Is the Dolby-optimized surround sound system any good in laptops?

Hi,

I'm looking to purchase a new laptop and so far I seem to have narrowed it down to either the Acer Aspire 5738z or the Acer Aspire 5732z.

One difference between the two is that the 5738z has, according to the ACER website, "Dolby®-optimized surround sound system with two built-in stereo speakers, Optimized 3rd Generation Dolby Home Theater® audio enhancement, featuring Dolby® Digital Live, Dolby® Pro Logic® IIx, Dolby® Headphone, Dolby® Natural Bass, Dolby® Sound Space Expander, Dolby® Inverse Filtering, Dolby® High Frequency Enhancer technologies". The 5738Z has just two regular built-in stereo speakers.

I plan on listening to a lot of music and watching a lot of movies on the laptop, so I was wondering if these audio enhancements really make a big difference to the sound quality on a laptop (using it's in-built speakers)?

Regular laptop speaker sound is usually quite weak and tinny, and I wanted to know whether those sound enhancements really do boost the quality of the sound in a noticeable way.

Could anybody who has heard laptop speakers with these Dolby enhancements please let me know if they make a big difference?

Thanks

 

The audio quality in my Acer is definitely above average for notebooks but IMO all those terms are mostly marketing and I would always prefer headphones or speakers. Notebook speakers aren't great in general and I try to use external solutions whenever I can.

 

Have you ever heard an ACER laptop with the Dolby enhancements? Does it make it sound any better?

The 5732 has better specs than the 5738, but if the sound actually is alot better in the 5738 then I would get it, which is why I need to know whether there actually is an improvement from those who have heard the speakers.

 

The Dolby enhancements are good. Any notebook's speakers system will not let you appreciate them to their fullest though.

I would not get a lower spec'd machine just for the potential of better built in sound - at least not when $30 headphones will make any notebook sound a million times better.

Good luck.

 

Maybe wait until these come out with reviews:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...3991-step-right-direction-notebook-sound.html

 

Get a Asus W90...it has 5 built in speakers plus a mid-range/subwoofer on the bottom of the laptop. Sounds amazing!

 

Also, better than average but far from amazing IMO.

 

Agreed. The only way any laptop speaker would be considered amazing is if you measurement were based on better than below averages. At best, the laptop speaker is acceptable. Not to mention I've heard some $35 transistor radio speaker that would put those overly hyped laptop speakers to shame. All the rest of the terminology, i.e. surround sound, Dolby, sub woofer etc. is just marketing hype. Since by design, a laptop is limited by it's power supply

That said, laptop speakers have come a long way; nevertheless, they still have a long way to go.

 

Power supply capacity is NOT the reason for lousy sound systems in laptops. There is more than enough power available to power speakers to make good sound.

It has everything to do with money. The cost of parts in a typical sound system of a laptop is less than $5. This is 1% the cost of a $500 laptop. Bump up to say $8 to $10, and you can make a big difference.

The other more significant cost is actually spending money on engineering resources to better the electronics, and mechanical design to improve the sound system.

Sound systems are still treated as an afterthought in most laptop designs. It would not be that hard or to costly to improve things.

 

Incorrect. The best sound comes from good speakers (which are space restricted in a laptop) connected to quality amps with sufficient power. And that's especially true when you consider the addition of a sub-woofers.

All of these are the antithesis of the streamline direction that most laptop manufactures want to go in. Not to mention weight, which everyone here seems to hate. However, I will concede that it's not entirely about power. I guess I took for granted that was understood.

Now you're saying something I totally agree with. Although we should all keep in mind the origins of the primary function of the computer. These multimedia features nowadays are the relative new kids on the block. So maybe the industry needs time to catch up?

 

Incorrect. The best sound comes from good speakers (which are space restricted in a laptop) connected to quality amps with sufficient power. And that's especially true when you consider the addition of a sub-woofers.

your right the best sound comes from good speakers, spend a few bucks more and you can get better speakers. And yes they need sufficient power.

Where you’re wrong is understanding how much power you are going to need to drive the speakers. The small speakers is a laptop are power limited based on the physical size of the core and the magnets. You will not need more than 2-3 watts to overdrive the speakers. In actual amperes of current that would be .6 amps at 5 volts for 3 watts. This would be max based on continuous output at a high volume levels. The actual duty cycle in real world use is much lower. The internal supplies of laptops are already designed to supply several amps for the audio amps. Just so you know I am an EE by profession, with audio design experience. I have access to laptop schematics to know exactly how they are designed. Trust me there is no shortage of power available, it is more about my second paragraph of my previous post