[sgogeta4]

IMO, if you have a modern dual or quad core CPU, the amount of processor power utilized for sound processing is pretty minimal.

 

[FlyinAg]

It's not the processing power, as I have plenty on my laptop with the processor I am using. It is the actual motherboard sound hardware that is substandard. I think that each motherboard manufacturer does it a little different, even if they are using the same RealTek chips, hence the wide difference in opinion concerning onboard sound processing solutions. Mine was terrible, no matter whether I was listening to music or gaming. The sound was very tinny, weak, had no bass, no matter what you did with a parametric equalizer. If you did try to boost the low end with an eq, it would distort and sound awful. The same was for iTunes, foobar, my srh840's, or my IEMs. Magically, with the U1, I can crank up the low end, and it sounds real nice. So, if it wasn't the music player or headphones, then it must have been the realtek.