sound Quality of m17x

So just the other day my brother showed me the new hp envy with beats sound by Dr. Dre
this computer is supposed have surperior sound quality and made me feel self-concious about the sound quality of my m17x r1. Im assuming it has great sound quality just based on the connnections on the side. If i connect my laptop to a surperior sound system will it even be worth it? how good is the sound chip on this thing?

 

I think the M17x sound is quite above average. I connect it to my hi-fi headphones and tweak the sound with IDT controls. I have no complaints, Its almost as good as a soundblaster based system. Only very slightly lacking in bass clarity and overall depth.

If AV is high up in your list of usage, you r better off with a soundblaster equipt system. Don't know abt the envy, but XPS comes with an option for soundblaster.

 

the IDT HD audio is your standard 32bit DAC found in the other million Intel HD main boards in the world, it's acceptable and there are few solutions, external or internal that are better for laptops. The speakers are the area that matters, and most people (myself included) agree that they too are above average. There's no sub, but you really don't need it.

it's not the new audigy or Xi-Fi based cards, it's the old 24bit DAC SB from 10 years ago unforunatly, it's better than the 16-24bit DAC's used in a lot of cheap laptops, but besides EAX support and the creative software it's not better than the IDT 32bit in the M17x R2.

The only USB DAC's worth anything don't have the name creative on them anywhere. The Xi-Fi card I found out is just not worth it (it's worse than the IDT in many ways), it's lower resolution, it has a small frequency band, smaller DB support.ect.

 

So what are the audiophiles buying these days in the form of an expresscard?

 

the only express card sound card I know of that's worth anything is the Xi-Fi, and as I already explained, it sucks hehe. I tried looking for the thread I made, so i could link the USB Dac's that were suggested but it looks like it was auto deleted or something. the USB Xi-FI has bigger frequency ranges, but it's still limited in features compared to their newer cards, and it doesn't have the fancy million+ transistior DAC chip, so then what's the point? M-audio products are a good choice, but they're all USB based.

 

Anything that is USB powered and good/decent/extremely good?

 

Buy a portable USB Amp/DAC ..... I am using a iBasso D4 "Mamba" that works great!

 

so, say i connected my m17x to a surround sound system via hdmi. would the internals of my pc limit how great my sound can be? or does it only depend on how great my sound system is?

 

If your speakers are pushing 100+ DB you'd have a problem, otherwise you'll be fine.

 

Using a USB sound solution also eliminates a lot of the cross talk from other signal sources in your machine (e.g, cpu and gpu) so you get a lot less interference.

I always use a USB sound card to get rid of the static/hiss/crackle/pop you get from any integrated sound solution.
Most people dont hear it, but I can. The most common thing I come across is a 'datastream' noise when I move the mouse. Pain in the azz.

-Ash

 

ok so one more question. my surround sound has an audio in jack. like for mp3 players. Its just your standard 3.5mm. If i connect my m17x to this port will it be the same as connecting my computer to my tv via hdmi which is then connected to my surround sound system?

 

Here is a little bit about HP and Beats.

HP and Beats Electronics Set New Premium Standard for Music Audio on Notebooks

It sounds wonderful on paper but couldn't find much technical spec on it. If you are in buying a laptop for mixing than this is something worth looking into. If you find any spec please post.

 

Your standard 3.5mm plug only carries 2 channels of sound, so that's all your surround sound system will output. If the stereo sound is actually Dolby Pro Logic, your surround system may be able to decode this into pseudo-5.1.

HDMI is able to carry several channels of sound at once (at least 7.1). If your TV has multi-channel output to your surround system, you should be able to get surround sound out from your laptop. It's depends on what the TV does with the audio signal via HDMI.

 

this was very helpful. ill just stick to using my hdmi. i tested it out today and yes it is true surround sound. Rain sounds were coming from the rear speakers, vocals from the center and music and such from the left and right.

also is there any usb card that would be worth getting? Or do they have firewire one? or even an expresscard? would that be better? but Lozz did say usb cards arent very good. unless i understood wrong. anyway am i good just sticking to wats in my m17x?

 

been searching for a good express card sound card myself lately.
What i came up with is that the Echo Indigo DJ (2 Stereo outputs, no inputs) and the Echo Indigo I/O (1 Output, 1 Input) are the best choices out there.

 

those seem fairly good, however the only advantage you're going to get from those is the decreased cpu utilization


the IDT 92HD73C1 in the M17xR2 is 24bit resolution with 192khz range, so it's still somewhat less of a sound chip.

 

Most music is 44.1KHz 16-bit, anyways. Isn't it? (unless you're post processing and upsampling) Also, tech specs aren't quite going to tell you how the sound chip is going to sound.

mfractal, what are you trying to improve? Has your laptop's integrated sound chip been letting you down in some way?

 

Having some issues with my old xps m1710 which is used as a htpc. I hear all sorts of static noise coming from the speakers with the built in sound and it's ruining the experience.

 

Have you already tried putting the laptop's/Windows volume to the highest and put your speakers volume lower?

 

no, i haven't but i am pretty sure it happens in all audio levels.

 

Mfractal I too have a 1710 doing music duty, with some similar sounding issues. Haven't had time to try it but heard that asio4all might help. If you have time and find it works let me know

 

You'll get some serious rep if it works
going to test it now!

 

echo indigo iox onnly stereo output but much higher quality then internal or creative stuff.

 

Didn't work unfortunately..

 

Sorry.
Always hopeful that some fixes that are easy and free might work

Thanks for trying. Off to work.