Hi.

As most W2V users have discovered, the sound output is horrible.
After having been told by ASUS that the sound on my W2V was fine when I sent it in for a repair, I decided to get scientific about it

So I got a tool for measuring the frequency response.
This one http://www.pensa.fr/freqresplot/indexe.htm
By connecting the front output jack and one of the input jack with a cable with twomini stereo plugs it can measure the sound level outputed for each frequency to make a graph.
A normal response curve looks like this
This curve was taken by running the tool on my Dell D600 from work, not a magnificent sounds system by any means

The curve I got from the W2V was this
This is a truly horribel response curve!

Something is obviously very wrong, I have no idea what could have caused this extremely bad sound but ASUS should definitely stop trying to claim that everything is fine.

Since I have heard some W2V users claiming that the sound is fine it would be good if more people would do this test so that we can get some more data on how widespread this problem is.

The measurement was taken with the speaker configuration set to desktop stereo speakers and the equalizer off.

 

Wow... I hope this is not the response of all W2's.
I'm an audiophile myself, so for ASUS to make this their flagship multimedia PC is wrong.
The freq. response should be very flat.
It should not look like yours... not on any ASUS product [given their stand on high quality products].

 

Awesome work, thanks! I surely hope you can finally get someone to notice this. Audio output on the front jack definitely sounds like what you see in the graph. Everyone who compliments W2V for good sound refers to its built-in speakers. Sure enough when you compare the sound from its built-in speakers to that of an average laptop, W2V is the winner, but you just can't use it with either headphones or 2 channel speakers etc.

I too submitted a detailed description of the problem with front audio out jack to Asus USA - didn't receive any response. I still use rear output jack for my audio out - and of course it doesn't work with all software and even on the rear output the sound quality is not great.

And also, I think the root problem is most likely with either Realtek sound drivers or the card itself, so Asus might not really be able to fix anything. I just don't get it how they managed to pick out this particular sound card to use on this machine and didn't notice any problems with it..

 

I have had my W2V for around 3 months now - and am fed up with its sound ... I have decided to buy a creative ZS card for audio ... I will never buy another asus laptop without first listening to it first.

 

Thank you so much Torbjörn for your posts, and especially these measurements!! I think I was the first one who reported this issue ( more than 4 months ago!) and quite frankly I had resigned to the fact that Asus isn't going to acknowledge this problem. For example, this is the response I received from my retailer when I complained in September:

You can imagine how this answer pissed me off. Adding to the frustration were occasional glowing reviews from Joe Sixpacks saying "WOW great sound, laptop shiny!". Just goes to show that people in general don't care about sound quality, even when it is as obviously bad as in the W2V.

Luckily there have also been several posts from people like us who hear that there is a serious problem. And with your frequency response curves we might just have a chance to do something about this! I started a new post for that HERE .

 

I would like to test, and post the result on mine, but i don't have the required cable.
I'll try to get one next week.

 

Another good testing program is TrueRTA, which I use for loudspeaker design. You can, however, download a free version and test your soundcard simply by running it. The measurement will be coarse, but if the frequency response is as bad as that mentioned above it will be obvious.

http://www.trueaudio.com/rta_down.htm

Just select Pink Noise and then Signal Generator and you will get the Sound Card frequency response. You can also do a line out test by looping your soundcard.

You should get something like the attachment.

Steve

 

I've tried the software Steve pointed out - see attached screenshots with front and rear audio output frequency responses. As you may expect the front is clearly limited. Take no more bluff about "subjective viewpoint" on audio quality from Asus!

 

Well, if the soundcard alone one is flat (which I would assume it is from the rear outputs) you could safely assume that something is wrong. I'm not up with notebook architecture enough to say where the problem is, but it must be something inbetween the soundcard and the outputs. And the curve is so regular it sure looks like a software (driver) issue.

It's a bit more complicated, but you can also use TrueRTA to narrow down whether the problem is with the analog output alone or if the digital shows it too.

Just hook them both up to a receiver or preamp with a digital input. You should be able to easily hear a difference like that graph shows.

I've just bought a W2V and will have it in my hands in couple of weeks so will do some tests then.

As for a fix, it may well need a new driver, but the curve is so regular it looks to me a bit like an EQ curve gone wrong. If so, you could try to EQ it. Your audio software may have an equalizer (rough as they are, or there are standalone products available. Ideally, you would use a software parametric equalizer, like the ones available at www.anwidia.com.

Rather than trying to boost the bass and treble, I'd also suggest cutting the mids.



Steve

 

Wow! That's just very, very, wrong. You hardly could mess it up that bad with the EQ if you tried.

I suggest you run it through Audio Rightmark as well. IMO the best test program of this nature.

 

OK I redid the test with RigtMark 5.5 and I got same horrible frequence response curve. I have pasted in the summary below.

I could not get an acceptable I/O level though, it either complained of too low volume or too much noise. I guess that shows another problem, high noise levels which many here also have complained about.

I actually tried an earlier version of this program before I used "frequence response plotter" but it refused to test the system beacuse of the leveling problem. I guess the new version is more forgiving...

Edited to add more graphs.

w2v

RightMark Audio Analyzer test

Testing chain: External loopback (line-out - line-in)

Sampling mode: 16-bit, 44 kHz

Summary

Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB:	+20.95, -20.17	Very poor
Noise level, dB (A):	-85.1	Good
Dynamic range, dB (A):	84.7	Good
THD, %:	0.154	Average
IMD + Noise, %:	0.758	Poor
Stereo crosstalk, dB:	-81.4	Very good
IMD at 10 kHz, %:	0.326	Average

 

Thanks for the tip. I downloaded Rightmark 5.5 and tested my W2V. Here is the frequency response. As you can see, my curve is slightly less horrible than Torbjörns, but still pretty terrifying ...

I suspect all W2Vs have this problem. It would be interesting if someone who hasn't experienced bad sound on their W2V would test their machine. Any volonteers?

 

It looks like there's a bandpass filter, center frequency at 1.5khz. The little peak looks like a really bad ringing (Q-factor is very bad). If the rear port is fine, then there's something they did to the signal path that's acting as a bandpass filter. If I were you, I'd crack open the case and solder a couple wires straight from the rear port to the front port.

As suggested, there might be a software EQ applied. Gosh... that frequency response looks horrible. Either it's a software EQ or someone spec'd the wrong component values for their little op-amp buffer output stage. ugh... Open it up and trace out some schematics of the output stage, and maybe there's a little devil of a bandpass in there somewhere.

For more information on filters, see here
http://sound.westhost.com/project63.htm

Or, do what I do and get a pretty decent quality USB soundcard.

 

Maybe a stupid question, but I just want to make sure: if I buy an Audigy2 PCMCIA for the W2, will it also produce the sound that will come out of the built in speakers? (i.e. it replaces the built in audio chip completely?)

 

Yes. It will bypass the built-in audio completely. (Actually you just get two soundcards installed and can choose which one is the preferred device in Sound and Multimedia properties.) If you just want a better frequency response for 2 channel analogue output, and don't need the (multichannel) gaming features of the Audigy; then an USB solution is much cheaper and works well.