Test your W2V for bad sound!

Many people are very disappointed in the sound quality of the W2V, see links below. The main complaint is that the sound output to headphones or external speakers is tinny and lacks bass. Expectation of good sound was one of the main reasons I bought this so-called "digital media home".

So I sent an e-mail describing the sound problem to the shop who sold me my W2V (notebookshop.de), and attached a copy of about 20 posts from other people with the same problem. The response I received infuriated me. They basically said that they (i.e. notebookshop.de) haven't noticed any problem, that their technician is an audiophile and he likes the sound, and that Asus has neither noticed any problem themselves nor received any complaints. They dismissed my complaint (and everyone else's) as subjective; good sound is "a matter of taste".

Before I travel to Germany and rip their heads off, I thought I would find out how widespread the problem is. So here's a simple one-minute test to see if your W2V has as crappy sound as mine has. Please do the test and report the results in this thread, positive or negative! Tell us also in which country you bought your W2V.

I'm especially interested in seeing what PROportable has to say about this, and if he can provoke a comment from Asus through his contacts.

TEST:
1. Connect good headphones to the left sound output marked FRONT, or run stereo speakers from this output.
2. Start the Realtek configuration utility (blue/yellow icon in the notification tray near the clock) and go to the Speaker Configuration tab.
3. Choose anything you like from the pop-up menu, e.g. headphones or 2CH speakers (what you choose has no effect on sound quality from this output). Click Auto Test a few times and listen to the short cascade.
4. Now connect the headphones to the rightmost output marked SURROUND. If the Audio Wizard pops up, choose headphones or some kind of speaker (once again, what you select doesn't matter).
5. Go back to the Speaker Configuration tab and select 4CH speakers to send rear channels to this output. Now it matters, so make sure you select 4CH (6CH is also OK though)! Click Auto Test again and listen to the sound when the picture shows that the back speakers are active. If your computer is like mine, you should hear that the sound now has much more bass, especially in the initial "punch".
6. If you like, redo the test. Go back and forth between the left and right sound outputs, and listen to the difference. You can keep the 4CH setting all the time, for convenience.
7. Finally, play an MP3 of some music you like, and swap between the left and right outputs. Again, keep the 4CH speaker setting all the time. For me, the difference is night and day.

WHAT I HEAR:
1. The left output (FRONT) always lacks bass and sounds tinny, no matter what the configuration. The equalizer can change the sound a bit, but it won't help much.
2. The rear channel from the right output (SURROUND) has bass, as does center/subwoofer output from the middle output (CENT/BASS). These outputs sound much better than the FRONT output (but still not great, in my opinion).
3. The equalizer only affects the front channel. It has no effect on rear, center or subwoofer channels.

So, did you hear a difference? If so, then your W2V is faulty. Actually I suspect they all are. The same quality of sound that can be heard from the right output when configured to send the rear channel should be heard from the front channel and left output as well.

But if we can get somewhat acceptable sound from using the right output, why are people complaining? Well, this output doesn't always work, it depends on the software being used. Windows Media Player seems OK, foobar2000 can be configured to output to the rear channel, as can some games. But many programs will only work from the ordinary left output, i.e. the crappy one. Also, some people report getting noise disturbances in the right sound output from things like hard disk access, mouse movement, USB transfers, etc. I hear this too, but I hear it about equally from all sound outputs, and not frequently enough to piss me off.

Here are some links to other discussions of this problem:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=21399
http://vip.asus.com/forum/bbs_view....anguage=en-us&topic_page=1&page_cnt=1&recc=28
http://vip.asus.com/forum/bbs_view....anguage=en-us&topic_page=3&page_cnt=3&recc=28
http://vip.asus.com/forum/bbs_view....anguage=en-us&topic_page=1&page_cnt=2&recc=15

If the discussion on this gets hot enough, we can use it to petition Asus for a driver update, or even a hardware fix.

 

Ok, just did your test but I already new the outcome: I have exactly the same experience.

Furthermore, as mentioned before: How do you explain that the Realtek sound utility in 4 or 6ch does not adress the front speakers?

 

I've had the W2 for a few weeks, and sound was not ok. I've never found a way to adjust the audio levels for all the speakers seperately. 2 were grayed out in the mixer, and the demo sound muted on 2 speakers. Maybe someone can test this with a test-dvd like AVIA? This issue, together with only an analogue tuner equipped (in Belgium we have DVB-T, and the analogue TV switchoff getting closer), and a bulky remote and external IR- eye dicided me to bring it back to the store.

 

So, why didn't you get the one with the hybrid tuner? I presume the DVB-T transmissions in Belgium didn't start overnight.........

I think the W2 is the best notebook around so far, so let's stay on topic.

 

Sounds like you shouldn't have gotten the MCE model.. and with you having DVB-T -- it makes no sense why they would sell that model there........ but when you're talking about your speakers........ you used 4 channel mode on the demo and they are NOT 4 channel speakers..... that's why it "went dead"....

To the main post -

I don't know if I have to say this again, but for a week now Asus has been aware and has had Tawain looking into this directly. The sound works fine with DVDs....... with regular sounds and music, all of the speakers are getting all of highs and lows (this is not the case on the w1 or with dvds, which is why i know this is not a hardware thing)....... ... now... stereo stuff is just going to play normally and the sub will kick it up a notch.... but on a dvd, that sub is a seperate channel and all the lows go right now that and out of the other speakers........ it's not a huge difference, but lows are what kills the sound on small laptop speakers and when anything but low tones are pushed through the sub, it distorts it and makes it sound weird.... So really the answer is somewhere in the drivers...... but for now these speakers act slightly different than the W1 does and Asus knows it and they are working on it. However, there's a lot of talk from newbies with the notebook, or those just looking at it.... and I can tell you that at this point 36-38 people already have W2's from us and close to half of them are coming from W1n's or 17" powerbooks....... the sound comes in only after the weight(size) and screen(quality/viewing angles) in terms of what what improvements they notice most over their other systems. It's a great system edging on perfect......especially compared to what's out there..... but just as it stands by itself, a couple driver updates should make this perfect by 99% of people...... (I'm taking about updated audio properties; code written for the internal consumer IR to work with the Microsoft remote) ....... both of those things are underway and please note- the ONLY two things I could find to complain about to Asus....... when they looked at the same thing, they agreed and called up Taiwan right away so it wouldn't get lost in a pile of things to do.

Two things about the W2......

1. it's twice the computer than 99% of even people in this forum really need (all the more reason the want it)

2. 99% of people will use this system for 2-3 years and never think twice that it wasn't the the all around best quality, performance, feature rich, system they could have bought.

 

Thank you very much for your response Justin. I'm glad there is at least one reseller out there who agrees that there is a problem and is pushing Asus to do something about it.

This may be one of ONLY two problems, but for me at least, it is a HUGE problem. The sound output is horrible; it is not a subtle effect for anyone who appreciates the sound quality of the music they listen to. If this is not fixed, I will regret having bought this system, however good it is in other aspects.

 

I have tried what you said as well, but for me this only makes the sound quality worse. I tried playing MP3's with Windows Media Player and a headphone attached on the front channel and I got quite good sound (comparable with my Sony Vaio). However, when I put it at the rear channel I get much worse results and I find it plain ugly to listen to.

At this moment of speaking I'm using the latest Realtek drivers downloadable from the Realtek site. When doing the speakertest only the front speakers work. When doing the surround demo however, I get the feeling that the rear speakers and the subwoofer are actually working as well (but you have to put it on 2-Channels and not more!).

 

THEY ARE 2 CHANNEL SPEAKERS.... one of the best reasons they have to be in 2 channel.

 

Well, then I call this misleading advertizing from the Asus site..:

W2V- Elegant 17' Widescreen Media Center
Mobile media center with TV tuner
Elegant Brushed Metal Design
Cinematic 17' Widescreen
built-in subwoofer speaker and 4.1-channel surround sound
ATI Mobility RADEON X700 processor
Bluetooth™ for Unwired Freedom
Suggested Retail Price: $2599

 

It absolutely is misleading.Asus needs to deal with it.
I've been building computers almost solely with asus motherboards and asus video card for 10 years, and im a big fan of their products in general.
I'm also overall very happy with my new W2.
I do however not have a problem calling out things as i see them. Also when it's bad.
That's where ProPortable has a problem. It simply shines through way to often, that he's here to sell notebooks.
And right now the w2 is hot, he has them in stock, so no negative can be said about the W2.
No doubt, what so ever, that he helps alot of people in here, and is a notebook enthusiast aswell, and he also have helped me. And respect for that.
:asus:

 

I hear both of you - and I mentioned it to Asus last week...... I take offense to anyone saying I'm trying to sell computers, because for someone to say that, they don't really know me, but at the same time you're pointing out the obvious.... I'm not hiding out in here, we play off the forum as much as they play off of my interaction here. But we're completely safe no matter what happens. We wouldn't sell a defective product and anything that's defective Asus legally must buy back anyway.

1. their terminology is WRONG - I've already said that.. these never were and never will be 4 seperate surround channels and you'll never see that on any laptop...... they are proven and identical to those on the w1 though and reviews of that sound are well publicized.

2. even though they are 4 stereo speakers and 1 subwoofer, and they do work - the drivers do need to be tweaked so that they match the performance of the W1.. that is getting worked on and would just require a simply download to tweak.

Further than that, the W2's are going to sell even if someone came on here and said they got one and it spontaneously burst into flames.... I don't need to sell our products, they sell themselves and when they don't, I certainly don't push them. The majority of people in this forum know how I roll and that's all that's important.

 

In the short while I have been active on these forums I have noticed that in a lot of your replies there is a serious, what some people could consider offensive, undertone. I've also noticed that more than not you've actually had people comment on your additude. Just FYI, this is not a direct attack against you. I just want to point out that you might wish to try to be more polite in your responses. I do agree that the W2V is a nice product and there's no point in keeping to repeat that, but that doesn't mean that we can't express our feelings and thoughts regarding issues that could be improved in our opinion. With your responses I sometimes get the feeling that you do want us to stop, whether intended or not, but that's just how I interpret your comments and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

 

If you go to a store after seeing the W2 banner-movie on the asus site, you get disappointed.
- Where is the 4.1 sourround sound?
---> Sorry only stereo

- Where is the DVB-T tuner?
---> Sorry it doesn't work with MCE. Can I get XP instead? No, not possble in this country, + Asus theater SW seems to be not too good according this site. (now better documented, but in the early W2 selling days there was no mention of 2 models)

- Where is the small remote?
--> Sorry it doesn't work with MCE
- But it is even stated on the Palmrest sticker?
Sorry you get a bulky MCE remote, and an external USB IR eye..

I hope that even Pro-portable can agree that this machine is not as advertized, or at least not living up expectations given by Asus.
And yes I agree with Lucky that we feel this is becoming a Pro-portable forum (with almost 4000 PP posts) and sometimes with a sales pitch.

 

Hi Eggy,

The interesting thing is that if you set your speakers to 2 channel then run the 3D audio test it actually seems to be coming from each speaker individually. I don't know whether this is simulated or if there's some bug in the drivers and setting it this way gets the speakers working the way they're supposed to (I can hear Justin screaming "It's only two channel!!!" already ;-) ) but it seems to work on my machine.

I don't think they left out the DVB-T tuner purely becaus it doesn't work with MCE. You don't get DVB-T signals anyway in North America so I would guess that is at least partially the reason behind it. Although I guess it would have been nice for the card to work as a dual mode card as stated for the US too so you could get DVB-T if you travel to Europe/Australia. Having said that I wonder if my dual card will work in the US using the analogue setting obviously?

The whole MCE thing is a interesting mess. I'd be interested to see MCE running on one of these machines but from my point of view righ now I'd take the XP Pro version any day. Better remotes, better tuner, there'd want to be a big upside to MCE to compensate.

Phil
W2Vc-U05P

 

Forget the sound for a second because I'm with you on how Asus words it, but in the technical documentation and how Asus actually explains it..... it's correct.... I think it's one of the worst cases I've seen of what happens with Taiwanese translate their information into English without knowing English as a first language...... That, I know for a FACT is why it's worded like it is..... because technically through Realtek (and this is like this on the W1), but the it can simulate surround sound VERY well... the W2's drivers aren't tweaked for that and that's where I'm upset and it's also why Asus is working to update that driver....... But it's 4 way, stereo w/ a sub... and the simulated surround is part of the driver and that doesn't sound right because the proper levels aren't going to all the speakers and the lows aren't just going to the sub...... but I think I said about - lets not talk about that right now, lol...

There's ALWAYS been talk of two models, but ALWAYS only one model that would come to the US. EVERYONE document that a company like that makes shows all the options....... last year the W1 flash presentation showed a consumer IR and a credit card remote and a tv tuner and it was "subject to certain models"................. You bought the unit before you had any proof of what this countries model was going to consist of, so that's not Asus' fault---I didn't realize the internal consumer IR wasn't going to work with MCE, so I feel stupid about that - but all the clues were there....... Everyone on this forum who has the MCE model has only the microsoft remote and the external reciever...... and those with Mobile Theater (which I will again say stinks compared to MCE), have use of the other remotes. The BIGGEST reason Asus has their own software is because they wanted to do things that MCE wouldn't let them..... IE: use a different tuner, CIR, Remotes, etc.........

I have ALWAYS been Asus' greatest opposition when it comes to marketing... they can't market their stuff, and they shouldn't have their Taiwanese people writing things in English.... I would rather they not even put anything on their site..... because they don't realize.... simulated surround and surround are two different things.... It's like you being in another country and trying to say something... you think you said it perfect, but you left out a word and totally changed the meaning.

 

MCE is better than the ulead software that Asus uses for their Mobile Theater.... it's faster, more functional, better eye candy.

 

Never held and never touched the w2v. May not have it for a while. My two cents. This one should have the mini tos connect. Technically that can carry 4 even 5 channel sound to a receiver provided you get the receiver.

 

Yesterday I recieved with the latest edition of PC Magazine a freshly printed Asus brochure with info about their latest notebooks.

It says: "Sensational Audio output, build-in subwoofer and high definition audio 7.1 SURROUND sound".

So, if it has this, why are they unable to direct it properly to the build-in 4.1 system?

In spite of all the questions about this issue from the beginning they are still shouting 7.1 surround in the media.

 

That's because Intel HD Audio supports 7.1 and if you use the jacks on the front of the laptop to output sound to external speakers you can get 7.1 surround. Why they can't direct it to the four (five plus sub) speakers I don't know. Maybe the speakers share their wiring (if that even is possible).

 

Right... I was going to bring that up, but we were talking about the internal speakers.... but like you said "sensational audio output; built-in sub; and high def 7.1" .......... I think all 915 chipset models are using the same sound chip and that high def chip is capable of OUTPUTTING 7.1 surround, which I certainly can say it does.....

Technically, yes they could make the unit 4.1 surround, but it was never intended to.. because again.. you don't sit on the keyboard... it doesn't pay to have surround speakers all facing you from the front... so technically what the speakers are, are really 2.1 (seperating stereo speakers and then a channel for the sub)........ but with the stereo speakers in a 2 way (mids and highs) x 2 (stereo) configuration to get more sound out of the front......... I mean TECHNICALLY they could the could make it almost like a componet speaker... those on the screen are the highs, the ones in the front of the mids and then you've got the lowes going to the sub. But since the speakers are so darn small to begin with, making that setup sort of suck..... But technically, I would have to assume a driver of some sort could allow you to set them up however you wanted.

 

I want to mention a nuance I am experiencing when directing audio output to rear out channels and connecting my headphones to "surround" jack instead of "front". As Nicke and others already discovered, audio quality in the headphones when connected this way is a lot better. To add to that: for my headphones at least, it's better yet when in the audio wizard that pops up upon insertion I select the type of device as one of the top three speaker types rather than headphones.

For audio wizard to pop up, "enable auto detection.." checkbox must be on. When I set the device type to speaker, the level of noise from HDD and touchpad use is substantially reduced, and the level of bass is increased.

I noticed the system tends to default device type to headphones in general. For instance, even after doing the above, if you simply open Realtek sound configuration utility again without even changing anything in there, it switches device type back to headphones. Audio wizard still shows speaker picture next to the connection, but I can hear the playback went back to the way it was when it was headphones, so I have to reset it in the audio wizard again..

Anyway, this is not perfect, and you need software that plays to the rear channels - at least Winamp version 5.1 can do that as far as I am concerned.. But definitely better than connecting to the front - the front sounds like you're listening to a cassette tape that's been copied over 10 times.. Btw - about how this laptop's speakers sound in general by themselves on a notebook scale - I was pretty impressed. This one sounds better than W1N. The best laptop I heard to date was Dell 9300 - and this lappy is kind of like that..

 

OK - my first post in these forums .... I have owned my ASUS W2V for 6 weeks now and use it approx 12 hours a day ... I agree with what many have said about the sound - it is woefull - I have come "up" to the W2V from the W1N which has a far superior sound in all respects. I dont have an SPDIF option in the sound manager software so I cant test it on my external AMP, but I have been using Zalman 5.1 Headphones and it is still proving to be completly horrible.

My opinion is that the sound problem may be linked to the rather poor BIOS which is in dire need of updating with options. I have installed all of the Asus driver updates as well as the Realktek driver updates and watch the Asus site 2-3 times a day for updates to no avail. They keep providing useless updates to crap things and are ignoring the requests for a good sound driver.

Having said the above, the W2V is the BEST laptop I have come across. By installing an Audigy ZS PCMCIA audio system this laptop is untouchable. The quality of the screen is brilliant, FAR CRY plays beautifully at 1680x1050x32 with no slowdowns, the 2GB of RAM is fantastic. The keyboard is twice as good as the W1N and the DVD burner is far more forgiving of cheap DVD-R discs than they older W1N model.

I havent tried the TV because frankly I dont care, nor have I watched a DVD yet, but this laptop is sweet.

I update my laptops every 10-12 months, but already I am hesitant to actually change this one (bar the sound). As soon as I get my Audigy I will be very very happy with this lappy.

 

Folks - it's the "Video" volume control that's responsible for the notorious "audio rendition" of all screen and HDD activity in your rear channels! Open the regular Windows master volume control window, in the properties select all available volume controls, and then mute the one that's called Video. I've done it on my W2V, and now my rear audio output is CRYSTAL CLEAR! And when nothing is connected to the rear out jack, that "screen rustling sound" won't be bothering you either - same source!

I've tried to listen to music, watch TV and DVD while this video volume control is on mute - and it looks like everything works fine!

Disclaimer: I recently upgraded to version 5.10.00.5152 of ALC880 drivers on Realtek's website - so I don't know for a fact whether the same will hold with factory supplied drivers, but give it a try!

 

Well obviously Im having the same problems as everyone else. However, the only difference I notice when switching to the rear channel is that MCE doesnt support it but the sound is not as muddy and the mids and trebles are crisper but I find no difference in bass.

As lexee noted, the Realtek sound manager does tend to default the rear channel to headphones which makes it very harsh and gives more noise than if it were set on the 2 (I only have 2, not 3 like someone else said) speaker configurations.

I also noticed that the Video "channel" is the culprit of that annoying sound, but I would consider this build quality too and it should not do that. I presume its for the AV-IN though theres no way I can use it without downloading my own program but this was another oversight by Asus.

This may be unrelated but I find it a nuisance that MCE does not have an independent program mute, instead it mutes everything. I found a third part open source program that Im comtemplating installing but if it doesnt work better and messes up MCE Im pretty much screwed.

If Id have bought a Dell or something Id somewhat expect this, but when I paid $2,500+ for this notebook I expect it to at least be rid of these nags.

So I have two questions:

1. - Does MCE have "claws" dug into my system that would make it useless if I install a third party AV software?
MediaPortal is what I plan to get to replace MCE.

2. - Im looking at the Realtek site but there are several codecs for 2 channel and 8 channel. Which one are you guys using to update or which one am I supposed to use for the W2v? Im assuming its the 2 channel HD Audio one.

Thanks

 

You'll need the 8 channel version. It probably won't even install the 2 channel in the first place.