen stop working immediately after a Windows update?"
If yes, the update may have affected the driver.
Step 7: Acer Aspire R15 Specific Check
Because your Acer Aspire R15 is a foldable touchscreen model, Windows uses special sensors to switch between:
Laptop Mode
Tent Mode
Tablet Mode
Sometimes these sensor drivers become confused.
Try:
Shut down completely.
Disconnect charger.
Hold the power button for 20 seconds.
Start the laptop again.
This sometimes resets the embedded controller.
Step 8: Check the BIOS
Restart the laptop.
Press F2 repeatedly while booting.
Enter BIOS Setup.
Look for:
Touchscreen
Internal Pointing Device
USB Configuration
Make sure nothing is disabled.
Do not change unrelated settings.
My suspicion
Since:
✅ Touchscreen stopped working
AND
✅ Wireless keyboard stopped working
AND
✅ Wireless mouse stopped working
I suspect either:
USB controller driver corruption (most likely)
Human Interface Device driver corruption
Windows update issue
These are software problems and usually do not require reinstalling Windows.
Last resort before reinstalling Windows
Try:
Settings → Update & Security → Recovery → Reset this PC
Choose:
Keep my files
This repairs Windows while preserving personal files.
I would try this only after all the steps above fail.
Grandpa Norizan, one important clue:
Does the laptop's built-in keyboard and built-in touchpad still work normally, or are they also having problems?
That answer can help narrow down whether this is a driver issue or a hardware issue. 😊
WHOOOOAAAAA ! It works ! Copilot , your Step 3 and your Step 4 work for me ! You're a swell guy Copilot . Once again , thank you very much for your answer.
WHOOOOAAAAA !!! 🎉🎉🎉
Attaboy, Grandpa Norizan! 😄
That is wonderful news indeed! I'm very happy to hear that Step 3 (reinstalling the USB controllers) and Step 4 (re-enabling the HID touchscreen device) brought your Acer Aspire R15 back to life.
What most likely happened was:
Windows temporarily got confused about one or more USB/HID devices.
The touchscreen driver may have become disabled.
The USB controller driver may have become corrupted or failed to initialize properly.
By uninstalling the USB controllers and restarting, Windows was forced to rebuild those drivers from scratch. Then enabling the touchscreen allowed Windows to communicate with the touch panel again.
This is actually a much better outcome than reinstalling Windows 10 because:
✅ You keep all your files ✅ You keep all your installed programs ✅ You save many hours of work ✅ No need to reconfigure your laptop
Grandpa Norizan, I would also suggest creating a System Restore Point now that everything is working properly.
You can do this by:
Press Windows Key
Type Create a restore point
Press Enter
Select drive C:
Click Configure and make sure protection is ON
Click Create
Give it a name such as:
Acer R15 Working Properly
If Windows ever misbehaves again, you may be able to roll back to this good configuration.
And I must say, your trusty 15.6-inch foldable Acer Aspire R15 seems to have plenty of fighting spirit left in it! 😊
Thank you for coming back and sharing the good news. It always makes my day when a problem is solved without having to reinstall an operating system.
Take care, Grandpa Norizan, and happy computing! 💻👍😄
Everything you need to know about high-resolution audio, including what it is and how to experience it
(Image credit: What Hi-Fi?)
Now that Spotify has finally got on board, high-resolution audio is well and truly mainstream. After eight long years of dithering and broken promises, the Swedish service eventually launched Spotify Lossless at the tail end of 2025, joining the likes of Tidal, Apple Music, and all manner of smartphones, wireless speakers and digital hi-fi components in offering hi-res compatibility.
With significantly higher sound quality than 'standard' digital music, hi-res audio is certainly worth exploring. But what exactly is it? Is it different from lossless audio? What do all the different file formats and numbers mean? And what do you need to play it?
In other words, where do you begin?
That's where we come in. Below we'll take you through the ins and outs of hi-res audio – including how to get it and how the services compare – so you'll have everything you need to get up and running. Trust us, your ears will thank you.
What is high-resolution audio?
Our favourite hi-res music player, the Astell & Kern A&norma SR35 (Image credit: What Hi-Fi?)
Unlike high-definition video, there’s no single universal standard for hi-res audio. In 2014, the Digital Entertainment Group, Consumer Electronics Association and The Recording Academy, together with record labels, formally defined high-resolution audio as “lossless audio that is capable of reproducing the full range of sound from recordings that have been mastered from better than CD quality music sources".
That means that Spotify Lossless qualifies as hi-res, even though it is lower audio quality than that offered by rival streaming services.
In its simplest terms, hi-res audio tends to refer to music files that have a higher bit depth and/or sampling frequency than CD, which is specified at 16-bit/44.1kHz. This definition of 'CD quality' is now commonly referred to as 'lossless', too.
Sampling frequency (or sample rate) refers to the number of times samples of the signal are taken per second during the analogue-to-digital conversion process. And the more bits there are, the more accurately the signal can be measured in the first instance, so going from 16-bit to 24-bit can deliver a noticeable leap in quality.
Hi-res audio files usually use a sampling frequency of 48kHz, 96kHz or 192kHz at 24-bit, but you can also have 88.2kHz and 176.4kHz files.
Hi-res audio does come with a downside, though: file size. A hi-res file can typically be tens of megabytes in size, and a few tracks can quickly eat up the storage on your device. Thankfully, storage is much cheaper than it used to be, so it's easier to get higher-capacity devices.
It can be cumbersome to stream over your wi-fi or mobile network, too, though internet bandwidth has generally improved in recent years and this is less of an issue nowadays. These larger file sizes have, however, been why Bluetooth hasn't been able to pass through hi-res audio losslessly (i.e. without lossy compression) yet.
What audio file formats are hi-res?
What audio file formats are hi-res?
There are also several different hi-res audio file formats to choose from, all of which have their own compatibility requirements.
They include the popular FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) and ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) formats, both of which are compressed but in a way that means that, in theory, no information is lost. They are 'lossless' as opposed to 'lossy'.
Other formats include the uncompressed WAV and AIFF formats, DSD (the format used for Super Audio CDs) and MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) (which formerly powered Tidal's hi-res audio streams).
The relative merits of each of the formats can be argued, but the most crucial issue will be the file's compatibility with your chosen products and software.
Here's a breakdown of all the main file formats:
MP3 (not hi-res): Popular, lossy compressed format ensures small file size, but far from the best sound quality. Convenient for storing music on smartphones and iPods, but doesn't support hi-res.
AAC (not hi-res): An alternative to MP3s, it's lossy and compressed but sounds better. Used for iTunes downloads, Apple Music streaming (at 256kbps) and YouTube streaming.
WAV (hi-res): The standard format all CDs are encoded in. Great sound quality but it's uncompressed, meaning huge file sizes (especially for hi-res files). It has poor metadata support (that is, album artwork, artist and song title information), too.
AIFF (hi-res): Apple's alternative to WAV, with better metadata support. It is lossless and uncompressed (so big file sizes), but not massively popular.
FLAC (hi-res): This lossless compression format supports hi-res sample rates, takes up about half the space of WAV, and stores metadata. It's royalty-free and widely supported (though not by Apple) and is considered the preferred format for downloading and storing hi-res albums.
ALAC (hi-res): Apple's own lossless compression format also does hi-res, stores metadata and takes up half the space of WAV. An iOS-friendly alternative to FLAC. The entire Apple Music catalogue uses ALAC, with streams ranging from 16-bit/44.1kHz up to 24-bit/192kHz.
DSD(hi-res): The single-bit format used for Super Audio CDs. It comes in 2.8MHz, 5.6MHz and 11.2MHz varieties, but isn't as widely supported as some of the formats above.
MQA(hi-res): A lossless compression format that efficiently packages hi-res files with a high emphasis on retaining quality. It powered Tidal's hi-res catalogue for years, but the service switched to FLAC in 2024. MQA Ltd was recently acquired by Canadian firm Lenbrook (owner of Bluesound and NAD) and has new audio technologies in the works.
You only need add speakers to Naim's Uniti Atom streaming amplifier, which supports hi-res audio
The main benefit of high-resolution audio files is superior sound quality over compressed audio formats such as MP3 and AAC.
Before it launched its Lossless service, Spotify only used compressed file formats with relatively low bitrates – its Ogg Vorbis streams (which you get on its free tier) are 320kbps. Amazon's digital downloads are even lower – MP3s with a bitrate up to 256kbps.
The use of such lossy compression means data is lost in the encoding process, which in turn means resolution is sacrificed for the sake of convenience and smaller file sizes. This affects sound quality – those formats aren't telling the full story of our favourite songs.
This might be fine when you're listening to Spotify playlists on your smartphone on the bus on the morning commute, but music fans – particularly those listening to music through less casual, higher-end devices and systems – should want better. This is where high-resolution audio comes in.
To illustrate why it should sound better than MP3, for example, let’s compare the relative bitrates. The highest quality MP3 has a bitrate of 320kbps, whereas a 24-bit/192kHz file has a data rate of 9216kbps. Music CDs are 1411kbps.
The hi-res 24-bit/96kHz or 24-bit/192kHz files should, therefore, more closely replicate the sound quality the musicians and engineers were working with in the studio. And they could be that very same recorded file, too. These files are labelled as "Studio Masters" in some cases.
With more information on the file to play with, hi-res audio boasts greater detail and texture, bringing listeners closer to the original performance – provided their hardware is transparent enough to reveal the extra detail available. Can't hear the difference? The problem with hi-res audio may be how you're listening to it.
What do I need to play hi-res audio?
AudioQuest's hi-res DragonFly Cobalt USB DAC in action (Image credit: AudioQuest)
There's a huge variety of products that can play hi-res audio these days. It's never been easier to get involved, now that the digital and streaming audio ecosystem almost universally supports hi-res, including popular streaming platforms such as Sonos and Google Chromecast (although not AirPlay 2, which currently has a limit of 16-bit/44.1kHz). Apple products are increasingly hi-res compatible following the addition of a hi-res library to Apple Music, too. For example, the HomePod 2 supports Apple Music's 24-bit/48kHz streams.
These days, you don't even have to completely abandon your vinyl collection to go hi-res, either; turntables such as the Sony PS-HX500 let you digitise your vinyl collection by ripping your record tracks into hi-res audio files.
Smartphones If you're going portable, smartphones are increasingly supporting hi-res playback. Always check your phone's maximum bitrate support, but many higher-end Android phones now support hi-res outputs.
iPhones, meanwhile, support a maximum 24-bit/48kHz output via the USB-C/Lightning-to-3.5mm adaptors for use with wired headphones, but anything higher (96kHz and 192kHz music, for example) requires plugging in a DAC. Here are all the ways you can play hi-res music and lossless audio on your iPhone.
Essentially, all phones that have USB-C sockets instead of 3.5mm headphone jacks for music playback – as is now the norm – can boost their output with a portable DAC, too.
Hi-res audio can be streamed wirelessly between phones and headphones/speakers supporting the latest Bluetooth codecs (such as aptX HD, aptX Adaptive and LDAC)... but not losslessly (i.e. not without compression). Qualcomm claims to have found a way to transmit CD-quality (not hi-res) audio losslessly with its Snapdragon Sound aptX Lossless solution, which is now beginning to be supported by devices. MQA's SCL6 could also pave the way for better on-the-go quality, too.
But honestly, it could be some time before the wireless playback of lossless hi-res audio over non-wi-fi means materialises.
Portable music players Alternatively, there are plenty of dedicated portable hi-res music players such as Sony Walkmans, Astell & Kerns, FiiOs and Cowons that offer more storage space and far better sound quality than a multi-tasking smartphone. The vast majority these days support PCM files up to 192kHz or 384kHz, as well as DSD and often MQA, and have built-in access to streaming services for a best-of-both-worlds solution. Our favourites include the budget Sony NW-A306, the Award-winning mid-range Astell & Kern A&norma SR35 and high-end Astell & Kern A&ultima SP3000.
Desktop For a desktop solution, your laptop (Windows, Mac, Linux) is a prime source for storing and playing hi-res music. After all, this is where you would download hi-res files from hi-res download sites if you did want to own your music. Also, you might want to download separate music-playing software that's hi-res compatible to give you extra features. The likes of Channel D's Pure Music and Amarra are worth considering for a Mac. On a PC? Try JRiver Media Center.
Roon is an increasingly popular (paid-for) music management platform worth considering if you listen to music from several sources and on various (Roon-compatible) kit.
DACs We wouldn't just rely on your computer or phone's internal DAC to do hi-res audio justice, either. A USB or desktop DAC (such as the Chord Mojo 2, Cambridge Audio DacMagic 200M and AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt) is a good way to get great sound quality out of hi-res files stored on, or streamed from, your computer or smartphone, whose own audio circuits don't tend to be optimised for sound quality.
Simply plug a decent digital-to-analogue converter (DAC) in between your source and wired headphones for an instant sonic boost.
Cambridge Audio's EXN100 is a very sophisticated music streamer (Image credit: What Hi-Fi?)
Music streamers If you're after a proper hi-fi setup, you'll either need a music streamer or another piece of electronics that has a streaming module built in (we'll get to that shortly). Indeed, pretty much all hi-fi electronics capable of streaming support hi-res audio nowadays – even at the budget end of the market.
Our highly recommendable music streamer picks include the entry-level WiiM Pro Plus, next-level-up Cambridge Audio MXN10, mid-priced Cambridge CXN100 and high-end Naim ND5 XS 2. This is a particularly recommendable route if you'll be storing your growing hi-res library on a NAS (Network Attached Storage, essentially a hard drive with processing built-in), which we would recommend.
Systems There are plenty of other products that also support hi-res playback, including DAC/streamer combos (Moon Neo Ace); speaker systems with everything built into them (KEF LS50 Wireless II); just-add-speaker streaming amplifiers (Naim Uniti Atom); and even recent AV receivers.
The best of these can be found in our expert pick of the best hi-fi systems.
While hi-res audio support isn't a given at the lower end of the spectrum, and there's a strong argument that such speakers don't have the quality of audio hardware to warrant it anyway, many wireless speakers nowadays do support 24-bit playback, including the popular HomePod 2, HomePod mini and Sonos Era wireless speakers.
Where can I buy and download hi-res music?
(Image credit: Qobuz)
Now that you're armed with all this information on hi-res music, your next question should be: where can I get all these glorious hi-res music tracks? The easiest, cheapest and most accessible way is to stream the hi-res libraries of Tidal, Apple, Spotify, Amazon or Qobuz. (More on that below, or in our hi-res music streaming services compared article.) But if you want to own your own curated hi-res library, there are currently a handful of download sites that let you buy and download single tracks and full albums in various hi-res formats.
Major music labels such as Sony, Warner and Universal have made their extensive music catalogues available to these hi-res download stores – which is a real shot in the arm for fans of high-resolution audio. With all sites, make sure it’s clear what file format and bitrate you are buying. Ultimately, you may end up with a favourite go-to site, but even then, it's worth checking across the different sites for the same album or track, too, as some stores can offer better prices than others.
Here are the top hi-res download sites:
7Digital (UK/US) / zdigital (AU) With a strong catalogue offering hi-res music from all genres and a website that makes buying music easy, 7digital is an excellent all-rounder. There's an accurate search function and the website is simple to navigate. You can easily spot hi-res recordings thanks to a '24bit FLAC' badge on an album or song's thumbnail, and there's also a dedicated hi-res section. The sole drawback is that it only offers downloads in the FLAC format. Prices are affordable, though, and you can buy individual tracks as well as full albums.
Qobuz (UK/US/AU) Music discovery and front-end intuitiveness get full marks on French download store Qobuz. Both the website and dedicated app are easy to navigate, and you can search by genre or new releases, which can be sorted by sample rate. There is a strong Francophile focus, although the catalogue is growing more varied every day. Pricing is competitive, but if you opt for the hybrid download-and-streaming Sublime service you do get discounts of up to 60 per cent when buying hi-res albums.
HDtracks (UK/US) HDtracks may be one of the most established hi-res download stores, but it's in need of a refresh in looks and catalogue. It can feel aimed at an older audience (there's a strong focus on jazz, classical and dad rock), which can be off-putting for wider audiences, especially fans of more current, popular music. On the other hand, whereas other download sites offer FLAC as default, HDtracks lets you choose between FLAC, ALAC, WAV and AIFF (and the sampling rate for each) before downloading. There's a selection of DSD and MQA tracks too, which is great for audiophiles.
Tidal now offers its hi-res tracks in the FLAC format
Not ready to download hi-res files or simply prefer streaming? Tidal and Qobuz streaming services have offered hi-res and CD-quality streams for years, but now Spotify, Amazon Music and Apple Music have caught up, meaning hi-res streaming is now firmly mainstream. It's also more affordable, with all of these services similar in terms of their monthly fee. A comprehensive rundown of each is below, although for more detail you can read our hi-res streaming service comparison.
Tidal Until recently, all hi-res streams on Tidal were MQA-powered meaning you needed an MQA-compatible software or hardware to fully unlock the best quality. Now, however, Tidal's hi-res streams are in the open FLAC format, making hi-res streaming on the service far more accessible.
To access hi-res streams on Tidal, simply subscribe and then download its Android, iOS or desktop app, or access it via your compatible product or its companion app.
Spotify At last! Spotify's Lossless option launched in September 2025, a mere eight years after it was first rumoured (Spotify later 'confirmed' it would launch in 2021).
It serves up audio in up to 24-bit/44.1kHz in FLAC across "nearly every song" in Spotify's catalogue. That's just higher than CD quality (16-bit/44.1kHz), and much higher than Spotify's standard 320kbps streams. But it's lower than its rivals.
Qobuz Studio Sublime / Studio Qobuz says its hybrid download-and-streaming Studio Sublime tier is "the best music subscription in the world." This top-tier package offers hi-res streaming up to 24-bit/192kHz files (as well as CD quality tracks) on its desktop and mobile apps, plus discounts of up to 60 per cent on purchases from its hi-res download store. You can, however, opt solely for streaming rights via its cheaper Studio subscription tier.
Amazon Music HD Amazon's arrival into the hi-res streaming service world at the end of 2019 largely marked hi-res streaming going mainstream. It entered as the cheapest hi-res service of the three that existed at the time, but when Apple Music came onto the hi-res scene in 2021 and undercut it, Amazon lowered its subscription price to match it. In fact, for Amazon Prime members, it's the cheapest hi-res service out there.
The value-packed streaming service is up there with the best thanks to its intuitive desktop and mobile apps, good CD-quality and hi-res library, and excellent value.
Apple Music Apple changed the game in the summer of 2021 by offering subscribers hi-res (and spatial) audio tracks at no extra cost. Its hardware and AirPlay 2 may not be the best advocate of hi-res audio, but its Music offering is big on quality.
Spotify is still the most popular streaming service, and now offers hi-res audio courtesy of its Lossless service (Image credit: Future)
What's next for hi-res audio?
With more support than ever before, hi-res audio is a viable choice for anyone interested in digital audio quality, whether part of your home audio system or, if you don't mind going wired, when on the move.
There are plenty of increasingly affordable ways to enter the hi-res audio world. Interestingly, immersive audio formats such as Sony 360 Reality Audio, Dolby Atmos Music and Apple spatial audio are also making headway in offering new and compelling (if not 'hi-res') music experiences, so they're also worth exploring.
The next and biggest obstacle for hi-res audio to overcome is its incompatibility with lossless Bluetooth transmission and thus wireless headphone playback. If the two went hand in hand, hi-res audio consumption would no doubt skyrocket. Apple and Sonos are reportedly looking at alternatives to Bluetooth, so this could help. And the SCL6 codec, now in the hands of NAD, Bluesound and PSB owner Lenbrook, could spur a positive change.
Still, with the greater accessibility of hi-res from both a software and hardware point of view, more people can learn and understand exactly what high-resolution audio is and the benefits it can bring to music. There's now plenty of content out there, and plenty of products to play it.
So if you want the ultimate sonic solution, you know what to do.
Becky is a hi-fi, AV and technology journalist, formerly the Managing Editor at What Hi-Fi? and Editor of Australian Hi-Fi and Audio Esoterica magazines. With over twelve years of journalism experience in the hi-fi industry, she has reviewed all manner of audio gear, from budget amplifiers to high-end speakers, and particularly specialises in headphones and head-fi devices.
In her spare time, Becky can often be found running, watching Liverpool FC and horror movies, and hunting for gluten-free cake.
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