Petition To Sony: Please Improve Sound/speaker Quality On Vaio Z

Go listen to the Asus or Toshiba ultrabooks, and if they could fit better speakers i'm sure that Sony could too

 

The z2 speakers are even incapable of handling the basic uses such as music and skype. Which shows how poor they are. I must say even the system/windows sounds sound a bit off...so bad, its appalling.

The sony website just lists the following for its audio specifications:

Sound Chip: Intel® High Definition Audio
Speaker:Internal, Stereo speakers
Microphone: Internal, Monaural microphone
Audio Technology: Dolby® Home Theater® v4, Digital Noise Canceling

It does not list its power output like its speaker components. I sure hope that the poor speakers are not a ploy for us to invest in their speakers.

 

Suggested is fine, they can suggest all they like, but I'm not an anal retentive. But to expect a user to do that to avoid damage to the machine in a matter of weeks is ludicrous.

I'm quite fascinated by how long the original premise has been argued out in the thread due to a combination of people not being able to read and overenthusiasm That the Z2 speakers are abysmal and that given comparison with other even thinner ultrabooks are clearly an afterthought, should not be in contention. As for petitioning Sony, well you have to ask yourself - when has a flagship ultraportable VAIO pair of speakers been actually truly commendable or noteworthy? I personally can't think of a single machine. So in terms of history it's not new, but the Z2 is a new nadir. I refer any people asking themselves that question back to my long post earlier in the thread about who Sony designs for - the speakers are only a single element of the core deficiencies in Sony design.

 

If you read back on my earlier posts, you would see that I am not asking for neither "commendable" nor "noteworthy" speakers (although this would be nice). I am merely petitioning for speakers that are tolerable to listen to and be used for the most basic of functions such as music and skype (see post above). I have also said that the SZ speakers (at least the model that I had) achieved this minimum standard. So this is a recent occurence for sony. And I totally agree that the z2 has hit an all-time low on sound quality. You would think that the audio of z2 be better than z1, or z2 better than sz. But no. While the ingenuity of sony is seen across most aspects of the vaio z over time, the audio department is lacking. Not just lacking, but also degrading.

 

Wrong. It is contentious or there wouldn't be pages of posts about it. Moreover, I consider the Z2 speaker quality (or lack thereof) to be not only trivial but irrelevant. If you want listenable sound from the Z2, use the inlcuded earbuds. Or get a pair of IEMs. Or external speakers. Or another machine. If I was going to recommend improvements in the Z2, the speakers wouldn't even be on the list.

True, but that doesn't really matter, does it?

Let's see now. Your logic is that because differently designed laptops from other manufacturers that are heavier than the Z2 and have different, and lower, specifications, have better speakers therefore the Z2 could have better speakers. Another argument for improving educational standards.

 

Not really. The pages of posts are also about other stuff, like people being unable to read

It's beyond terrible. There is no excuse nor particularly good reason, from the user's perspective, for it. As others have remarked, there are low-cost super compact featurephones with better speakers, let alone other notebooks.

Sure, I never really use it since a notebook of this class couldn't really deliver a speaker sound that I would actually choose to listen to for any length of time. But it needs to be, and everyone else these days manages to deliver, at least something usable. I can't use the Z2 speakers for, well, anything really.

I think this thread is kind of redundant, because
a) The speakers *are* extreme suckage, uncontestable fact.
b) We're probably better off complaining to Sony directly than whining about it here. I've presented my varying degrees of dissatisfaction with both the Z1 and Z2 to Sony (and I've already ragequit Sony once after the 2008 first-gen Z/TT debacle). Whether they do something about it to the level that I want to continue buying Sony is their problem - looks like thanks to the massed Ultrabook experience, those other vendors will likely be in a position to at least be level with Sony in the super-snake engineering stakes pretty soon, and they might even do a better job of it. It's up to Sony to pull something else out of the bag while finally laying down all the totally avoidable problems their kit has for good.

 

Ha! You got me there. I plead nolo contendere.

Full disclosure, I usually use computer speakers for, well, not really anything at all. Unless I'm watching a movie or performing some task with audio content (rare) I usually just turn the speakers off. I don't need sound when working and can't stand it when websurfing. I'm writing this now on a desktop computer which has speakers, they're just not plugged in.

There are some serious design flaws in the Z2. Leaving the Z2 wish list items aside (new iPad screen resolution, 16GB ram, espresso maker, etc.) I shouldn't need to use the cloth to keep the screen from being dinged during normal, not abusive, use. I've actually learned to like the short-travel keyboard but the cloth is the clumsiest patch I've seen yet for getting around a laptop design problem.

I think the real problem is the one you mentioned earlier, "They really do need to strike a 'designing for consumer' vs 'designing for engineers' balance because it's really hurting Sony in the market IMO." I didn't want to address that at first because I have a strong bias in favor of the 'designing for engineers' school of thought, particularly for a high-end machine. Still, unless Sony can at least meet the quality/service/convenience/features expectations of their target market segments, they won't last in the laptop market.

There is no practical reason for me to upgrade to the IB/Z. I don't really need the extra onboard graphics or cpu power and the design problems we can all agree are problems, won't be fixed. Nonetheless, I'm still thinking of getting a maxed out IB/Z if only because I don't know that there will be a Haswell Z either by Sony or a competitor. I can see the high resolution route being taken only by pads and pods and such while the notebook market focuses on battery life, price and fripperies. In which case, I'll want an IB/Z to last as long it can in this not-so-brave new world.

 

The contentious nature of the issue is not determined merely by the length of the discussion but more importantly by the content of it. The issue is that the sound-quality is appalling. So far in this thread there has been no post stating the contrary. Everyone agrees that the the speakers do need improvement. Therefore, it is not a contentious issue.

I only raised the cosmetic issues because Vogelbung believes that these issues should be addressed first, prior to the sound problem. See post #5. I don't think it matters as much. Just out of interest, what would be on your z2 improvement list that would take precendence over sound issues?

dart22's logic is that companies like asus and toshiba can make decent speakers despite the space constraints of an ultrabook. Therefore, it is not impossible for sony to do so as well. I think you could have made your point without abusing dart22.

 

@Louche
The Toshiba Z830 weighs less than the vaio Z2, its also thinner
and most of the other differences between the two laptops actually make it easier for Sony to install better speakers...
And judging from your abusive tone, I'd say manners were not part of your education

 

No. I don't agree that the speakers need improvement. To the contrary, I think they need to be taken out altogether and replaced with the smallest, cheapest mono speaker for the most basic of bleeps.

Any upgrade to the speakers would be modest at best which would still leave them none too good. My point is that everything involves trade-offs. There is no free lunch. And I don't want to give up any current specification, including weight and price, for whatever better sound that wouldn't meet my sound quality needs for when I watch movie or similar.

That Portege? It has a ULV chip which means it has reduced need for cooling and power. It's a slick little machine I admit but it doesn't have the capabilities of the Z2 which means it has more room for fripperies.

 

First, define, "had"

Now, let me help you see if you can't nail the category of brigand you seek to describe.

1. Those who don't own a particular device, but who research, test, evaluate and publish their evaluations are called, alternately:

a. "Critics"
b. "Reviewers"
c. "Enthusiasts"
d. "Bloggers"
e. "NBR members"
f. all of the above
g. "Pretenders" (if Voglebundt so deems them)

2. Those who buy/own/trade/sell/ devices, and who also evaluate and publish their evaluations are called, alternately:

I. "Owners"
II. "Former Owners"
III. I, II and any of "a" through "f," above
IV. "Voglebundt," if the published evaluations are poseuristic, pretentious, bombastic, pompous and euphistic.

What do they call people who irresistably take the bait every time a thinly veiled affront is tossed their way? Where I live, they call them: "Friggin Idiuss!"

Got it, cerebro del gato?

Cheers,

F.I.

 

Yes. But the reason why you don't think a sound improvement is necessary is because it is not essential to the way you use it. It is not as if you are saying that the sound is good and therefore no improvement is necessary. This sentiment is necessary to be contrary to the point. Everyone is unanimous in saying that the speakers are poor. To be contrary you have to be saying that the speakers are good. Not that you don't need them, which is what you are saying. Even if you were tending towards the approval of the current z2 speakers (which I hope that you are not), you are still one amongst many. To which the overwhelming imbalance operating against your position makes this issue still a rather uncontentious one.

 

@htl: give up trying to convince one member who will clearly never see it your way. Time to aggregate all the posts that support your position and ship them off to Sony. (Forget my suggestion that you send them a link; if they read all of the flaky, often offensive bickering in this thread they would conclude (no doubt correctly) that we are a bunch of flakes, whose opinions need not be taken seriously. Hell, one of us apparently offers critiques of a machine he never even had his hands on to test ( very )

Good job. Now ask the mods to shut the thread down for further posts. All that needs to be said has been said, and the caliber of any future posts is suspect at best.

 

The thread is not redundant if the purpose of the thread i.e. petition for improvement, has not been achieved. I think what you mean is that the expressions of disapproval are repetitive. Yes. True. But at the start of this thread I have made it clear that this is not a mere complaint thread but a petition. I intend to send sony links to this forum to make salient the point that poor speakers in their laptops especially in ther flagship model z is unacceptable.

 

Never had as in never owned.

Not really in the habit of throwing posts around without reading previous sequences.

Love & Kisses,
Vogelbung

 

While any upgrade to the speakers would be modest at best this would still enable them to be useful for voice communication / Skype, which is all I'm asking for - and which is something that is not entirely unreasonable for a high-end business class laptop.

 

A very reasonable request. So reasonable that it is unreasonable on sony's part to overlook it. It is quite embarrasing for sony, that their customers have to beg for speakers that work at the most basic level.

 

I have just sold my Z11. I have been very happy with it. It is a very good notebook. However, the speakers were really bad and this was one of the reasons why I decided to sell mine. I like to listen to music while working and I do not want to wear headphones. I also like to watch movies and sometimes I could not understand the dialogue, because it was so quiet.

My Samsung Galaxy Tab has better sound than this top-of-the-line notebook. I completely disagree with the statement that putting passable speakers in this notebook would result in huge compromises in any other areas (or for that matter, any compromise at all). I think it was simply a cost issue for Sony.

 

Let's see. You think the Z2's speakers need to be improved and I think they do not need to be improved. Irrespective of the merits of our different positions, you don't see that as a contradiction. I agree with the underlying issue (poor Z2 sound) but not with how to address it. Since this thread is, supposedly, about a "petition" or some such thing regarding what to do about the poor sound, there is a contradiction between your position and mine regarding the topic of the thread. If you don't understand that that is indeed a contradition, then please read the following and get back to me later.

 

Nope. It is not a contradiction. Because your position is not that you don't want to improve the speakers, it is that you want to modify them a different way. Therefore, your position is as you put it "contrary" to my position because the two combined are not exhaustive. Additionally, I have not used the word "contradition" at all, only "contrary" - if you consult the book that you referred to me above, you will see that there are logical differences between the two terms. In order for you to be contradicting me you have to be saying that no improvement is necessary which would mean that the speakers should be left as they are. But you are not, because it is evident from your post that you want them changed in a different way. Hence, an improvement.

 

Yes. I also have a z1 and the speakers are bad as you say. But if you thought they couldn't get any worse, you should hear the z2. Absolutely terrible. Which makes me worried about the up and coming z speakers. For fear of hitting yet another all time low. Many people on this thread agree with you that the improvement wouldn't result in huge compromises. Yeah, it really is an unnecessary cost skimp.

 

Btw. did you guys disable Dolby?
I have not really used the speakers of my Z2 yet (use mostly headphones), but many other users here reported, that disabling it improves the sound quality of the speakers quite a bit.

 

Dude, you're wrong (in more ways than you can imagine), I'm contradicting you right now. In that Sony is not likely to remove the speakers, I want them unchanged.

 

Really? I've heard the opposite, that enabling improves the sound. At least, that was experience with the SE.

Still, by "improves the sound", I mean "make it almost as good as an iPhone".

 

Actually, it does in my opinion. And I have it turned off - more importantly for plugging in headphones where I don't want the Dolby enhancement.

But in the Z2's case, it's a case of it going from a troupe of bronchitis-affected garglers doing an orchestral impression of whatever you wanted played back to a cellphone that might have been sold in the early 2000's.

 

You too, sweetie pie.

 

I've found this software, SRS Audio Essentials , which works similarly to the way SRS IDT HD Sound does as an OEM audio enhancer (used, to good effect, in HP "entertainment" laptops until Dr. Dre paid them a house call) , is far, far better than any of the Dolby enhancers I've ever used (on computers I've never owned nor had access to, eh Vugelbong?). It works best with good small speakers (bass boost, voice band control, definition, simulated surround, etc.) but it does a credible job boosting overall gain a bit and emphasizing voice frequency (as compared with the Realtek driver, which only eliminates voice band for you karaoke fans!) for better movie sound. The Z1 has, like, 10% better fidelity to start with than the Z2 (Voogie: someone told me this).

If you want to try this product, you pretty much have to spring for $20 to get the paid version, as the freebie has very limited functionality.

 

lol. In the earlier post you said that you want them changed to (in your words) "smallest, cheapest mono speaker". Now you say that you want them unchanged. And so you are saying that you want them changed and unchanged. You have just contradicted yourself and thereby committing the greatest logical fallacy.

 

Yep. I have tried that, and the sound is only slightly better (but this is arguable). Not significantly better. Because the sound range of the speakers is so narrow that you can't really do much with them in terms of enhancements.

 

​

lol.."bunch of flakes". Yes, some of the discussions on this thread have detracted from the issue at hand. I am working on sending sony the petition. If you or anyone else know and have email addresses of relevant people at sony other than customer service than these would would be greatly appreciated.

While we are talking about detracting, how come you are not using your z13? I notice it has WWAN. I love the convenience of having WWAN. I wish they were standard in all Vaio's. My z2 doesn't have wwan.

 

Can you read? I said, as you quoted, "In that Sony is not likely to remove the speakers..." Thus, I'm not contradicting what I said earlier. Instead, I provided a suggested policy option given the fact that Sony's not going to go with a mono speaker. That prefered policy option is to make no change in the speakers at all. This contradicts your prefered policy option of the speakers being upgraded.

Get it?

 

First, you said that you are contradicting me. But I proved that you are not since your are merely contrary to my position. Now you are saying that sony is contradicting me because they are likely to make no changes to the speakers at all. I need you to make up your mind as to who is contradicting me. I feel like I am arguing against two people using the same username. Anyhow, what makes you think that sony will make no changes in the speakers for future models. The sound from the speakers have undergone change from z1 to z2. So the trend shows that they are likely to change, but have been for the worst.

 

I am using my Z13 and yes, it does have wwan though my LTE hotspot phone is faster. In case you were confused by the absurd banter between me and Voogelbundt, he has this bug up his butt because I had and returned - twice - a Z2. He has this thing about insisting that I never had a Z2 - as if it would be a badge of shame if I didn't. Really loved the sleekness and the speed but not being a power user, I missed the "one-ness" of the Z1 which is why I grabbed a new one last December.

Good work on this. I've never had good Sony contacts but will network around for them. You may want to post a separate thread asking for email contacts. I'd recommend not going into detail, just indicate you want to get some customer feedback into them and would prefer getting to a marketing group rather than front line customer service, where it may die and early death.

 

Thanks. And No, I was just wondering why it says "pchsd never-used" next to z13. I couldn't care less whether you owned a z or not (well, not that I don't care, but it is irrelevant). Because you don't need to own one to be able to tell that the sound coming from one is terrible. You just need to hear it once and realise how offending it is to your ears.

I agree with the "one-ness" factor. I did love it when everything was in one neat package. Although it was slightly heavier it was still exceedingly light to carry around. But because I don't necessarily need the od and gpu on the go, I have learnt to adjust. Therefore I don't use my z1 much these days. Which is a shame because I purchased so many accessories for it including an extended battery, Waterfield case (with piggy-back, strap and pouch as well) from www.sfbags.com that I can't use for the z2 because it was customised. However, I just purchased a nice red Crumpler Fug sleeve ( http://www.crumpler.com/AU/Laptop-B...ok-Air.html?LanguageCode=EN&SKU=FUG001-R0113A) and am absolutely loving it. The Hot red sleeve complements the indigo blue of my z2 really well.

 

In a mobile package, I find the HD3000 is actually a much more effective package than the 4500MHD / 330MGT combo, being something inbetween while being more efficient than the 4500. And if you're consistently needing to use the 330M GT on the move it could be argued you actually need something else, especially as your all-up carry weight to achieve a decent runtime will be well in the 'thin & light' range.

 

YOU ARE NOT READING THE POST YOU ARE RESPONDING TO.

I never Sony is contradicting you. I never said they contradicted anyone. They haven't said anything. I said that -- in my view (which, of course, no one would ever contradict), Sony is not going to replace the current speakers with mono. That is my prediction about Sony's future action. Since Sony Has Not Said Anything about the future of the Z2 speakers they have not contradicted or confirmed anyone.

If you're not going to read the posts, there's no point in your responding. Or mine.

Ta.

 

I am just going by whatever you are feeding me. So the dissatisfaction that you are expressing is a matter of content - all of which has originated from you. So, from that you suggest that Sony won't make any changes and this action is contradictory to my petition for (in your words) an "upgrade". True. But only because you suggested it, not because Sony has. You want change, but to mono - this is contrary. We want improvement. Perhaps you want to review your earlier posts. Each time you reply there always seems to be new content introduced and so the subject matter changes with everyone of your replies, it is inconsistent. Ta.

 

Thanks for pointing out the grammatical error in my sig. It should read: "purchased a never-used Z13...," point being: it was a "virgin" Z1 marked "open box" but the store had re-sealed it and nothing inside looked touched and SSD showed 0 cycles. After vacillating between Z1s and Z2s and owning two of the latter and returning each (2 mos. apart) I realized that the "turnkey" features of the Z1 were indispensable the 1-2 times a month I needed them, usually on the road: the ODD (cheap sftwe on eBay, multi-gig files from friends, colleagues (including "my favorite music mix"), 3-4 USB ports (4th from $12 EC-USB3!) and, yes, sound that was full enough (with the SRS plug-in) to play a demo for my own use or to someone sitting next to me at a table! Had I not found this pristene, April 2011 Z13 build I probably would have kept the Z11 for my wife and indulged myself the gold Z2, thus having the best of both worlds. I'm really not a power user - just spoiled - and the lightening fast SSDs on the 2 were just plain ferocious. And I really do think the gold/umber metallic color makes the Z2 the most elegant laptop on earth.

Touche! (spelled with a "T" or an "L")

BL: give this man his due; it's not a debate society, lol. The sound sucks and it could be better and you are likely the only person on earth that wants it to be worse (which is your right.) If they improve it on your next Z you can always leave the volume on 5% and if there's an equalizer, attenuate all frequencies to -10db except 1000 Hz, which you can boost by 10db; you'll think you're still using your Z2!

 

lol. very clever. I do like the gold z2, but I am not too keen on the brown bezel and keyboard. It is not like the premium brown that was seen on the premium vaio g (which I have not used for a while now) years ago. It is a dirt brown or "umber" as you put it. If it were a more premium looking shade of brown then I may would have chosen it over the indigo blue that I have now.

Yes. The extra usb ports on the z1 compared to z2-minus pmd is quite handy on the go.

 

Wrong. It is whatever the combined users make it at any given point on any given issue. You don't get to control the conversation.

Wrong again. I don't want the sound worse. Rather, I don't want it at all onboard except for the most basic of warning bleeps.

 

Why do you prefer basic bleeps over an improvement of sound quality?

 

^Good question. It's because I don't think it's possible -- without changing the Z2's design/capabilities -- to significantly upgrade the sound. Frankly, a modest improvement in the Z2's sound would still leave it unlistenable, at least for me. Thus, if I want quality ok sound from the Z2, I'll need to use the earbuds (or external speakers, IEMs, etc) irrespective of whether the Z2's sound is modestly upgraded. As I mentioned earlier, I don't use the sound much on computers. On those occasions when I do want sound beyond basic bleeps (watching movies, etc.), I use external sound.

 

I've had a VGN-Z, S series, X series & VPC-Z and the speakers are absolute w@nk.

At around £2000 a piece, should the speakers be laughably bad? No. For comparison, the sound on my MacBook Air is infinity better.

 

But if you were to change the speakers to mono to have only basic bleeps, you won't have the option of the sound capability beyond basic bleeps when you want to through earbuds or external speakers.

 

Yeah. While the vaio z does several things better than the macbook air, the macbook air sound quality is consistently superior to the z. And yes. The superiority is not a trivial matter because the sound is not just slightly better but as you say, significantly better.

 

I probably didn't express myself well. By mono, I meant only taking out one of the speakers, not changing the onboard audio or the audio out. I absolutely want to keep (or upgrade) current stereo out options.

 

It looks like we are in agreement after all. The only difference is that your dissatisfaction comes from the internal sound whereas mine is from the external. Despite this, your sentiments are still valid for this petition.

 

Ummm...No. Because I don'y want Sony to try and upgrade the sound bcause I think the end results, from my perspective, would be worse.

But I think you mean well.

 

Everyone is entitled to their taste, but I have to ask: have you seen this color combo in the flesh? I find the interior not to be brown, but to be a red/brown (what I meant by "umber") and what made it especially appealing to me was that it was subtly metallic, not unlike the metallic look to the keyboard deck of the Z1. If you have seen it and still don't find it floats your boat, well that's why there's variety. But if you're going on pictures alone, I strongly recommend finding a store with one to take a look at. Blew me away.

 

Louche, it's perfectly reasonable for you to feel a common feature of, well, every laptop I've ever heard of except the Z is not one you need or want. But without being able to reverse engineer the Z2 - or any other model for that matter - do you not find compelling the universal responses on this thread that no matter how limited the space, Sony could very well improve the sound of the Z2? Comparisons to tiny thin cell phones and even to the razor thin MBA don't convince you at all? What do you know that no one else appears to (and I exclude myself because I know less about hardware design than anyone else who contributed to this thread.

This, again, is your right and, from appearances (which is not the same as intent or strategy), Sony's design direction. No matter how many speakers it includes and what enhanced audio brand it claims to be resident in the machine, if the sound got much worse it would be entirely useless for anything but "beeps." Do you honestly believe that's where Sony is taking this flagship "executive" notebook, or perhaps are they just cutting corners and, as with other design decisions, pretty much ignoring what consumers want and expect? Though the Z2 is confirmed to have the worst inboard sound of any notebook anyone on this thread has heard in decades, it is also universally expressed that the audio on many of their other current machines, dubbed "entertainment" notebooks - eg, F, SE - is far, far below competition. Seems like Sony has decided audio doesn't matter, though only in the Z2 have they all but said "audio doesn't exist!"

You're right. I don't get to control the thread. But if you can make the statement that Sony does not intend to make inboard audio a priority and that no inboard sound beyond beeps is a goal, your position might be easier to swallow if you would consider acknowledging that , to your knowledge, you are entirely alone - as far as anything written here or elsewhere - in your position that any notebook computer, tablet or smartphone should make no sound other than warning beeps. I don't understand why you persist in this Quixotic position. Sorry.