[Roller]

Basically the only actual improvement over regular onboard audio chips is the slightly better shielding. And as long as the software processing is kept disabled, it won't be as horrid an experience as onboard audio chips are.
 
Still, if sound quality is a concern, getting an external DAC is first order of the day

 

[Jlox1]

I mean I have the laptop now, I've been having it really and it sounds really good... in comparison to other laptops. The Beats Audio is really a non factor, it all sounds the same with or without it. I guess it's just a little mini placebo effect. 

 

[thackerm520]

I own a Hp Pavillion Dv7 and it is beats audio and i will tell you the truth instead of all these people using speculation the truth is on this laptop it has 4 speakers and one big sub under it and people dont realize but normally by default the betas are off but on this laptop if you hit fn and press b it will enable/disable the beats so now go to properties and sound properties and change it too bass boost and surround. and then play some music. When you all on halfway it is 200% louder than an average laptop and the base is incredible and now turn of the beats and it sounds like **** because you will for shure tell the difference that makes the beats audio amazing on this laptop so don't by with what everyone is saying until you listen to it yourself you will be as happy as i am. Overall beats is 400% better than regular laptop speakers. WORTH IT!
 
 No offense other people  Just read up on audio and find out how to change frequencies correctly then it will sound better

 

[Wingstrike]

^Can't tell if trolling or actually a fan of beats

 

[Nildes]

Forget about whether it has Beats or not.. I wouldn't buy an HP, regardless..

 

[Jlox1]

The beats really is nice compared to other laptops. But i'm afraid the person above me is right. The ONLY good side to this laptop is the beats audio lol. HP is crap.

 

[J-Lieb]

READ THIS BEFORE BUYING A BEATS LAPTOP
I also have a HP dv6 with beats. I bought it for the hardware and price. The speakers are loud and produce very good sound for a laptop. The beats program that is pre-installed is also good. It lets you change the EQ with a fairly wide range of sliders. On the other hand...
 
THE DRIVER IS TERRIBLE!!
 
By going into control panel- hardware and sound- sound- speakers and headphones- tone controls, you can see why it sounds terrible without beats activated (shortcut: fn+b to turn it on/off). By deactivating beats, the bass slider goes down to -12 and the treble goes down to -4. With beats activated, the bass and treble are at +4. The driver simply changes the EQ to make it seem like the software is making the music sound better. I usually hate any kind of sound alteration (except for when using the speakers because the +4 with beats on takes full advantage of the laptop's amp). So I moved both sliders to 0. I would be perfectly fine with the driver IF IT DIDN'T RESET THE SLIDERS EVERY TIME I TURN THE LAPTOP ON. Putting the sliders on 0 is very easy and takes less than 30 seconds, but it is annoying when you have to do it multiple times a day (every time I turn on my laptop and want to use my headphones). Also, I tried uninstalling the driver and replacing it with a generic one, but the laptop rejects the driver and automatically installs the beats driver.
 
I don't have much experience with laptop headphone jacks and sound cards, but without anything playing, my Audio Technica M50s pick up a decent amount of white noise/ static. This is very annoying because I hate noise cancelling headphones which do the same thing. This is because I believe that the quality of silence is very important in sound quality. Without any white noise, music sounds much more crisp. I just ordered a Fiio E10 Olympus DAC which will hopefully bypass the sound card and headphone jack, and eliminate the static (I'm sure that it will also increase the general sound quality). 
 
BOTTOM LINE: I would never recommend this laptop to an audio enthusiast (especially if they plan on using $100+ headphones with the stock headphone jack/ sound card). The software is fun occasionally, but the driver is terrible. The speakers are good for a laptop, but most people have external speakers anyway. 

 

[Roller]

J-Lieb, can you post the make and model of the onboard audio chip that comes with your laptop?
 
And yes, it's quite a low blow that disabling the software processing doesn't set default values, which is a "nice" way of misleading people into thinking Beats Audio is actually worth using.
 
About the E10, it is of higher quality than the onboard audio chip, it can bypass it as well, and shouldn't give you any sort of static. In the event the E10 isn't automatically selected as the default output device, just head over to Playback Device properties and select it accordingly, as well as choosing your desired output format.

 

[J-Lieb]

[size=small]IDT High Definition Audio CODEC[/size]

 

[Wh0l3]

I have an Envy 14 and the speakers are very quiet. The headphone out is awful...very poorly shielded, I can hear all sorts of buzzing and whatnot from the computer. 
 
Is a good laptop for the price I paid for it. 

 

[Aurowave]

^^ A friend of mine has an Envy with beats, just terrible..albiet better than other laptops. A $25
pair of earbuds sound better.

 

[J-Lieb]

For a laptop (dv6t), my speakers are loud. But sound quality is horrible just like any other laptop.