P150EM Speaker and Sound Card Quality

I'm curious about this topic since it was brought up in another thread of a different topic, and I didn't want to contribute to getting that thread further off topic. I'm interested in using a Clevo P150EM in audio applications, particularly music composition, synthesis, recording, mastering, and playback.

Just what is the quality of the Onkyo speakers and subwoofer on the P150EM, particularly the Xotic PC Sager NP9150?
How does it compare to the other speaker systems that people were talking about in that other thread, like the Bang and Olufson speakers in Asus brand laptops and Harman Kardon speakers in Toshiba brand laptops?

Does the built in subwoofer create EM noise, even when idling, like a HDD creates, which is noticeable when recording sounds on a high sampling rate in a program like Audacity? I mean, when you use quality insulated audio cables to eliminate all external EM noise, does the subwoofer or anything else other than the HDD create internal noise?

What is the model, brand, specs, etc of the sound card built into the motherboard of the P150EM, and how good is its sound quality when delivered through professional grade external speakers or headphones?

Finally, how good is the P150EM in general at running a VST host and the Waldorf PPG 2.V and 3.V digital synthesizers? I'm talking about the Steinberg VST API for Digital Audio Workstations, and digital synthesizers, instruments, and effect modules made with it.

 

Personally, I don't think a laptop's internal speakers are ever meant to be used! There's just there for show, no matter the brand or quality, it's always small and always weak! The one exception I've seen was in a Toshiba laptop. Nonetheless, decent earphones/headphones/external speakers should suffice just about anyone. I use AKG earphones or my Altec Lansing OCTANE7 2.1 speaker system.

 

Let me put it this way; it has a little above average laptop level speakers. Here is my personal comparison:
Lowest End: Acer 5742g, netbooks, subnotebooks, consumer entry-level laptops
Medium: Asus gamer series, Acer Travelmate series, Lenovo medium-sized laptops, Clevo HM series
Above Average: Clevo EM series
High-End: MSI gamer series, Toshiba Qosmio series, other brand laptops with Harman Kardon, Bose and other high-end speakers

If you want to record noise-less audio and play back on a high level of quality, then forget about the on-board speakers and audio card.
The audio card itself is a little above the average level. ITS NOT SUITED FOR AUDIOPHILES, its just a little better than crap itself.

In my opinion: get an external audio interface, studio speakers and you will be set.

 

Without a separate external dedicated sound card, how is the audio quality through good speakers/headphones using the internal audio jacks/ports ?

 

Its bad! It barely has enough power to pump out some sound. Bass is muffled, highs are not so crisp, mid-range is overwhelming...basically, this card's best feature is its SPIDIF digital optical output. With this, you can connect it trough an external DAC and get the best sound quality.

Almost ANY professional audio interface or even DJ sound card will be miles better than the onboard card. The DAC is not good enough. Also, the card itself is based on the Realtek chip 892 and again - thats not what you want for recording or playback.

Its also weak and barely can power headphones. I have some SONY XB-700 that are rated at 24 Ohms and I can hardly hear anything from them. My mobile phone (Sony Ericsson W995) can power the headphones better than my laptop!!

If you want something cheap, affordable and nice to do recording and playback on, then get Behringer XENYX 302USB!

 

Just buy a minirig and be the envy of all audiophiles

 

If you are using "professional" equipment, don't cheap out and use a laptop's speakers or sound card for anything. It completely negates all the other equipment you are using.

I'm sorry to not specifically answer any of your questions, but it is the truth. The sound from ALL laptops sucks when compared to any quality stuff. If you are recording, mixing, editing, doing whatever, or just an enthusiast or audiophile, please don't use your laptop's sound card or speakers if you care much about the sound quality.

On the other hand, if what you want to get into is DJ'ing, well, then it really doesn't matter and don't listen to anything I said because the sound from the laptop is good enough. Some of the "pro" equipment that I see DJ's use makes me shudder.

 

your DAW is your VST host (and the waldorf soft-synths are VSTs). if that's the question, a 9150 will run any DAW even more seamlessly than it runs games on high-ultimate settings. i'm in ableton and the 9150 in my sig that i'm anxiously awaiting to start using for production is admitted overkill. the xps just can't quite handle the load anymore.

 

Bose is definitely not high-end. All their speakers are bass heavy, it destroys how the recording is supposed to sound.

 

Bang & Olufsen, however are fricken' brilliant!

 

Yea, well... Beats are so much better.

 

Hope you aren't serious, it's more like a marketing hype to up the unit value, hence price

 

just get a media laptop. i had the acer 8920, it had 5 speakers and a tuba sub. the sound was amazing, and the screen was just as good. The clevo/sager dont have the best speakers, i

 

Not sure about the model but the soundcard carries the brand name of Realtek and comes with a software called THX Studio Pro. The output modes it's capable of doing are "Stereo" "Quaraphonic" "5.1 Speaker" "7.1 Speaker", all modes get to choose whether it should be Full-range speaker or not(FL and FR/Surround speakers). And there's "Room Correction" in the Realtek application, you can change the distance of each speaker and also the loudness. In THX Studio Pro you can select the type of output and depending on the type of output you get to adjust "Crossover Frequency" if you are into this. Other than that it's pretty similar to the THX Studio Pro you find on the desktop Creative cards in the X-Fi Program. I have only just received the P150EM SE for a day so can't comment much on the sound quality, but I can tell you it isn't sounding too bad on my headset which comes with 7 speakers (Psyko carbon) but again I got this beast for only 1 day, might find out more later. Oh one more thing, I can't seem to find a way to adjust EQ setting in Realtek and THX Studio Pro, I guess it doesn't come with it.

 

Sennheiser headphones outclass Beats headphones in every way possible. Get headphones from Beyerdynamic if you enjoy bass heavy songs. No reason to go with Beats.

 

Not a chance, just like bose, form over function....

Look good but...

 

I love Altec Lansing though. Their OCTANE7 is a brilliant 2.1 speaker system with subwoofers under the satellite speakers as well besides the primary (and rather large) subwoofer itself, providing the perfectly balanced downforce bass!

 

lol I was joking.

I agree with you though. Beyers are pretty bassy but can be hard to drive properly. Audio Technica and Ultrasone both have some offerings that oust the Beats bass response and have better all around sound quality, for around half the price as well.

 

since you're gonna be using it for audio applications, there should be no excuse for you not to use a DAC and amp.

 

Speaking of Beyers...if you're looking for one that is easy to drive, check out the DT860. The impedence is 32 ohm and drives pretty well from portable devices, or you could add a portable amp for more omphh. The DT860 is lovely, not bass heavy at all, just neutral. Some would consider it a little dry on bass. Good depth and extension, but doesn't have the boominess that some younger listeners would like.

In fact where it excels are the mids and highs, which are quite forward sounding. The open back construction does confine their use to fairly quiet places, but I like how 'open' it sounds, for want of a better word. Fantastic for vocal jazz music.

 

Only thing to be wary about with low impedance phones is most headphone outputs have a rather high impedance (outputs have impedance too). Well the thing is you want your output impedance around 10% or less of your headphone's impedance to be able to exert proper control over the driver. Damping factor is what it is called in the speaker amp world.

If you don't, the bass suffers. There's less of it and it can have resonant peaks.

So for that reason, higher impedance phones actually can be nice if you are playing them on arbitrary devices. They don't get as loud, but they'll have better sound. Just make sure they give you enough sound to make you happy.

However, if you are willing to spend a bit more a Fiio E7 can solve the problem. It has a low impedance headphone output, and is fairly respectable in terms of other specs. In general it will do a competent job driving a large number of headphones and doesn't break the bank. It's also a USB DAC so it handles that too.

It is one of those annoying things that matter, but finding the specs are near impossible. Nobody ever seems to list output impedance, because normal consumers don't know what it means or if it matters. There's also many amp designs where it is easy to prevent the chip form overloading by sticking a small resistor on it, but that raises the output impedance.

Now none of this is to say low impedance phones sound horrible on random sources. Far from it, they can still sound plenty fine. My Denon AH-D2000s sound nice on most anything. However they DO end up needing an amp to have the bass really full, punchy, and right on.

Basically each kind of thing, high and low impedance, is "easy" to drive in a different way. Low impedance phones don't need much voltage to get loud, so they are easy to make loud. However, they need an amp that can provide the current to exert control over them to sound their best. Also sometimes they'll make cheap opamps audibly hiss from the load.

High impedance phones are much easier on the amp to drive, they don't stress opamps as much and the output impedance has a far waider good range. However they need voltage to get loud. Low voltage portables often can't do the trick.

My recommendation for lappies is just nab an E7. That way its internal stuff doesn't matter. The E7 isn't world class audiophile, but it should make you happy. I like mine.

 

I was using the external Hercules Deejay Trim 4&6 soundcard.
It featured a dedicated phones amp (8-64 Ohms) and provided the power needed for my Sony XB-700 phones (the Xtra Bass series^^).

I ended up selling my external card, because I only used it rarely at home. It required an external power supply and was heavy & big to haul around.

Right now, Im waiting for my local DYNACORD dealer to get its Behringer Xenyx 302USB in stock. This is a micro-mixer on a professional level with a VERY NICE headphone amp and it has a built-in DAC! Powered by USB or with external PSU and also has a nice MIC preamp + british EQ (Lows and Highs -/+15db).

Costs only 49$!

Behringer 302USB USB Audio Mixer and Interface at zZounds

 

Ohh I'm jealous. I've always wanted to try the D2000's. How much did you pay for yours? Ive notoced that those along with the Audio Tehnica Pro 900's are considered pretty damn bassy in the high end market.

On a more on topic note, how is the bass boost on the E7? Does it distort the sound quality at all?

Sent from my HTC Holiday using Tapatalk 2

 

For crystal-clear bass, use an audio enhancer/exciter like Aphex 204 or BBE Sonic Maximizer.

Behringer offers some of that stuff too: SU9920 and SX3040 at cheap prices.

Equalizers are also the bomb for headphones

 

Completely agree. Have mine hooked up to a pair of hd558s and it sounds loads better. You can actually hear bass however, I sold them in hopes of later buying a e17.

 

If you don't need a portable amp, the E10 blows away the E7 as a DAC. I have both, but am looking forward to the E10 dying so I can justify the E17.

 

what kinda cans you gots?

 

Right now, I have the AIAIAI TMA-1 and HiFiMAN HE-300. For IEMs, I own the HiFiMAN RE-ZERO and Monoprice MEP-933.

 

Hi there,

wondering if i can get some advice here on the NP9150 audio and if it supports dolby digital live.

Am considering getting the Astro A40s with their mix amp to improve the audio quality but it defeats the purpose if the realtek thx trustudio chipset doesn't support DDL which will essentially not be maximising the potential of that option.

What do you think of this from a gaming quality of life perspective? Alternatively, is it better for me to go with an external sound card (which one?) to pair with the sennheiser pc360s

much thanks

 

dynaudio thx sound at msi vs harman kardon sound at toshiba sound vs asus bang olfson sound ;how one put the diffrences ??