Sound from Laptop

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collieb

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Anyone help me with this?

My recently (well, a year ago) bought laptop (PAckard Bell from PC World) has crap sound, whether played on the laptop itself (eg playing a DVD or music files) or even when connected to a stereo using an AUX cable. The sound is extremely 'tinny', esp when listening to a conversation on a DVD, and is driving me bonkers.

I'm not clued in at all on these type of things so can anyone tell me if this sounds like it is due to lack of a proper sound card (I dont even know what a sound card looks like) or is it just a crap laptop that cant play decent sound?
 
double click on the sound icon in your task bar and set all levels to their highest to see if that makes a difference.
also see if the laptop keyboard has any keys with a sound or volume button. for example an IBM thinkpad T30 has a volume up and down buttons that effects sound serperatly from the operating system controls.
 
collieb said:
Anyone help me with this?

My recently (well, a year ago) bought laptop (PAckard Bell from PC World) has crap sound, whether played on the laptop itself (eg playing a DVD or music files) or even when connected to a stereo using an AUX cable. The sound is extremely 'tinny', esp when listening to a conversation on a DVD, and is driving me bonkers.

I'm not clued in at all on these type of things so can anyone tell me if this sounds like it is due to lack of a proper sound card (I dont even know what a sound card looks like) or is it just a crap laptop that cant play decent sound?
Click to expand...

your sound card and output connection affect this....
this is why the crap sound.
also, the speakers on laptops, even good laptops are far inferior to normal, combination of reducing size and power consumption.
 
bigjoe_dub said:
double click on the sound icon in your task bar and set all levels to their highest to see if that makes a difference.
also see if the laptop keyboard has any keys with a sound or volume button. for example an IBM thinkpad T30 has a volume up and down buttons that effects sound serperatly from the operating system controls.
Click to expand...

Thanks Big joe,

Tried all this before - it just makes the tin like sound even more noisy and unbearable!!

Babytooth -
Is there anything I can do to improve the sound - I have heard music playing on other laptops and while not as good as from a stereo, it was far superior to mine. Wopuld really like to just play a DVD and at least be able to listen to the sound...Would a new soundcard help, and how do you replace them?
 
first, check what your sound card is and that all drivers are up-to-date

some useful software is http://audio.rightmark.org/index_new.shtml this will tell you what your sound card is.

so first check u have the most up-to-date drivers.

then consider a decent set of external speakers, alot cheaper than a sound card.

then you can buy an external sound card, alot better quality for the same price as an internal one, try to stay away from internal as they are hard to install and v.exp.

good luck.
 
There are 3 possibilities, either your speakers, sound card or your decoding software are not up to the job. Certainly, upgrading your sound card should solve your problems but you might like to consider an alternative option first- different software - doubtless your laptop came with "player" s/w. This type of s/w is continually improving and is able to remove unwanted background harmonics, you should try www.download.com for a different player, at no cost. Let us know how you get on.
 
Basicly it is a laptop with tiny speakers. You should try a good pair of external speakers. I got a pair of these [broken link removed] a couple of weeks again and they have great sound without the need of a subwoofer. You can't change the built in sound card, sound is now part of the intergrated Chip Set on most systems and I don't think it is worth getting an external (PCMCIA or USB) one.

Towger.
 
The issue of connecting "better" speakers to a laptop needs to be considered carefully as speakers need power and if they are drawing from the laptop you could end up blowing the motherboard if the power rating is wrong and if the soundcard is integrated on the motherboard(as I suspect it is).

I believe that best advice is to try the easiest solution first and this is also the zero cost one. The you should look at the other solutions
 
I have a pair of Sony external speakers with my PC in work which are externally powered so ill bring them home and give them a try, and I will try the software options too. Thanks for the replies...
 
Is there a chance that the microphone function maybe on giving interference , used to happen in old IBM thinkpads
 
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