Improved FZ190 sound with built in speakers

I was complaining about the lack of being able to boost the volume of the FZ190 as much as I have been able to do on other machines in the past. This came about because I was listening to a couple of streams that had a VERY low volume and I wanted to boost it. Even with the max settings it wasn't really loud enough.

Well in researching the fix, someone suggested checking the control panel "sound" applet to see if my volume level was set low there. I did, it wasn't ...sigh... But I did uncover a FANTASTIC improvement in overall sound of the built in FZ190 speakers!

1. Go to the control panel, click on "Sound", on the playback tab you will see "speakers / headphones" and possibly a entry for "HDMI". Double click the "speakers..." one.
2. Then select the "enhancements" tab.
3. Now, before you go any further, turn the volume up on the FZ, go here: Horton Hears a Who trailer and listen to the sound.
4. Next select the "Loudness Equalization" check box and then hit "apply" and "ok". Ignore the preview button, trust me, the sample it uses will NOT demonstrate the real difference this setting makes.
5. If you still have good old Horton playing, stop it, refresh the page and start the trailer again. (Apparently the sound settings do not take effect until the NEXT audio segment is played.) If Horton is not playing go back to the page and listen again.

The difference is dramatic and quite an improvement. This setting applies the same sort of loudness eq curve seen on many car and home stereos. It might not be a great setting if you are using external speakers, but for the built in ones it really does make a difference.

I played with the Virtual Surround setting and it sucked as bad as every other Virtual Surround setting I have heard on ANY pc, be it a desktop or laptop. The phasing effect introduced drive me NUTS, yeah, yeah I know that's not a drive it's a short walk. (Disclaimer: in addition to my IT vocation I am also part owner of a recording studio so my ears are well tuned to such phasing effects.)

The Bass boost and Frequency protection are intriguing, because in theory they are supposed to provide a low frequency roll off filter that would prevent any low note below a given frequency from ever reaching the speakers and avoid wasting amplifier power on notes that the speaker can't reproduce anyway. That is a REALLY good idea. But I haven't played with it much yet. First I don't know what the lowest frequency is that the built in speakers can reproduce. I'll break out a test CD I have and find out soon. I'll report back. One note: if you do use the roll off filter (aka Bass Boost and Frequency Protection) you will want to turn it off (or readjust the threshold frequency) when you switch to external speakers. It's a pity this control does not allow us to have profiles defined for internal versus external speakers.... Hmm, I wonder if there is any sort of API for this control...

Gary

 

Would this affect my music creation at all? i am making music on this laptop and you mentioned EQ and stuff ect... Would this interfere with my music? would it be for the better or worse?

thanks for the great find. it does boost it a bit!

 

It only affects the playback. But having the playback altered may cause YOU to make different eq decisions while recording things. Say for example you are in a studio with speakers that exaggerate the low end significantly. Your mixes there when played back elsewhere will be lacking in bass response. (That's why I ALWAYS take my own set of speakers into any studio where I will be mixing.)

But in this case the effect should actually HELP you. The playback is much closer to flat curve with these settings in effect.

Gary

 

Of course in my previous post I SHOULD have said: "The playback, through the built in speakers, is much closer to flat curve with these settings in effect." If you use external speakers you might want to turn off the settings.

Gary