Does anyone other than Realtek do onboard audio?

I can't recall ever seeing an onboard audio solution that wasn't Realtek. Do they have a complete monopoly on the market?

 

They have the majority but not monopoly. As an example the new x399 Asus board has, but this is desktop. You may find further with other laptops such as the ROG GX800VH

https://www.asus.com/Laptops/ROG-GX800VH-7th-Gen-Intel-Core/

https://rog.asus.com/articles/maxim...ming-for-amds-monster-ryzen-threadripper-cpu/

 

Want better audio, you need external. Especially for those who create audio and not just consume audio and for audiophiles. Realtek is consumer/business multimedia/gaming audio.

 

Not sure about the current models, but older unibody MacBook Pros used a Cirrus Logic chipset. If you were running a Boot Camp Windows installation, the only Windows drivers that existed were the ones provided by Apple. There were never updates like you could get from Realtek.

 

Cirrus logic was popular on the low end but I think the codec's shot them in the foot. There just was never any updates.

 

Conexant still makes onboard audio, too. What really drives me mad about both Realtek and Conexant drivers is that neither allows different volume levels for headphones and laptop speakers. i.e. you plug headphones and get overwhelmed by loud volume, unplug them - and have to raise volume immediately to hear something. How retarded should a driver developer be not to understand that such simple and obvious functionality is mandatory?! At least generic Windows drivers work fine and allow different volume levels - thank you, Microsoft.

 

Apple uses Cirrus Logic exclusively, though it's an altered/custom design... they have some really fantastic quality, especially considering it's on-board.

I see a lot of HP's with Conexant, and we're forgetting Dell's use of IDT. Most all of my Latitudes have been Realtek or IDT. The IDT models sounded pretty good.

 

Definitely. One could construe the lack of driver updates as a positive because the ones that were packaged with the Boot Camp install package just worked, except for the initial release for the 2016 models as there was a bug that would cause one of the speakers to get blown out. People had to have their machines replaced entirely because of this, and supply was already fairly limited because the was discovered not long after those models started shipping.

 

What happened to SoundMax? Is that a company or just a brand?

 

A brand! My idea of heavenly audio in a laptop, would be built in AudioScience with a breakout box. But I'm an audiophile and radio broadcast engineer, who is quality and reliability minded. The ultimate field box for my staffers needs on remotes and emergency use.

 

Yea, in the new MacBooks they wired the speakers directly into a higher voltage power source. I kind of figured that would happen at some point. Apple is great at many things, but they have some serious driver issues every now and then.

Most decent laptops offer TOSLINK out through the 3.5mm jack. I know all the MacBooks with Intel do. Makes external DAC's pretty easy... or, you know, USB.

 

That Toslink is great in consumer digital audio, not great in analog plants with XLR transformer balanced in and output and digital which is AES/EBU. We have standards, reliability and robust demanded, failure not an option when thousands of people listen to the results. MacBooks OS is great, the hardware is not field friendly in working life (and not spasticity friendly, and too SLOW for modern broadcasting needs) And doesn't run our workflow.

 

Boot Camp updates have never been a priority for Apple. They've only ever released barebones drivers that make their products functional on Windows but no more. The trackpad experience continues to be subpar, and the touch bar will likely never see any additional functionality on top of being a standard F-key row.

When I had my 2011 MacBook Pro, I could always install the latest Radeon Mobility reference driver directly from AMD. That is no longer possible. The last driver package that is compatible with Boot Camp is more than a year old, so it doesn't even support the newer 4XX/5XX GPUs. Apple certainly isn't interested in providing regular updates. At least eGPUs are somewhat viable, if not necessarily the most practical or cost effective.

To its credit, Apple was surprisingly quick to release an updated driver to remedy the audio issue, which limited the damage.



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SoundMax is made by Analog Devices.

Oh yeah, VIA Technologies makes onboard audio chips too.

 

True. I use my 15" rMBP for presentations every so often (300-500 people), but I use a Behringer USB soundboard with XLR. Works pretty well, but Windows definitely makes better use of it.

That just shows they CAN do it. They just choose not to, which still makes me scratch my head. If they can make the MBP 90% as good on Windows as they can with macOS, they would have a notebook that would be unstoppable in the business sector. One would think that would be in their better interests, but I guess that's none of my business.

 

Via is usually in tablets, isn't it?

 

Haven't seen one in tablets, at least none of my tablets has it. What a shame VIA didn't quite catch the wave as their Nano performs much better than the original Atom, moreover they have put some pretty dank features in their CPUs.

If you're talking about Android laptops and tablets with VIA ARM chips (under the name WonderMedia) then it'll be a different story.

I've seen some of their chips on laptops and desktop motherboards though, for example Asus P5KPL-AM (as well as many Asus LGA 775 boards) and Gigabyte H77M-D3H use VIA audio chips. I have both and I can confirm it.

However they're very common in embedded PCs / industrial PCs / thin clients 'cause many of them are VIA based, and it isn't just the audio chip, but the whole system: CPU, IGP, northbridge, southbridge, audio, Ethernet, Wi-Fi etc.

 

Does IDT/Sigmatek still make audio chips? The one in my HP Probook sounds surprisingly good for integrated audio.

 

MacBookPro is NOT a business machine. It is a consumer machine. With consumer style warranty and support. And does not meet business build quality standards, and also does not have other features demanded by businesses like: Easily serviceable and modular. Easily upgradable RAM and storage. Locally repairable by IT shops. Next business day parts or service technician. The Durability and ruggedness required of business users (and there is a US Military Specification which business class laptops meet). Business class machines also are expected to have a minimum of 5 years of heavy use as a minimum lifespan. MacBook Pro build quality is highly overrated too (Like their looks great), awesome if your idea of laptop build quality is that of say, Asus. My idea of build quality is much more like that of Dell Latitude middle of the line and higher, HP EliteBooks, Lenovo ThinkPads of X, T, or P series, the Fujitsu LifeBooks, Panasonic's ToughBook line, or Getac or other ruggedized PC.

 

Depending on the business, some of them go for smaller form factor over toughness though, I see a lot of ultrabooks going to the business sector lately, likely not built to the durability standards of Panasonic or Getec.

 

Ok. What a spiel.

I never said they were business class. I said they'd go far in business. Never said a thing about build quality either, even though I have some macs that are 7+ years old and still doing just fine, while right beside me lies a dead Precision and a dead Latitude.

 

And I bet you can even get what you need to repair your dead Latitude and your dead Precision and possibly even repair it yourself also. MacBook Pros are durable if they get babied and pampered. And for me they're the finest consumer machines out there, and the best consumer machine OS. We'll agree on that. Apple customer service is very excellent for consumer. And yes, business fleets are gradually adopting some UltraBook type machines (usually things like the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbons, the ThinkPad Yogas and similar from other makes)

 

With low power systems, build quality can be fairly unrelated to longevity, especially if you're just using them in a "I could probably get away with a desktop but I might have to take it off my desk once or twice" capacity, which is very common for enterprise users. All of the longest-lasting computers I have used personally have been ASUS for example, including one from like 2006 or 2007 that's still in regular use.

 

Ime, anything that runs hot and/or noisy - fails.

Specific Dell, Toshiba, HP models and especially (all) the fruity company's offerings. Note that 'fail' doesn't necessarily mean dead - it just means a 'smartphone' from 2005 could do more work...

ThinkPAD's are the clear leaders; with Asus superior to other brands too, overall.

 

I think ASUS's biggest asset is that they seem way more resistant to dust buildup / neglect than other machines (barring toughbook and similar models). Granted most of what I see are used/damaged machines in RMA, but the state of some that were still running always impressed me. Full of dust, should be catching fire, only in the repair center because they broke a bezel or had bad sectors on the drive. I'm not saying to buy an ASUS so that you never have to clean it out or anything, but that says a lot for heavily used machines.

 

Ironically, my longest lasting machine has been an Acer Aspire 3680. Oddly enough it is still a very functional machine. I upgraded it three times, originally it had a Celeron, then upgraded to a T2600, then to a C2D T5600, then upgraded the RAM and the HDD to an SSD. The thing is like a Frankenstein machine but it still moves right along. I believe I got that in 2005.

ThinkPads are definitely serious machines with serious build quality, but I think you're discounting Apple simply because you want to. As far as Apple notebooks, I've never bought one with dedicated graphics and they've all been beyond rock solid. Now, I'm not going to say that's all Apple's fault for not properly putting in enough cooling for it's total TDP, but I'm also saying that that most anything with a dedicated GPU will fail much faster than those without. Even my 15" rMBP is only Iris Pro. If I want dedicated, desktop is the only way I'll do it because of life-span and reliability. Matter of fact, the only thing I've had fail has been an SSD that was recalled by Apple/Samsung (128GB). So, I mean, different strokes I guess, but I trust my Macs.

 

You've got my record beat, that ASUS from 2006/7. Tankiest laptop I have seen since those early 2000s Dell Inspirons, kept one of those things running for 7-8 years, haven't seen a Dell with such longevity since.

 

Did you actually repair any of them? Or anything Apple, for that matter? Replace SSD yourself, at least?

 

Well, I occasionally take them apart to clean the dust out of the cooling fins, and about every other year I re-paste them... but other than that, I've not needed to replace anything. The SSD recall was handled by Apple because it was an official recall. But if I needed to, I would have no problem replacing components. To test the failed SSD on the Macbook Air I had, I removed an SSD from my working one (PCI-e based) and proved that was the cause, as it booted right up. I have replaced the battery in my Macbook Air as well, which was extremely simple.

 

H.A.L. 9000, your experience is great to hear. Unfortunately, not my experience with Apple products.

For sustained, high performance productivity workflows (i.e. 8 hrs + per day); they heat up, become noisier and become progressively slower and slower until they're unusable to me. The exact opposite of a TP experience with my workflows/workloads.

 

My shortest lasting computers were Asus, so much so, NEVER AGAIN will I recommend Asus as first choice or second choice. And customer non support and poor to non existent repair depot service, made me write off 6 Asus laptops in less than one year (none of them cheapie, $4200 worth of hardware written off from work). I should have bought them from you, ExoticPC. But Asus still needs to build hardware I can trust and business rugged. And easy parts and service here (I think you can solve the repair depot issue). I am all business class for obvious reasons unless I need heavier duty multimedia consumption. So bear with me. Part of it was not knowing you. So understand my side. Asus is used to being a business to business OEM. And dealing with resellers like you. And not responsive to US end users. So, I will respect you and meet you halfway.

 

Oh yeah, you definitely want to get ASUS through a reseller, any of us out there that sell ASUS handle repairs/support/service and/or communication with their repair centers so you don't have to go direct. Also, my recommendation of them is sensitive to intended work environment, same as most other brands. I get where you're coming from completely.