[jjcha]

I think I've gone on record on how much I like my laptop's built-in headphone jack (Sony Vaio T or TX series). It's not the smoothest sound, but it's punchy and reasonably detailed with a clean output. I do like it with the E4c, ATH-W10VTG and ATH-ES7, though it can be too fatiguing for long listening with the first two. It keeps a nice sense of space with them as well. Overall, each has a fairly nice synergy with the laptop.

But you know, if you can get an acceptable level of performance out of an iPod shuffle, I'd hope you could get the same out of a well designed laptop. Nice to see some manufacturers putting some effort into it (especially Sony, whose past products have been absolutely craptastic in this regard).

Best,

-Jason

 

[hackeron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjcha (especially Sony, whose past products have been absolutely craptastic in this regard).

Ah, Sony I havent tried, my friend has a 17" wide screen top of the range sony, I'll try on there

I found the ipod shuffle quite dirty sounding too btw, not so much distortion but the hiss is very loud and it sounds lifeless.

 

[Sparky191]

My Dell Desktop at work and home sound ok. Well good enough for the cheapo speakers and phones I use with it So much so that I never bothered installing a Sonic Fury sound card I had spare. However my Sony Laptop sounds abysmal. I use a Creative MP3+ with that. Which is much better than the onboard, but still no great shakes. I think a M:Audio would be the best upgrade for it. TBH I tend to just copy the tracks I want to my Shuffle or Zen and listen to that instead od the Laptop. The Mp3+ has been in a box for ages.

I guess the SQ depends entirely on the exact sound chip thats used onboard. Assuming that the source material and speakers/earphones are the same.

 

[Sparky191]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hackeron Ah, Sony I havent tried, my friend has a 17" wide screen top of the range sony, I'll try on there I found the ipod shuffle quite dirty sounding too btw, not so much distortion but the hiss is very loud and it sounds lifeless.

I think the problem is your phones. Might be too sensitive for the devices your using them with. Especially if you have a problem with a Shuffle aswell.

 

[Spiritboxer]

Don't know what soundcard it uses but I have an old Toshiba Satellite 5205-S505 that makes my UM2's sing. Guess it must be the equalizer.

 

[solbergg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by seefeel For some reason, the Grado SR-225s and Senn PX-100s sound so good when connected to the Soundmax soundcard in my laptop. There is weight, depth, detail, and smoothness. Mentally, it seems that an amp and better source would make things sound better, but I realize that the music often sounds best direct from the laptop. I've used a variety of tube and solid state amps, but end up returning to just using the laptop. Anyone else have similar experiences or an explanation on why I often prefer a setup without an amp and seemingly less than optimal source?

I think one thing is clear - you are either using God's own laptop, God's own headphones, or both

 

[chris719]

I think the soundmax is unique among onboard sound in that it really sounds super warm and smooth (probably unnaturally, but its pleasant). It isn't as dynamic and the bass isn't as tight as a real high end solution, but it really does give something like a vintage tube amp sound. I wouldn't say that the soundmax is high end or anything, but it does not sound offensive at all. Every other onboard sound I have found to be far worse, and I've tried several, the worst seem to be the Realtek AC'97 ones. I heard a Realtek "Azailia" HD codec and it was pretty bad also. The Via and Crystal Soundfusion were much better but still not really good. A lot of it probably depends on implementation and location on the motherboards; the board I use in my desktop has a ton of noise on the analog output of the onboard Realtek chip, but a different board I have used with the exact same RLC850 had no noise.

 

[Whitewind]

what is wrong with the azaila audio codec by realtek? I get absolutely no noise

 

[Nar1117]

One thing that seems to escape a few people here is that 'the best sound' is an opinion. The original poster might think that this system sounds amazing, but to another it might not. People argue over opinions too much.

 

[chris719]

Seems like implementation counts... the one I heard only would be quiet with high impedance headphones.

 

[Sparky191]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nar1117 One thing that seems to escape a few people here is that 'the best sound' is an opinion. The original poster might think that this system sounds amazing, but to another it might not. People argue over opinions too much.

I think its more a case of I know what this sounds like but this sounds better/worse in comparison.

 

[countach]

My UM2 sounds like I never expect thru my old SoundBlaster Extigy USB.

Absolutely no noise, crystal clear sound even at very low volume levels, no need to EQ (only a little high raise, hardware control based, no EQing with the player)

I am rediscovering the Westones with this card, it's amazing.

Here it is:

 

[paradio]

More stages will get multiple bad performance from each stage, and the overall performance will be limited by the worse stage among those stages, which means if performance of one stage is not good, the overall performance can not exceed it.

The aim to use enternal amplifier, only while the original source can not drive the speaker/phone well, for instance the impedance ( high impedance need more voltage swing) and the current ( low impedance need higher current source). <don't take any filter into consideration, in general, amp. is wide band>

Once the laptop can already drive your device, the benefit to use external amplifier is not much.

But, IMO, I don't support to use laptop to listen the music. You can capture a lot of background noise ( even you use very good soundcard), mainly from the running of the harddisk. . .

 

[jjcha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparky191 Might be too sensitive for the devices your using them with.

Heh, yah. Sorry mate, the Shure E5c are the most sensitive IEM I've ever owned and revealed the hiss and other nastiness in sources/amps better than any other can I've owned. Sensaphonics 2X-S comes close but isn't as bad. I will say I was very pleased with, for me, the very low level of hiss with the iPod's lineout and SR-71 with the E5c.

Best,

-Jason

 

[kdaq]

Quote:

Originally Posted by seefeel For some reason, the Grado SR-225s and Senn PX-100s sound so good when connected to the Soundmax soundcard in my laptop. There is weight, depth, detail, and smoothness. Mentally, it seems that an amp and better source would make things sound better, but I realize that the music often sounds best direct from the laptop. I've used a variety of tube and solid state amps, but end up returning to just using the laptop. Anyone else have similar experiences or an explanation on why I often prefer a setup without an amp and seemingly less than optimal source?

What are we all striving for, swapping out bits of our systems endlessly? In a word: synergy.

Seems you've found it in some unlikely combinations. I say, congratulations