Tweaking Sound Max HD On Lenovo 3000 N100

Hi,
I'm new to the forum. I just purchased a Lenovo 3000 N100. My Thinkpad 600 finally gave out. The laptop has meet expectations in all areas except one. The soundmax chip and speakers deliver terrible sound. I can get sound but it is not loud enough. I think the number will go up to 16 and that is about all I can get. I can't even adjust the bass or treble to give the speakers some depth or projection.

I have checked for updates on Lenovo's website with no luck. (There was one for Media Player but I'm not having any problems with it). I have even been to www.soundmax.com to see if there was another driver that allowed me to tweak the chip. I've no luck. I've thought about trying an updated driver from HP or another Thinkpad unit such as the Z60 but I'm concerned about messing the setup of what I already have. (i.e. I don't know my motherboard or the number of the chip to safely use another driver for another computer)

Does anyone know a way or a driver that can tweak the sound that will give me some more volume and control of my bass and treble? Any help would be appreciated.

Hoping Lenovo will correct the problem (If they do, this would be an awesome unit)
WaveManC

Notebook Info:
Lenovo 3000 N100 (Duo Core Processor)
O/S Windows XP/ SP2
512gb DDR2 RAM
80 GB Hard drive
DVD/CD Burner
Soundmax Integrated Digital HD (This is in my audio video section of device manager)

 

I wrote the review for the N100 and it pretty much sucked. I don't think any driver update is going to fix it. It is the speakers not the soundcard. I would suggest a decent pair of headphones.

 

Its not just your Lenovo 3000 either. My Z61t with the Sound Max chip has a "lack of volume" also. The only thing that has loud enough sound are MP3s. VLC media player seems to amplify the sound to a slightly higher volume then any other media player I use.

My advice is to buy some portable speakers that are made for laptops. I use a $40 Creative TravelSound pair I bought from Walmart and they are pretty awesome considering how small they are. These Creative speakers also have 5-10 times more volume then my Z61t speakers.

 

Man...what a bummer! I can't believe Lenovo would have such a decent laptop and offer such crummy speakers and a cheap chip for sound especially with everyone is demanding something relating to multimedia with his or her notebook.

I looked at at turtlebeach USB soundcard which is more output than input. I was hoping the USB soundcard would bypass the Soundmax chip, but that is not the case. The Creative Labs Audigy sound card is way too expensive if it does the same thing--that is enhance the sound output to another device.

Is there a way or a device that would replace the SoundMax chip?

I appreciate the info on the external speakers from Creative Labs. I might go with the turtle beach USB because lugging around more speakers would just add more weight to my backpack.

Oh, yeah! I'm new to bluetooth technology. I notice on the Icon task bar the icon has audio gateway option on it. Do they make speakers that are bluetooth? That would be a trip!

Well...so much on hoping Lenovo would have some kind of update. I was hoping many would call in and raise enough sand that they would update the driver or enhance the sound someway.

Thanks for the input
WaveMan

 

It is not the driver or soundcard, its the speakers. Unless you want to rip apart your notebook and put some new ones in, you are probably stuck with them. A decent pair of headphones are almost always better than notebook speakers. Yes, they do make bluetooth headphones like this. Might want to make sure they work before buying though.

 

I checked out the Bluetooth Motorolo headphones at CompUSA today. They look pretty good but have a good price on them. Hopefully they will come down some as other competition hits the market. I just need to make sure that I have A2DP profile with my Bluetooth.

Alright, I know the speakers are crapy, but is there a driver or software that will at least let me control the bass, treble and other to control the sound coming out of the SoundMax chip to the headphone port or the speakers.

For instance, can I use this ADI SoundMAX audio driver with Cadenza software for Windows 98SE, 2000, XP.

Link:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=lenovo&lndocid=MIGR-51307