[johndikeman]

So I've been considering getting a portable DAC for my laptop but I thought I'd check here first to see if maybe there isn't just a problem with the headphone output. It's a Dell XPS 15 so I would assume it would have a decent dac...
Especially now that I have better headphones, Focal Elegia, I can tell a huge difference plugging in directly versus using my Motu M4.
Muddy, boomy sound. Like the music was recorded in a cave....
I turned off all the Maxaudio Pro stuff, which I thought was the culprit, but it's still there.
Any suggestions? Or do these laptops just sound like crap if you plug in directly?

 

[bythewaybay]

Same issue with my Dell Latitude 7490. Although not a consumer laptop, I assumed it had a decent analog out for the price. Nope - it's terrible. Get something like an AQ Dragonfly and you should be set.

 

[433521]

Could be the cable. Souldn't sound that bad. Should sound fine just a little lifeless, dull, basslite, closed in, distorted, erratic, foolish, despairing ....

 

[johndikeman]

I reinstalled the drivers and it's working fine now. Not amazing sound but none of the weird eq stuff from before.

 

[Tachikoma]

You need to uninstall Maxxaudio, if its still there. Turning it off isn't enough.

 

[johndikeman]

You need to uninstall Maxxaudio, if its still there. Turning it off isn't enough.

Yeah I wondered about that. I had it turned off before and it sounded like it was still doing something. However, now that I reinstalled the audio drivers it seems to be truly off.
Stupid software...