150EM Audio has absolutely NO bass

Its seems though it has no lower audio frequency at all. Today was the first time plug'ing in headphones. No rumble what so ever at min-max volume. Uninstalled THX audio. It sounds like the stock speakers on the machine but through headphone port. Using Studio Monitor Heaphones.....Using my Logitech Z Cinema sounds good, but normally it overly adds bass to everything else but not on 150em

 

Speakers Are Configured to Stereo 2.0 with FULL ranged speakers selected

 

It's a known problem. The EM's sound card is basically crap. Your best bet is an external USB sound card.

 

The only way to have decent bass on the P150EM on-board sound card is to use the subwoofer jack, with 2.1/5.1/7.1 headphones. 2.0 headphones on the P150EM will sound like total crap.

 

I literally 20 minutes ago bought a Fiio e17 off ebay for this reason. I will let you guys know what I think when I receive it.

 

I have something like that lying around:
Pro-Ject: Head Box S Headphone Amp - Silver — TurntableLab.com

I didn't want to use it as it is huge and bulky (I'm talking about half a kilo and the size of a quarter iPAD), but from the way you make it sound (no pun intended) it seems I'll must. Hopefully it will improve something.

P.S: isn't there a workaround to make the sound somewhat bearable by disabling THX?

 

waht the hell! lol. i would think the soundcard would be capable of having decent sound, even televisions have better sound when using their headphone jack.

i completely uninstalled thx from my computer. still sounds like a tv.

 

As far as I understood you need to keep it installed but disable the THX effect which takes advantage of the poor excuse of a subwoofer. Here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/680221-how-fix-sound-headphones.html

 

yeah i just saw that thread, i did everything. but then again it still doesnt sound right. sounded better with thx off, so here i am re uninstalling the bs thx. so when its set to 7.1 the total volume out put decreases and adds little to almost no bass. my phone (not apple related) has more bass and even louder output with all eq set to "zero". i need the natural sound that its suppose to output, otherwise, ill have to lug my old sony vaio, which sounds better and louder. sadface'

 

now, the real question is, anyone know of a good usb sound card that will output stereo 2.0 that will have full freq range such as apple products?

-something that doesnt have THX preferably

-something that i can use to produce music

-wolfson chipset is a huge plus

 

I'm using the default Windows audio - I didn't install anything to do with audio from the drivers disc. It sounds much better to me with headphones with bass boost (up to max) and loudness equalization enabled, with the volume at about 85%.

My old Dell 1558 on the other hand was able to make my ears sore with the bass boost when using my aged Fatal1ty headphones.

Note: I have a P170EM but it's the same thing as regards audio I believe.

 

hmm ill give that a try thanks, i was also thinking that, and i think its just software related (hopefully)

 

im going to buy one of these Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro USB Sound Card | Creative Store (UK) so at least i can get decent sound through my 5.1

 

ok, tried this, still sounds like my phones speaker-fone on my Studio Monitors. Ordered the FiiO E7 since its a DAC and portable amp(prolly wont use it for that), also....returns are so easy on buy.com

i was also considering the X-Fi but i dont need no 5.1+ for music. just quality.

 

Does the onboard sound have decent 3d positioning for gaming via headphones? Just lacking bass?

 

its lacking bass and/or lower frequency. During stereo mode its loud as its suupose to be with nearly no bass. On quadraphonic it has better bass but then lacks volume.

If you have 5.1 or better headphones, it may work perfect as some other users have good experience with it, not sure how works does. multiple cables per headset?

 

no idea what its like but might be worth trying the dongle then

Sound Blaster X-Fi Go! Pro External USB Sound Card | Creative Store (UK)

Sound Blaster Play! External USB Sound Card | Creative Store (UK)

 

Thanks vzilla. I'll be looking for a new set of headphones when my system arrives. I'll have to do a bit more research as to what works well on this thing.

 

I have one of those, they actually sound the same when in 5.1 mode, except X-Fi 5.1 USB comes with equalizer.

 

might also set up my 1000watt speakers and jbl sub bass bins. now they vibrate my house so i will get the full sound and feel of games (only problem is so will half of my street.

 

Has anybody tried the free trial of SRS Audio Essentials to see if it`s worth buying.

SRS Labs :: Audio Essentials Download, 1 PC License $29.99

John.

 

I didn't, but there was a time SRS was offering Audio Essentials for $9.99.

 

Seems to get a good review on a desktop and especially on the notebook, EDIT : and it`s not a trial it`s a limited version for free.

Geeky Gadget Review: SRS Audio Essentials Preview - DontHateTheGeek

John.

 

Would something like this improve the sound quality?

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround Pro 5.1 USB [SBXFI-S51-PRO] - $65.00 : PC Case Gear
(Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround Pro 5.1 USB)

 

Not by far, both sound similar, however you can also adjust the EQ on the X-Fi Surround Pro 5.1 USB which the P150EM's on board couldn't.

 

I bought a Sound Blaster X-Fi Go! USB sound card because the P1*0EM sound is so bad.
Huuuuuge improvement.

 

X-Fi Go! will actually give you a better improvement over X-Fi 5.1 USB when using with stereo headphones.

 

I keep forgetting to ask on this subject. I know everyone is saying USB sound card is the way to go. Do the headsets that are USB driven have a similar impact or not so much?

I think I still have my old bithead amp I'll try when I get it but that will lose me any surround sound option. A USB headset loses the option to use with my phone though. I guess the new USB soundcards likely have 5.1 output.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk 2

 

is it possible to change the soudn card within the p150??

 

Buying an external speaker system or a 5.1 ss headphones solves the problems imo. I don't consider myself an audiophile but I am somewhat picky when it comes to how things sound so needless to say that I was very disappointed about the sound this laptop produced, however i picked up a set of 2.1 speakers ( Amazon.com: Genius SW-G2.1 1250 2.1 Speaker System: Electronics) and managed to find all the bass I could ever want from this thing. It's not a portable option but a good set of 5.1 earbuds or headphones will accomplish the same feat as my Thermaltake gaming earbuds (virtual surround) produce enough bass to shatter my ear drums a few times over at max volume.

 

Yes, only speakers or headphones with subwoofer jack can make use of the on board sound card in P150EM.

 

I'm confused by "Subwoofer" jack.. There's no LFE output that i've ever seen on the 150em or 170em..

So where is it?

 

It's the jack that has the microphone symbol next to it. Actually it's not just for LFE, it's for CEN/LFE.

 

So the microphone/line-in jack is a LTE/Center channel OUTPUT as well? Why is this not documented by Sager?

 

Yes but you gotta choose one, when you plug a jack in a message window will pop up and ask you what do you want to use this audio jack as. So you basically can't use the microphone with the CEN/LFE at the same time. And the line-in jack shares with rear left and rear right, again, gotta choose one. By the way I didn't even read the user manual so didn't know that they didn't include this .

 

I have an older set of Logitech THX PC speakers with the following jacks on the back:


You think I'd get pretty good sound with this setup?

 

Sure, those 3 jacks are exactly what you need (Green = FR/FL, Orange = CEN/LFE, Black = RR/RL), make sure you tweak the setting in THX to fit your flavour (Surround/crossover frequency/Turn on speaker) and maybe a bit of THX Crystalizer to enhance the highs and lows, the maximum LFE output can go up to +25dB (THX subwoofer gain + Realtek room correction +10 dB) there's a lot to tweak when running in 5.1 mode, unlike the 2.0 mode.

 

Looks like external usb sound card like the sound blaster x-fi may improve the sound quality for headphone. But how about USB DAC Headphone Amplifier? Would it improve it as well?

 

thats interesting to know about the mic jack that can also be used for the su/rear speakers.
ive got the same coloured plugs for my creative 5.1 and ive tested each one out using the headphone socket only and it makes a massive improvement. im mainly using the green for front lt/rt speakers.
i will defo try out the sub bass tonight as mine are linked to my rear speakers so with only 2 plugs in laptop i can have 5 speakers on the go at once so wont have to buy a x-fi card.
if this works i will be repping you like crazy

wont let me rep you again hackness.
if this works i think it is worth a gold medal. i will be testing it out as soon as i get home tonight.

 

Thanks for the rep . Hopefully it works as you expected The 5.1 sound fits my expectation after I did some tweaking. By the way mic jack is for center/sub (next to stereo jack)and line-in jack is for rear (the one close to the screen), if message doesn't pop up after you plug the jack in just go to windows task bar's icon area and look for Realtek HD audio manager, open it up and look at the right side of it and you'll see 4 jack icons. Click on each of them and you can configure the jack output type.

 

could everyone who finds this helpfull rep hackness as it says ive repped him already.

this actually works. as soon as you plug the speaker into the mic socket it asks you to chose mic in or centre / sub woofer speakers out.
awww the bass is lovely

much appreciated for posting this tip mate. and yeh clevo, why isnt it documented in your uer manuals.

 

I don't have the manual yet as I haven't received yet but I'm certain I have seen in documentation online or perhaps vendor videos talking about the multi use of the ports.

I'm not following the whole topic here though. The solution is only good for multi plug speaker systems right? For those of us with headphones with one Jack still gonna be the same right? Sorry I'm a little dim today.

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Glad it works for you The maximum bass enhancement can go up to +25db. However I found that +0dB is good enough for me, I prefer the bass to zone in starting from a super low frequency so I set the crossover frequency at 40Hz

Sadly it's only good for multiple speaker system/discrete speaker headphones, the only cure towards 2.0 speakers/headphones are using 3rd party software/external USB soundcard/External amp.

 

Thanks for that. I'm gonna try my amp I have and see but I may pick up a 5.1 headset anyways. Cheers

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ive not tried it on this laptop yet but on my m860tu i used my 1000watt active speakers with a jbl sub bass a twin cd mixer and amp and my 2 technics 1210's