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    VAIO S15 Sound Quality - Say It Ain't So!

    Discussion in 'VAIO / Sony' started by Watchingthecat, Oct 15, 2012.

  1. Watchingthecat

    Watchingthecat Newbie

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    I just received my new S15 today. This is the first Sony computer I have purchased.

    I cannot believe how crappy the sound quality is. I thought of all the manufacturers, Sony would provide high quality sound.

    Am I missing something? Is there a setting I don't know about?

    Any help would be appreciated.

    Thanks
     
    Watchingthecat, Oct 15, 2012
    #1
  2. neothe0ne

    neothe0ne Notebook Consultant

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    Are you talking about speakers, headphone jack, or both?
     
    neothe0ne, Oct 15, 2012
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  3. Watchingthecat

    Watchingthecat Newbie

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    Sorry, yes, the speakers. The sound is tinny, no depth, no bass. My 6 year old Leneovo sounds better. I'm really shocked.
     
    Watchingthecat, Oct 15, 2012
    #3
  4. Mitlov

    Mitlov Shiny

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    Sony laptops don't have good onboard sound--particularly not their ultraportable models like the S, Z, and Duo 11. I think Sony figures that even the best onboard sound pales in comparison to decent headphones or external speakers and so uses the resources (both financial and space within the case) on other things.

    Best onboard sound would probably be Dell's XPS line.
     
    Mitlov, Oct 15, 2012
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  5. zOlid

    zOlid Notebook Consultant

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    There is a fix for this.
    And this have been up here many times. Just search and you can fix it with a pair of ASUS drivers.
     
    zOlid, Oct 16, 2012
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  6. Watchingthecat

    Watchingthecat Newbie

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    Thank you zOlid. I will do that.
     
    Watchingthecat, Oct 16, 2012
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  7. kanuk

    kanuk Notebook Deity

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    The drivers make the volume louder but the speakers are still terrible.
     
    kanuk, Oct 16, 2012
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  8. Mitlov

    Mitlov Shiny

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    Yeah, software can't fix a hardware problem. Good news is, really good headphones aren't that expensive, and kick the butt of the best laptop speakers.
     
    Mitlov, Oct 16, 2012
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  9. ccya965041

    ccya965041 Newbie

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    Sony didn't partner with some speaker's maker,like altec or beats
    My friend has a HP with altec speaker,sound is way better than my S15,
    but personally don't like HP
     
    ccya965041, Oct 16, 2012
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  10. kanuk

    kanuk Notebook Deity

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    Most of that is marketing BS. "Beats" is a cheap product sold at an inflated price. Altec Lansing used to be okay but now make cheap consumer products.

    Sony would be perfectly capable of putting any number of perfectly good speakers - that they already manufacture and use in other products - in the S, but choose not to. That could be for any number of reasons, from design constraints to profit margins.
     
    kanuk, Oct 16, 2012
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  11. cenkaetaya

    cenkaetaya Notebook Consultant

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    Sony is just one of those companies that gets 90% of the stuff done right and then 10% you dont even know what happened.

    its like.. such as the Vaio Z's unless you are in a 100% quiet room you cannot even watch a movie on the internal speakers, its just too quiet.

    even for a skype call, to talk on skype i have to have my head in keyboard / screen area to hear the conversation.

    seriously, i didnt buy a $1600 ultra portable to require headphones to make a skype call.

    and once again, if the room has ANY noise, forget about it, no sticking your head near the speakers will help.
     
    cenkaetaya, Oct 18, 2012
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  12. steve p

    steve p Notebook Evangelist

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    steve p, Oct 18, 2012
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  13. dquancey

    dquancey Notebook Consultant

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    Just received my S15 and this was my only real complaint. (Orange/Red issues are nitpicking at best)
    Downloaded, installed and rebooted, now I have half decent sound and volume. Many thanks.
     
    dquancey, Oct 18, 2012
    #13