Sound problems with brand new Qosmio X505-Q890.

Well the main part of your post that interests and applies to me is the fact that you are saying that any Laptop with earbuds and headphones would sound better than an iPod. Look, I know that iPods re not great as far as sound, but they still sound damned good for tiny little players, particularly with really good ear-buds like mine. Remember that I am looking for GOOD LAPTOP SOUND, not some virtual IMAX reproduction or something. All I care about is if games and music sounds good, again (for the millionth time) as good as my XPS Gen2 is perfectly acceptable. Hell, if I have to (as a last resort) buy a pair of very light, portable, external speakers to travel with, I will do so grudgingly.

 

Well, didn't we already solve the problem with the Qosmio's speakers? It was a simple driver update. If you just want acceptable sound from the speakers and earbuds, I'm almost certain the Qosmio will deliver. Ingvarr obviously would know more...would you agree Ingvarr?

 

Well, as I said, speakers - yes, will deliver.
Headphones - no. The system noise leakage here is hardware flaw, drivers won't solve it.

 

I'm not talking headphones, just earbuds like ChiroVette uses. Or is the noise that bad that even earbuds will pick it up???

Stupid question: Is there anyway to open up the Qosmio and solve the noise leakage ourselves? I'm 99% sure the answer is no, but someone has to ask.

 

By the way what exactly is noise leakage?

 

Not sure, it is pretty bad, but I didn't try with earbuds, so could not be sure.

ChiroVette, I have described it several posts ago in this thread.

 

Could you explain how to make the speakers better ? Thanks

 

Don't use Toshiba drivers, use drivers built-in in clean Window 7 install.

 

I am assuming that this applies to both the built in speakers as well as the use of any peripheral speakers, headphones, or buds?

 

No, this applies to internal speakers only. It will remove wierd EQ and volume leveling Toshiba baked in their drivers.

External audio jack is not affected by this, so driver will change nothing. Problem is electrical noise that will be there whatever you do.

 

Wait a minute...the newest Conexant driver update solved the volume problem, why are you recommending using the default Win7 drivers?? You lose the Dolby control panel by doing that. Is there some other problem?

 

I think mine sounds great.

 

That's very good to know, Richard. How is the bass? Does it get rich, deep bass?

 

Bass? Yes.

Deep? Not too sure. I can feel it and hear it thump when I play "Billy, don't you lose my number" by Phil Collins.

 

I think we've gone way too far in nitpicking the Qosmio speakers, most other laptops would fail miserably under the same scrutiny. If we're just comparing speakers, the G73 and M17X aren't even in the same league as the Qosmio.

Simply put: The Qosmio's speakers are good, they won't replace your stereo, but you won't feel shortchanged. Just make sure the drivers are updated.

 

I uninstalled the driver and choose windows high def driver. I see a great improvement in sound quality but still there is some electrical noise in the sound.

Do you experience that? any possible way to make it decent

Thanks

 

I plugged in my headset and I don't hear any extra noises. Then again I might not be trying to squeeze every drop of sound either. (Don't know how)

 

Thanks for your swift reply!

For everyone else:
I PM'd Richard to ask him if he was experiencing any "buzzing" in his headphones. He's the only i5 Qosmio owner here, and I surmised that the i5 and i7 must use different boards and therefore have different wiring under the hood.

With his Plantronics Gamecom plugged in and using Winamp to play music, he didn't report any noise. The Gamecom certainly isn't audiophile-quality, but it's a fairly respected gaming headphone, and if it didn't pick up any noise, I daresay the i5 Qosmio does not have the same noise problems as the i7 Qosmio's do. For better headphones, I still maintain that a good USB DAC is the way to go.

Thanks again Richard, that's one worry off my mind. Still shooting for the Q893!

 

If you guys wanna send me a set of high end phones and tell me how to get this baby juicing every drop of sound, let me know!

 

No problem, a4500435.

 

I daresay headset tested was simply not sensitive enough or has internal filter in it...

 

While listening music it s nearly impossible to hear that noise (At least I cannot hear), but it effects sound quality. These type noises can only be heard at maximum volume with no sound .

 

that's really sad when finally realize how Toshiba ruined a great laptop as Q890 with very noisy speakers which caused by built-in hardware !!!

I regret having this laptop honestly after experiencing the noisy sound and the yellowish screen

 

Wow so that is very intersting. This means that to sum up (assuming I am interpreting this thread correctly) that any Qosmio with the i7 will have a problem with the sound and any Qosmio with the 1080p display will have a problem with the monitor being "too dark" or "yellow."

Ouch!

I think this makes a4500435's and my observations correct: If you are looking to spend over 1.2K or for a higher end laptop in the "medium" range, then the Qosmio is not your machine and you're better off with the G73JW. However, if you want a steal of a deal, then get the Qosmio Q893 for $1,150.00 because it still has beautiful sound AND an 18.4 inch monitor, not to mention the blazing 460m GPU.

 

Pssh, come on! You want him to try some Sennheiser HD800s or Denon D7000s? Why not throw in a Bang & Olufson surround sound system while we're at it?!?

The i5 and i7 are two totally different processors, using totally different motherboards. That's the only reason I asked him. Logic dictates that, unless some Toshiba engineer has a macabre sense of humor, the audio output can't possibly be the same.

Richard, why don't you plug in your headphones again, but this time just set Win7 to max volume and don't play anything, just surf the Web or do something to make the CPU work. If there's still no noise, then we'll have our confirmation.

 

*shrugs* I though the whole point of having high quality headphone jack was to use high quality headphones. I've tested mine with HD595 and Etymotic hf2. On Ety's its unbearable noise - because with in-ear headphones the only sound you hear is the sound from headphones - so if there is almost any noise here, you will hear it. On HD595 it was somewhat better, but still quite audible.
It's possible that motherboard on i5 model was redesigned and does not have the same issue though... i5 almost surely has different motherboard, and on X500 sound chip is on the motherboard (which was what caused the whole issue in first place).

 

I hear nothing a4.

What is spdif interface conexant smartaudio HD ready and how do I?

Is that part of the "smartaudio" I found in my control panel?

What can I do to maximize my sound?

 

Lol, when I said max volume, I meant just move the volume slider to 100%. You don't need to go into the control panel.

Anyway, I think that settles it. The i5 Qosmio seems to be immune from the headphone jack problem. I still categorically disagree with Ingvarr about plugging hifi headphones directly into any laptop, but that's another matter entirely.

Thanks again Richard.

 

I did put it to 100% I just also wanted to make sure I was using every available option to make sure there are no variables left out.

No Problem.

 

Hey fellas, I need some straight answers. I'm not a computer expert so I am a little lost in your discussion but here is the basics. I bought the toshiba qosmio x505-q890 and reinstalled to factory settings. According to the toshiba posts, this works for the sound quality. I still have issues with the sound such as the fading up and down and the low volume quality of the speakers. I already disabled the settings mentioned here and the toshiba posts. But still,same problem. I have 2 other laptops and they both work. I played a trailer of the dark knight from yahoo and have the laptops side by side. The laptops are HP and the one I compare with has the same Harman Kardon speakers with windows xp as the os. Why is the sound quality louder and better on my hp compared to this toshiba? I currently have the Windows 7 os. I read you guys mention about how the sound card is better with realtek. Is that the solution? How do I improve sound volume and the fading to stop? The debate about headphones and all that is beyond me since I usually listen to music from my laptop and have it loud to listen to while in my hotel room. Please advise. I really would appreciate it. Thanks.

 

Update your Conexant drivers:

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

While you're at it, just update all your drivers.

BTW, your HP might have Harmon Kardon speakers, but they don't have the same exact speakers as the Qosmio. Harmon Kardon's just a brand.

 

I found a topic in official toshiba forum discussing the same headphone out problem:

Headphone buzzing sound. - Toshiba Forums


@ChiroVette

There is no sound quality problem with the speakers, it is just headphone out that has this problem and AFAIU it can only be experienced with high quality headphones (like mine valued at $350). Of course people using quality headphones will buy an usb/expresscard soundcard or usb DAC sooner or later even there is no buzzing sound in line out. Because onboard sound cards cannot race with high quality sound sources. As I said before I have a PC with realtek onboard soundcard and Asus Xonar Essencce STX soundcard. There are huge differences between these cards when trying them with my Denon's. So I just tried Qosmio's headphone out, not satisfied and ordered a USB Xonar card. In fact this is exactly what I expected before I've bought my Qosmio. AFAIK there is simply no laptop with good headphone outs which can came close to a good Xonar card. So
just tried my chance....

And the Screen.... I gave specs of Qosmio's screen here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/toshiba/520901-new-qosmio-x505s-7.html#post6784051

If we compare FHD Toshiba and Asus screens:

1- Asus has better Brightness. (? vs 300 nit)

Yes brightness is not as high as Asus screen. But I set brightness level to %45 to protect my eyes. For indoor usage, Toshiba's brightness is more than enough !

Note: I don't know if there is a difference between Q898 screen and old models as mentioned here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/toshiba/520901-new-qosmio-x505s-8.html#post6786251

2- Toshiba has better response time (3 ms vs 8 ms)
3- Size really matters !!! (18.4'' vs 17.3'')

And additionally Toshiba's screen needs software color calibration which you can easily do it under windows control panel. We need to lower Green like %30 (fixes what people called yellowish image) This is a very simple setting and I think we cannot call this as a defect !

I'm still perfectly happy with my Qosmio 898. It's the best laptop in its price range. I would buy Qosmio again, if I havent't bought one.

 

So I should just download every update and driver on the toshiba website for our model? Even when I don't have issues with the screen or other things? I downloaded only the driver under sound. Please advise a4500435. Thanks.

 

Also, is that to say after downloading the drivers and updates, the issues are solved? Are you happy with the sound of thew speakers? That is without using headphones.

 

Yes, the new Conexant driver fixes the volume problem.

 

A4500435, I would assume that any brand new Qosmio off the line, particularly one as newly released as the Q893 would have all the latest drivers, though, no?

 

I have no idea ChiroVette. In any case, it certainly doesn't hurt to check, does it? Updating drivers is the first thing I do with any new computer.

Win7 should also find any new drivers.

 

Hey A4500435, I downloaded only the Conexant driver and i still notice a problem with the volume. I guess this computer has a weak speaker compared to my HP. My Hp is way loader and clearer. I also noticed the volume went down when playing music. I guess it's protecting the speakers when it gets too high. Either way, not too happy with the speakers.

 

question reg sound on a x505-898.. assuming most of this discussion applies...
at higher levels (around 75%) volume.. there is lot of crackling noise from the right speaker...I tried both options mentioned in this thread.. updating Conexant driver and tweak by DKside ..still have the same issue..
does this sound like a bad hardware/speaker issue?

thnx

 

SOLUTION FOUND!



Hello all

In order to prevent volume variations from occurring, all you need to do is click on the Start Menu, then click on Run, then type "msconfig", then click on the Startup tab and then UNTICK the row entitled "Toshiba Volume Regulator".



You will need to restart your computer for the changes to take effect and on start up you will get a message saying that the Startup list has been modifed (etc.), just click on "Do not show me again" and that's it!



Enjoy!