Sound problems with brand new Qosmio X505-Q890.

I've had my Qosmio now for almost 3 weeks. I immediately noticed a problem with the sound going up and down (louder and quieter) when playing songs (MP3s) and movies. On the Toshiba support forum, it says it is a sound "enhancement" feature of Win 7. The only remedy posted there was to disable all sound enhancements by right-clicking the speaker icon and disabling it. But when you do that, you lose all bass and end up with a horrifying flat sound.

So my question is there some way around this problem? Some way of disabling this sound "enhancement" feature without losing the sound quality? A driver, work around, something. Or is there another media player I can use to restore the sound quality manually?

This problem is driving me crazy. Any help or suggestions would be hugely appreciated. For $1,700, I shouldn't be having a "problem" like this.

T Bone

 

Holy crap, this sounds Awful! I have no idea, but PLEASE let me know what you find out and if you find a solution to this problem! I am vacillating between a Qosmio and a G73JW, and this issue, if there is no fix, may (no, make that will) push me over to the other side.

 

I just became aware of this problem myself, sucks that I didn't find out sooner. I've searched around and there might a remedy you can try.

First, try updating the Conexant Sound Driver, that seems to be the root of all the trouble. The latest version is here:

http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/content/support/downloads/tc70094400a.exe

Reboot and play some music...if that doesn't solve the problem (I haven't found anyone saying it will or won't), then uninstall the Conexant driver from the device manager and reboot. Win7 should then use its default sound driver, and you can still use enhancements. You'll lose the Dolby control panel functionality, but it doesn't sound like you're using it anyway, and it's not real useful.

Let me know if any of this helps.

 

It seems to have helped a little. Think it may have eliminated the flucuation problem. Still needs some help. Gonna need more time to play with other settings to see if things sound better before I can give a more definitive opinion. When the sound "hits" the speaker, it sounds like a cardboard box being kicked. Will keep you posted.

Any other help I can get with this issue would be hugely appreciated!!!

T Bone

 

Just a dumb question: Is it possible your lappy has defective speakers out of the factory? Because one of the things that the reviewers universally raved about was the sound quality of the Qosmio.

 

Maybe he's listening to extremely loud bassy music? The volume problem was definitely driver related, but I don't get his new issue.

TBonez, you gotta be more specific about what the problem is. You're saying volume fluctuation has been solved...how? Which way did you solve it? Are you saying that sound quality is worse or the same as before? There's too many questions here to get what your problem is.

 

My 890 was doing the same thing & now sounds great.

Sound properties Set to
Speakers= Default
Click Properties
General tab=speakers/ Controller=High Def Audio Device
Enhancements=No boxes Checked/ Status should say Disabled
Advanced=24bit 48000Hz Studio Quality/ Exclusive Mode check mark each box
Recording=Not plugged in

Toshiba Media Controller/ Dolby Center Unistalled or Disable

Play a song on the Windows Media Player
Right Click on the player screen
Select Enhancements /Graphic Equilizer Custom set your Bass here.

Works for me!
Somehow these other programs interfere with the sound.

 

DKside, questionL Does iTunes cause a problem with the Qosmio sound? Because I use it as my default music player because it Syncs with my ipod, obviously.

 

It shouldn't affect the sound at all, because the problem is an old driver. I'm still waiting to see whether updating the driver solved TBonez's problem.

I hate iTunes though. Big heaping POS on Windows...Foobar FTW.

 

Well, according to DKside, it is an easy fix. If so, I can scratch that off as an issue I have with the Qosmio. I think that I am going to do what you are doing a4500435, and wait to see what happens in the coming weeks. I am so tempted to just buy one of these guys now, though. lol

 

Sorry I dont use Itunes.
After quite a few hours playing around with different settings it seems that these programs I noted before are active and affecting the sound. Like playing your sounds through more than one programs sound settings.I think the Toshiba program for Game sound effects the most likely one and unistalled it.

 

Sorry for the delay in responding. Yes, the driver update got rid of the flucuating sound problem. The other problem I mentioned is when the music (bass?) hits, so to speak, it sounds like a cardboard box being kicked. It sounds like crap.

I've tried to lower the bass in Dolby. I disabled the bass boost in the speaker properties. I'm gonna try now what DKside suggests. We'll see how that goes.

 

As I posted earlier, it could also be that your bass speakers are defective and need to be replaced.

 

There are no "bass speakers" on the Qosmio, it's just the 2 sound drivers. If those were defective, he'd have a lot more problems than just bass.

TBonez, a couple of questions:
Did this problem exist from the beginning or start after the driver update?

What music are you playing and how loud are you playing it? The Qosmio's speakers are good, but they're not designed to be boomboxes, that's too much to ask of any laptop.

I assume the problem isn't bass volume, but lack of bass 'fullness'? That's how I interpret your cardboard box analogy. What player are you using? Is the sound the same regardless of the player?

Do you have any Win7 sound enhancements enabled?

 

a4500435, are you sure the Qosmio has no bass speakers? I ask because all the reviews praise the sound and the bass on that lappy.

 

I have this bass issue also in my Q890 .I tried DKside suggestion and I see quite improvement on the sound quality but still it has this bass noise.

I'm following this thread for any further solutions

 

Is there other enhancements beside these in speakers properties?

 

It has two primary speakers that of same size as what they call "subwoofer" on other laptops. That's why it sounds good without muddiness introduced by band crossovers.

 

Yes, I'm quite sure, having seen the Qosmio myself. Do not be swayed by people touting "subwoofers" on their laptops, the Qosmio's speakers are more than large enough to act as subwoofers themselves. I wouldn't be surprised if they were actually larger than the G73's subwoofer; you can literally see them vibrating. One benefit of this is that you're getting a large frequency response in a traditional 2-speaker system, unlike the unusual 2.1 G73 setup where only the Creative software recognizes the subwoofer.

If you're still not convinced, just consider headphones; they don't have subwoofers, but you can buy very bassy boomy headphones that'll rupture your eardrums. That's because they're designed to work at those frequencies. Besides, subwoofers are supposed to compliment the bass, not output it themselves. The lowest note in a cello is only 65hz, well within the 100hz range of a subwoofer, but only an idiot would use subwoofers to play cello music.

@maxsteel10, I'm kinda limited in solutions because I don't really understand the problem (bass noise? bass hollowness?) and don't have the laptop myself. Another thing you can try is make sure there are no DSPs like "Concert Hall" and the like that are active. Otherwise, I really don't know what to say; I demoed a Q890 with treble and bass music, and I certainly never heard the "cardboard box kick".

 

100% subscribe under that.

I am using Sennheiser HD595 with my W701 now, and I don't care about laptop speakers anymore They blow out of the water even low end of HiFi speaker range, not to mentioned anything could be put on your desk
And finally, headphones that I could wear for hours and actually normally hear everything what is going on around me when sound is silent.

 

The problem is that 90% of the time I am going to be using the gaming laptop I won't be able to use headphones. I am buying the laptop for work, and while I have a lot of down time to play games and write, it isn't appropriate for me to have headphones or earbuds on. This is why the built in laptop sound is so important to me, and why I am desperately trying to find a laptop that can equal the sound system I have in my old XPS Gen 2.

 

I only mentioned headphones to assure you that a traditional 2-speaker system can output bass if designed properly. Really, subwoofers in laptops aren't even real subwoofers, it's hard to find a real subwoofer under 5", let alone the ~1/2" drivers laptops use. Subwoofers are supposed to be limited to 80-100hz, I find it very difficult to believe that the tiny laptop subwoofers aren't in fact intruding into the 200hz range. But I digress, that's another topic entirely...

@Ingvarr, the 595s are just modified 555s; it's actually very easy to buy a 555 and mod it into a 595. I'm looking at Audio-Technica ATH-AD700 or AD900, which alot of people consider better than either of the Sennheisers.

 

Yeah, I've considered ATHs, but not fond of round cups, oval-shaped the Sennheiser uses fit my ears better.
Also I didn't like frequency response (at least according to HeadRoom tests).

 

Ehh, I don't know anybody who takes those graphs seriously, especially with all the variables (soundstage, etc) in sound. In any case, the guys at Head-Fi seem to love them:

Audio Technica AD900 REVIEW (and compared to HD595) - Head-Fi.org Community

The ATH-AD700 Appreciation Thread - Head-Fi.org Community

Of course, all this depends on the genre and fit you prefer. Everybody's different. The price of the AD700 is simply amazing though, it's at least $100-150 cheaper than its peers...The AD700 is also revered for gaming due to its expansive soundstage.

 

I bought a q898 from J&R and I'm a 'newbie' audiophile. I bought this lappy to use it with my Denon AHD-2000 headphones but unfortunately soundcard is really terrible. Sound is not loud and there is a very annoying dip sound This conextant soundcard is really a piece of crap. I've a PC with internal realtek soundcard and PCI-Express Asus Xonar Essence STX. No need to say, sound from Xonar to my Denons are perfect. But Realtek is also very good for an internal soundcard. There is NO dip sound. I never experienced an Conextant soundcard and I was expecting same performance as Realtek while buying this laptop. Unfortunately, my Denons are crying because of this bad quality sound input.

I made a research and decided to buy Asus Xonar U1 usb soundcard for my laptop. This seems as the only solution for me for better sound.

Other than the soundcard, I'm really happy with my Toshiba Q898.

 

First of all, congrats for being one of the first to get a 460M Qosmio, the top model no less.

Second, your reference to "dip sound" sounds like the volume fluctation problem that we solved above; just update the Conexant driver:

http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/content/support/downloads/tc70094400a.exe

Third, the inadequate loudness you experienced leads me to believe the problem is a proper amp, not the soundcard. You're coming from desktop audio, that's not comparable to laptop audio; your Asus Xonar Essence STX has a built-in headphone amp. The Denon AH-D2000 can be fairly weak if unamped. The Asus Xonar U1 will probably solve this, because it's a USB DAC with an amp, but I have no idea of the sound quality; to me it seems geared more toward gaming than music. I myself am currently lusting after the Audinst HUD-MX1, but there's a lot of cheaper alternatives, such as the uDAC2 or Carat UD1. The AH-D2000 is a quality headphone, if you really listen to a lot of music I'd suggest investing in something more than a bargain basement Xonar.

And finally, a quick search doesn't show Conexant to have a bad reputation generally, so I think the above should address your issues.

 

a4500435, I prefer to take seriously the graphs and hard numbers over impressions of some random guy, in any hardware reviews. Especially if looks that guy is a "audiophile", I know too well how each of them have polar opinion in their tastes

It's not Conexant on X505 that crap, its line output (analog part) here that is utter crap, a lot of system noise leaks in. It was huge disappointment when I moved from Satellite X200, and I wasn't able to use headphones on X505 at all due to noise issues.
But I have very similar Conexant codec on my W701 and it sounds great, pitch black silence level, no noise at all. I guess pays to have it on the separate board there, well removed from mainboard with its noise. This further proves that problem is not the Conexant DAC, but just quality of analog output circuit design.
Further proof that speakers not affected by noise on X505 at all, only output jack is.

BTW I had a disastrous experience with uDAC2. I thought it will be even better than W701 built-in audio, but it wasn't! Quality of the DAC was the same, I didn't notice any difference. And there was parasitic high-frequency noise, very audible in silence on in-ear headphones (needless to say there was no such noise on laptop built-in jack at all).
When I contacted nuForce about it, they immediately appeared to be well-informed about problem and claimed that it's "bad USB or cable quality" (sic!, analog noise on digital interface???), but I've tried it on 2 different PC at home and at work, 2 diff hubs and 2 diff cables and it was the 100% same. nuForce didn't even try to claim that device was defective, they instantly said "we can't fix that, just RMA it". I assume they could not design noise-free USB power filter. It appears they know this deficiency well, but continue selling device hoping that a lot of people wouldn't care (or somehow will end on "high quality USB port" whatever that is). Inexusable for 100-buck device that claims to be "HiFi" and "98db SNR".

 

@a4500435,

I meant a parasitic sound with dip sound. And the worse thing is this parasitic sound is not a simple white noise, it changes frequencies and loudness, like buzzing of a fly above your headwhich moves away and comes close. This is very distracting.

@Ingvarr,

I think you're right, this is not related with conextant and seems as a fault of bad line output circuit design. Because when I muted windows sound, this noise is still there.

 

Well, a buzzing sound is something different entirely. Yeah, you're right Ingvarr that would be an line jack problem. How come no one ever talked about this? I'm looking into a USB DAC, so it doesn't affect me too much, but obviously I'd prefer not to have buzzing.

How noticeable is it?

 

This depends on what you compare it with. There is no standard on how good integrated sound cards should be, so I guess a lot of people just don't know how good they could be, and assume that "its alright".

My foolproof noise test is in-ear monitors, with their isolation you hear the slightest noise. And with X505 it's was pretty bad, it's not just white noise, you can hear CPU throttling and mouse cursor moving Clearly the system noise leakage. As I said it was so bad, that it was pointless to use good headphones, since X505 made them sound worse than built-in speakers.

USB dac could help, just make sure you get a decent return policy, and better avoid uDAC2. Apparently things could get wrong even with USB DAC, since it has to obtain power from USB which is not "ultra-clean" power source.

 

Very distracting for sensitive ears. As a person who changes fans of electronic devices with silent ones and even wall clock mechanisms with better ones i can say that this is at the same category for me. Except the buzzing sound, line out quality is a way worse than sound quality of the internal speakers. My cans sound like a no-name headphones with 10$ price which is a real joy killer...

I ordered asus u1 today and now waiting it. Till I receive it, I'll use internal speakers for music, and use Denons for just games.

BTW, After a little more usage of internal speakers today, I changed my mind. Sounds is very clear, bass is not very good but OK for me. These speakers are pretty good for a laptop, may be the best I've ever listened.

 

Thanks for that, and I'm glad you like the speakers buyukbang, I share the same opinion, I haven't heard any laptop speakers to match the Qosmio.

@Ingvarr, I'd never use IEMs on any laptop, regardless of model, there isn't a laptop in existence that can pretend to output real quality audio. The Audinist HUD-MX1 also comes with a PSU, but USB should suffice. I'd recommend USB DACs for anyone who really cares about audio quality; they're one of the few components you don't have to upgrade with each new laptop.

 

Let not be carried over, have you checked every laptop in existence? Definition of quality can vary, but as I described in my previous posts, I have found clear case when laptop integrated sound is better then USB DAC. Contrary to popular beleief, Intel HD Audio specifications places very strict quality restrictions on DACs used, so as long as analog part is ok, quality will be more than enough.

Here is how "great" USB DAC could be if you still insist - uDac 2 - High frequency noise is audible on "quiet" input (Notice all these people having an issue).

 

Yes, I know about the uDAC2's problems; apparently the first batch was defective or something. The guys at Head-fi.org are trying to figure it out. To me, it's irrelevant, because I was never interested in the uDAC, and you can't compare defective products to non-defective ones. There are reviews of defective X505s, but they haven't turned me off to the Qosmios.

You miss my point though. No laptop using Realtek or Conexant, can compete with the sound from a basic well-designed non-defective USB DAC. It's simply impossible. Laptops have usually just treated audio as an afterthought; even if you buy a ~$4000 Clevo, a $30 external DAC is an upgrade.

 

Too skewed.
I have seen oscilloscope output on transients from 5-year old AC97 dac, and it was simply great, hard to beleive, but it did beat some "hifi" systems (and these were known brands). Since then I beleive there is no clear black and white there, even integrated audio could sound good with good design, and "hifi" label or "dedicatennes" of sound component is no warranty for quality. Mileage can vary, trust your ears and instruments, not labels or beliefs.
I am no "audiophile" though, I know to them cheap stuff are affront to god

 

And as I have said maybe a hundred times, my old dinosaur of a laptop has sound that is unbelievable. And when I use a nice pair of headphones or in-ear buds, the sound is like a movie theatre. Honestly, one of the things I want from a laptop is sound quality that rivals my OLD XPS Gen2, but sadly, I don't think I will find one, not in a 1.5K+ Qosmio or G73 and not in a four grand Sager or Alienware.

 

@Ingvarr, I'm no snobby audiophile (it's misguided idiots like that which keep Monster Cable and Bose so profitable), and of course all sound is subjective to a certain degree, but you can't seriously believe that a 5 year old AC97 could beat a quality USB DAC today, especially when most of them didn't exist until a couple of years ago. That's like comparing a 5 year old GPU to Intel GMA today. And an external DAC is analogous to a discrete GPU, because the signal is being sent to a device specifically designed to process it. Defects aside, a well-designed USB DAC will conquer any current integrated audio easily.

@ChiroVette, I know you love your XPS...god knows I like some things better on my 7 year old Satellite. But if the Qosmio's speakers aren't better than those on your XPS, I'll go out, buy a hat, eat it, and post the video on youtube. There are more than a few people who hold the Qosmio Harmon Kardon speakers in high regard.

Headphones are another matter is there's noise in the jack, but as I said, you can buy a very good USB DAC better than anything in any laptop for under $200 and still stay a couple hundred dollars lower than G73 prices. Really, I don't know why more people don't invest in a USB DAC, they're small and you can take them from laptop to laptop.

 

Lucky for you this is the Internet and I couldn't hold you to that.

Seriously, I am having a lot of trouble believing that any of the current medium end laptops are going to match either the screen or the sound on my old lappy. In the end, I think that this is just something I am going to have to live with. lol It's not like I am running into the arms of Asus expecting a mega-miracle with regards to screen and sound. I would be willing to bet that the Qosmio has the better sound and the G73 has the better screen, but that at 1620 X 945 it will not be as big a difference as it would in 1080p. I am just concerned to hear so many people complaining about the Qosmio sound in this thread considering that all the pro reviews (at least the detailed ones!) gave the Qosmio high marks on the sound.

 

You are thinking that USB DAC is magic solution, oblivious to
- difficulties to obtain noise-free power of proper voltage from whatever USB 5V gives you
- difficulties to obtain power for high-transients and impendances (remember, max USB power is only about 2W)
- USB latency and bandwidth restrictions. Most likely you will want to avoid hubs if you don't want dips in the sound. Bandwidth restrictions is the reason no USB DAC will give you above 24 bits.
Granted, first two above could be overcome with good external power supply (making it somewhat cluttered and less portable), but:

Most major flaw in your argument that you somehow assume that USB DAC will be "better" designed than "any" integrated card
In fact I can enlighten you on that:
- manufacturers use standard high-quality DAC designs for both, pretty much all 24-bit and higher delta-sigma DACs now are polished to perfection. In fact you will be shocked knowing the same chip designs from factories go often separate way, one ending in "audophile-grade" devices, others in meager integrated audio chips, often only with name on chip casing being different (and maybe the pin layout)
- manufacturers readily cut corners and use cheap supplemental components (like capacitors, etc) to save costs even on 200$ "quality"-marketed devices. You must know, witnessed how Toshiba saves on 5$ HDD connectors in their top-end laptops
- even if sound is "integrated", does not mean it will be just routed in the middle of the motherboard, it could be a separate mini-board (pretty much same you will have in USB DAC), only connected to motherboard using dedicated high-speed data connection, much better than shared USB bandwidth. This is just like sound card, only stripped down of hardware mixer and effects processor
- you assume that it is hard to design good quality sound output and only teams dedicated to sound-specific device will care enough. It's not that hard to design tremendous quality DAC/headphone amplifier at all - all is needed is common electric design sense and at least basic desire to make it right. Seems that Toshiba didn't care at all on X505, but this is not universal.

I also wouldn't dismiss Chirovette readily, I would not blindly assume that Toshiba's speakers were ever best of the best. I have not heard sound on that XPS gen, and it's quite possible that Dell got lucky that time and produced one-time masterpiece. It happens all the time, sadly I yet have to see manufacturer that makes great designs that last over generations.

Chirovette, dont mix up headphone sound and speaker sound. On X505, speakers are great (for laptop speakers), headphone output is crap (for any high-quality listening purposes).

 

By the way, this is the very first I am hearing that laptops output crappy sound to headphones. I didn't know that. I have always assumed that only musicians looking to do serious multitrack recording on their PC's or driving high end surround sound systems truly benefit from the high end cards like the Audigy's or whatever is considered the best right now. I always believed that all computers, because everything is digital based, output great quality sound for music and games, and that the limiting factor in laptops was the built-in speakers. That said, I have used great quality ear-buds in my PC and my old laptop and they sound great to my ear.

 

@Ingvarr, your first two points are minor, as you said. The 24 bit limit isn't terrible; CD audio is 16 bit, and the differences between 24-and 32bit audio are fairly contentious. Maybe USB3.0 DACs will have higher performance? Unless you're used to listening to SACDs all day, I don't think it'll make a big difference.

Most of your other points can be turned on themselves. Manufacturers cutting corners? That applies doubly to laptop makers! It's not hard to design tremendous quality DAC/headphone amplifier at all...but Toshiba didn't care. Who did? Not Asus, Apple, HP, MSi....where do I go to find this 'simple' design? Countless people have reported getting better audio from USB DACs using G73s, Clevos, many other high-end laptops. That's not because USB DACs are magical, but that most laptops simply do not take the time or the effort to really deliver on audio. I agree, it wouldn't be hard to put in a discrete DAC soundboard in a gigantic Clevo or Sager...but they're not doing it!

I don't mean to suggest that integrated sound is terrible. I've used Realtek for many years. But to suggest that quality USB DACs aren't an improvement over almost any laptop's soundcard simply flies in the face of reason to me.

I don't want this to be a general debate over soundcards; I'm sure there are more than a few poorly designed USB DACs out there. This is the model I'm interested in:

Audinst HUD-MX1 | Headfonia
Review : AUDINST HUD-MX1 DAC/amp - a promising newcomer (compared to Audio-gd FUN, AMB Gamma2) - Head-Fi.org Community
Review: Audinst HUD-mx1 USB DAC/amp - Head-Fi.org Community

Can you honestly suggest that it will not be better than Intel HD Audio???

@ChiroVette, I don't doubt that your XPS Gen 2 is awesome (god knows it looks awesome), it's just that none of the reviews I looked up even mentioned audio. Maybe it's great; I just wouldn't know.

Headphones, especially higher-end ones, have higher impedances than ear buds, and some require amps to deliver a strong signal.

 

Okay, so I am reading the posts in this forum, and not sure what to make of the discussion between you and Ingvarr. To reiterate my curiosity, are you saying that the sound output from a laptop to either earbuds or headphones is going to be good, bad, or mediocre?

 

Very simply, it depends on how good your equipment is. If you're just using Apple earbuds, I don't think it's a big deal because those aren't very good to begin with. The only problem might be the buzzing from the headphone jack; I don't know how noticeable that will be.

The better your equipment, the more noticeable any problems in sound will be. Ingvarr and I are talking about using mid-to-hifi headphones, like Audio Techica ATH-AD700 or Sennheiser HD595. IMO, no laptop can deliver enough quality audio to those.

 

Oh, but bitness is a big way because you are not listening to "original" audio, so to say.
If you would output your uncompressed MP3 directly to DAC, then it will be fine.
But in practice before data reaches the DAC, it is passed through several layers of Windows Audio architecture each of which will alter it by possible resampling, volume adjustment, mixing, etc.
With higher bitness (higher precision) these have to work, less original signal will you lose, less unwanted harmonics are introduced.

Granted, there are tricks to "force" DAC into ASIO-like exclusive mode, to, say, output 1:1 from mp3 player, but I find these cumbersome. Much more convenient to work with higher bitness.

My laptop delivers excellent quality both to my HD595 and Etymotic hf2 (I've compared with output from Audigy Xi-Fi at work and unable to perceive a difference).

 

@a45500435, I would categorically agree with that. I have listened to many PC's and laptops sound through both good earbuds and at least decent headphones. My experience is that it sounds full, warm, and rich. I never thought to try to compare it to a high end recording studio (I am a musician as I know you are, a500435) or a ten thousand dollar home audio/theater system. However, I do have one thing to say about the quality I have observed:

I love my iPod. I am a HUGE Grateful Dead fan and so I bought the 160 GB model because I have over 200 Dead concerts and ALL their studio stuff in AAC format on my iPod. To me, it sounds great, much better than the old Walkman's, not as good as .wav files through a really high end system. My point is that, even with the pair of Shure e4c earbuds that cost me over $300.00, every PC I have ever used them on (including my lappy) sounds better than the iPod, as the PC's in my experience output fuller, louder, slightly richer sound. I will try this experiment on a lower end Dell Laptop my Mom owns next time I go over her house, just in case, as you suggested, my XPS Gen2 is the exception not the rule.

 

This is a result of more amplifier output power, that results in better fidelity on complex sounds, sound becomes more "transparent".

 

Right, that was my thought as well. My sort of roundabout point, however, was that whatever new lappy I purchase is NOT going to be a stationary desktop replacement. I am going to use it on the road, in the office, gaming while travelling, and that sort of thing. All I require from it, sound wise, is that the built in speakers sound really good to my ear with deep, rich lows, mids, and highs. Again, I DO NOT expect it to sound like a huge stereo system. All I want is for it to sound as good as my XPS Gen2 , nothing more. On the very rare occasions I have the opportunity to use ear buds or headphones, I would like it to sound good, full, and again, rich.

 

As long as you are not content with USB DAC/soundcard, X505 is not for you then. I doubt you will want to listen to sounds of your system noise in your earbuds

 

I don't even know what USB DAC/Soundcard even is. All I can tell you is my present lappy from almost 6 years ago sounds fine to me with its own speakers, earbuds, and headphones.

 

It's pretty simple to do Kernel Streaming or WASAPI in Foobar2000, just use a plug-in. If you're talking about doing that on MP3 player, then I have no idea, but we're discussing PCs here...Vista introduced WASAPI and Win7 has it as well.

@ChiroVette, iPods are not renowned for their sound reproduction. I may be criticizing laptop sound, but I think almost any laptop would do better than an iPod. Seriously, people report getting better sound from Zunes and cheap Sansa Clips. A highly regarded player is the Cowon J3 which has an OLED touchscreen; I've never used one though.

A USB DAC is simply an external USB soundcard. It's discrete audio, just like a discrete GPU. By that analogy, integrated audio (what almost all laptops use) is akin to integrated graphics, like Intel GMA.

Someone just reviewed a USB DAC with G73JH, the uDAC-2 specifically, you can check it out here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/accessories/523590-nuforce-udac-2-review.html

I'm not endorsing this specific model, this is just to say that a good USB DAC does make a difference, even with high-end laptops.