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ASUS N53SV - Crappy Sound Quality?

post #1 of 4
11/5/11 at 7:29pm
Thread Starter 

Ok, ok... So, first, I know I shouldn't expect anything above just 'ok' from a laptop's speakers... But, I figure, ASUS made the Xonar D2 in my desktop, which I love to death, and it seems that a lot of effort was made to make the N53's speakers at least better than your average crap-crap-crap speakers.

 

However...

 

I was pretty disappointed when I turned on the machine and played some music. Sounded... pretty crappy. Not just 'bad quality,' but there were several bands clipping, throughout the whole frequency range.

 

But... There was a lot of bloatware and yatta-yatta, so I did a clean install of Windows on my machine and installed the latest audio drivers. The Bang & Olufsen ICEpower and 'Sonic Master' stuff is supposed to be built-in to the audio drivers. Took me a while to figure that out... Especially as there are no controls or anything to show it's installed on your computer.

 

Anyways... All that said and done... EQ on the Realtek (Realtek? Eh? B&O is NOWHERE to be found on this...) properties set flat... Still, lots of clipping... Even at less than half volume. I can't really even begin to describe how the speakers sound b/c everything is clipping so badly.

 

So... I did more and more research on the supposed sound quality of this laptop, and I get mixed reviews - the majority of which say that the sound quality is 'impressive' and very good for a laptop. Some say the sound quality sucks.

 

So, this brings me to a point of wondering - did I get a lemon? Are my speakers the result of poor quality control? Or does the sound of the N53SV just suck even when everything's as it should be? Or... Am I actually missing some crucial audio-driver stuff?

 

I dunno. I thought I'd ask you guys b/c I would tend to trust the ears of an audiophile forum more than a computer-consumer one.

 

Thanks, all.

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post #2 of 4
11/6/11 at 2:57am

Well u can't compare the lappie to the Xonar cos in the 1st place the soundchip used in both hardware are totally different deadhorse.gif To answer your question: no u did not get a lemon cos no audiophile would suggest sticking to lappie speakers in the 1st place so if better SQ is your mission move into decent sized speakers with proper woofer/tweeter design built for music tongue_smile.gif

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post #3 of 4
11/6/11 at 4:45am

I had similar disappointment when I purchased my ASUS laptop, as I was expecting at least adequate sound from the speakers.  Fortunatley I had an old pair of 2.0 speakers that had been kicking about for about half a decade in a box under the stairs.  I plugged these in through the standard headphone jack and was suprised at the huge (still not brilliant) difference, it seems in the laptops ASUS produce they use terrible speakers only expecting to output basic sounds, not music. 

 

My advice would be to completely forget about using the built in speakers and invest in some active speakers and possibly a cheap external USB DAC, this way you can interchange and upgrade as your wallet allows.

 

If you want to maximise your listening pleasure forget about using the computer to do anything other than store your digital music files, the sound card will be basic and the internal "noise" is high meaning you will only ever get very low quality sound, even if you improve the quality of your speakers.

 

 

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post #4 of 4
11/6/11 at 6:59pm
Thread Starter 

@Trog: You miss the point I was trying to make... My reason for bringing up my Xonar was that ASUS IS capable of producing some good hardware for audio... Even the speakers on my ASUS EEE 1002HA were 'acceptable.' But, this new N53SV clips too bad to be 'acceptable.' Not a question of good or bad, but they are closer to being 'non-functional.'

 

@Tablix: Yeah.... Well, I have my cans if I want good SQ. The output of the RealTek card is good enough.

 

But... I dunno. I just want to be able to use my laptop speakers without being continually annoyed at the clipping. I think I might have to swap the speakers on the laptop for some headphone drivers or something.

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