m1530 sound with Integrated Sound Blaster

How is the sound with the upgrade to the Integrated Sound Blaster on the m1530? Is the sound subpar like reviews indicate or is it improved over the standard HD Audio?

 

I can't answer your question myself, but I found something over on the dell community forums on the regular sound. If you are having problems with low volume sound in vista, try this fix.

I recently bought a 1525 and had the same problem.

Managed to get more volume by doing this:

Start -> Control Panel -> Sound -> Speakers / Headphones -> Enhancements Tab

Then, Tick the "Loudness Equalization" -> Apply / OK

I have also ticked the "Bass Boost and Low Frequency Protection" plus the "Virtual Sound".

The volume is still not great, but definately better than it was.​

Link on dell forums is here: http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?message.uid=18990197#U18990197

This definitely fixed my issues with low almost inaudible sound on Vista.

 

@jlovell: Please, stop spamming every post about sound with this. I understand you want to help but this doesn't even pertain to his question.

@awh: Don't have my m1530 yet, so I can't speak of it. But judging by the sound on the Inspiron 1525, it is relatively mediocre. Some people say it sounds like any other laptop they have heard, some say it sounds like crap. My guess is many people are used to having bass/dedicated subwoofers. Due to the size and space limitations of the m1530, a subwoofer couldn't be put in. Sound does end up being a little flat.

However, this has nothing to do with the sound card, more so the speakers. The sound card works great. The Sound Blaster stuff is just software to customize audio output. Some say they get better results with it, some say it does nothing. It really all depends on whether or not you're a huge audiophile. If you are, you might want to get some external speakers.