Best Audio Output attachment for Gaming laptops!

guys i've found out that

http://forum.notebookreview.com/accessories/523590-nuforce-udac-2-review.html

is an awesome attachment which is cheap and portable too, but is there any better option that can Exceed the sound Quality like that of HP's Envy Beats line out ??

TY!

 

Honestly, you're best served with a USB headset for gaming.

 

What is your output source? The most important thing for good sound is the headphones/speakers THEN the DAC/AMP.

 

Yeah.

A lot of this Nuforce-like stuff tends to be placebo in terms of real improvements, and apart from that, external notebook audio interfaces - even those aimed at gaming that I'm aware - don't bring highly gaming-relevant features (e.g. hardware assisted surround processing).

My rule is that as long as you don't hear anything actually wrong with your onboard audio (interference, etc), then any modern laptop which isn't completely bargain-basement delivers at least acceptable (even to genuine audiophiles) audio quality. I use external audio interfaces sometimes but only when I need actually high-quality I/O (so high-end portable audio interfaces; i.e. not <$200). The other use for outboard interfaces is when you get impedance mismatch with built-in audio with some head/earphones (resulting in a lot of hiss).

Some notebooks are terrible in terms of such interference - Macbook Pro's, etc but most can be decent.

 

This is an intresting read if you're still considering it.
NwAvGuy: NuForce uDAC-2 Drama

 

Wow. A guy on the internet who actually knows how to measure gear from the get-go - that's quite a (unfortunate) rarity. I used to get quite tired of someone quoting some measurement, me looking at it and going 'you're doing it wrong' which then starts a flamewar. His methodology appears to be pretty sound.

 

O/P my Sennheisser HD408....sad that my M15'x powered by IDT ...which's the worst audio corp...so i wanted a good sound quality !

new Alienware's are equipped with Klipsch Audio !!

thankyou!

 

The M17x R3 is IDT audio chip with Klipsch speakers.

 

i wonder what mine are? how do ifind out what my chip is and speakers?

 

You could use AIDA trial or any of those programs that tell you what your computer's sound card is, but you probably won't find anything about the speakers.

 

Well, out it this way - if you can't tell but just go by 'name', you're probably wasting your money. IDT acquired Sigmatel, which is probably what your audio is based on - they don't make bad codecs by any stretch of the imagination.

As I said, it's all about how your audio is routed in your specific notebook - even if it's based on the same codec and that codec is capable of high-quality audio, if badly engineered (like for example the Macbook Pro's I mentioned before) it can result in interference, etc. There's also bad audio plus impedance mismatch - that's hiss plus artifacts - which can be spectacularly bad on some (some Latitudes I've used have been abysmal), or just subtly bad and hissy like on the current Macbook Air. And quite often, 'bad' laptops and 'good' laptops have similar, if not the same, codecs.

My still-main-notebook, the X201T has Conexant (who offers Analog Devices codecs) audio, which I'd say is fairly decent all-around as far as built-in audio goes as long as I'm not being too critical. Unlike the Macs, I'd not dismiss plugging in my high-end in-earphones into the headphone jack, and I don't feel I need something like a Nuforce or a Fiio.

If you can't actually hear anything wrong with the audio I say leave it. If you can, let us know what's wrong.

 

i am also looking for an audio solution. i made this thread a few days ago:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...-transform-my-audio-out-16ohms-impedance.html

as noted in the thread, i use two head/earphones, a koss portapro and an in-ear woodees.
the koss sounds excellent on my laptop however the woodees sound muffled with a lower sound output(it sounds excellent on my ipod though).
the only significant spec difference is that the koss is 60ohm and the woodees are 16ohm.
many posters have insisted that i try a dac but im not entirely certain if this will help. the lower impedance woodees should be sounding louder than the koss, but the reverse it what i get.
also as a side note, the builtin speakers for me are very good for laptop standards.
any input from you guys would help.

 

I'm not familiar with the woodees but OneCool's answer seems to be plausible - that your card has a comparatively low output and the woodees have very low sensitivity.

I would just try a regular basic 'proven' external soundcard like those from Turtle Beach (Amigo II). What they sell is pretty much the same as the better $10 fleabay adapters, but you get consistent quality instead of a crapshoot.

 

so you are suggesting this over a dac? this will give me better or same results as a dac?

 

Well - it *is* a DAC.

I just looked up the specs of the woodees and the sensitivity doesn't appear to be that low. It could just be an impedance mismatch, assuming the driver specs haven't changed. Either way give something like the Amigo a try.

 

yeah thats what i was trying to imply on my other thread. but most of them didnt think it had anything to do with impedance.
i thought the amigo was an amplifier and not a full-on DAC.
im curious as to why you recommend this over the fiio e7 or udac 2 HP?

 

Because you don't need it?

A DAC is a digital to analog converter. Anything which coverts digital signals into an analog one is a DAC. A $10 fleabay USB adapter with Mic input is both a DAC and ADC. And the codecs (i.e. the audio chips, which you'll find in laptops as well) which powers these things (crack open one of these fleabay USB adapters, or indeed the Amigo, and often you'll just find one chip, which is the codec) is basically a complete audio system on a chip - i.e. it has DAC, ADC and amping already built in, that is often cleaner than that you'll find on e.g. a Nuforce.

 

thanks, that was what i was worried about with the udac2 and fioo e7 actually- that there wouldnt be a significant increase in quality.
ill try one of those usb adapters asap.

 

If it wqas actually worthwhile to recommend either, I'd give a much higher nod to the Fiio in terms of the quality of attenuation as well as in utility, since it gives you the ability to analog-amp with respectable battery power with no loss in overall capability over the Nuforce.

(While I bought both to check out I gave my udac2 to someone and the E7 is sitting in storage. I don't believe in the usefulness of portable amplifiers - my belief is to either change the headphone or change the source)

But as I said, I don't think you need it in this respect.

 

could i have the fiiothen

 

How does the JBL speakers in XPS compare to this. I've heard those are pretty good for a laptop.

 

quite the opposite, but if that works for you.

 

I'd like to see anything that backs that up. Vogelbung knows what he's talking about in the audio arena. A headphone amp is not a magical device, and it depends highly on the headphones connected to it as well as the design of the amp itself. A USB gaming headset is designed so all of that is taken into account already, and though it may not be the absolute best possible everything, it's still generally a darn good solution for most.

 

i got myself a 5$ amigo-like usd sound adapter and both my woodees and koss sound great now!
you just saved me 95usd. +1

 

actually my m15x's speakers will give a distortion like tearing sound , when i install the IDT driver[where can i get the latest IDT?].So i had it uninstalled then distortion reduced a lot but now both of my earphone jacks wont work without the driver only one works(compromised ) and still the tearing of audio occurs at a very high volume both on my HD408 and speakers too.....i'm just feeling sad that these newer alienware laptops are equipped with Klipsch audio and a creative Soundblaster card likewise Beats in envy..the things that im missing on my laptop so i wanted to experience a good quality lineout , that's why i wanted an alternative like Nuforce and others ........

so please can you suggest me a better option whether to go for nuforce or Fiio or any other fix ?!!


thankyou!!

 

Actually the JBL speakers are good but the subwoofer installed in it creates more artificial sound and i think the lineout in XPS is normal but the Envy's got upperhand here the beats lineout is just too good you can feel that you are in a studio ,
and even the subwoofer's and speakers , lineout are better than the one's in XPS cause its a small one(means less woofers vibra ) and better than JBL i.e beats !!!

but the envy gets hot a bit fast !!!

 

Well - you have to appreciate there are limits to the speakers onboard any laptop. They're tiny, even 'premium' ones. There are, as you've noted, driver issues as well as the speakers are also directly driven from the same codec that I mentioned (i.e. a single chip does DAC, ADC, drives the Line Out and also amplifies the speakers) which may not manage the power going to them properly (i.e. control the volume at higher output to manage such distortion).

If you find yourself needing to play back loudly on the speakers, The best way to solve it would be to put the factory drivers back (since yes, with some IDT drivers installing a generic will cause one or more jacks, or sometimes the speaker to stop working), and to use external powered speakers, and also as I mentioned above a USB adapter like the Amigo for your headphones.

 

the jack malfunctioning is due to IDT driver not present in my laptop when i get it installed everything works fine but the speaker distortion problem that's all and Amigo is usb soundcard right ?
then what's the difference between those Fiio , NuForce ones ??

 

The fiio e7 has a built in battery so you can connect it to a ipod for amp and/or dac (with a line out docking cable) functions while the nuforce udac-2 is usb only.

Here's a fiio review:
NwAvGuy: FiiO E7 USB DAC & Amp

 

that's a great review..thanks !

 

ya that NwAvGuy does good reviews. he dissed the udac2 quite bad too.

 

Good.

It's just that with the 'unbranded' sticks, it's kind of a crapshoot in terms of what you'll get.

I've bought a couple of the $10-class sticks which happen to be based on the C-Media 6802 (i.e. the same codec as you'll find doing all the heavy lifting in the fairly universally well-reviewed Corsair HS1) and that outputs pretty clean audio - definitely suitable for everyday listening - even to my Beyerdynamic T1's. Output is however way too loud, and a bit hissy, for my balanced-armature phones like the JH13, W4 and SE530, and even slightly less efficient dynamic in-ears like the Sony EX's.

Whereas another (more expensive - probably because it has volume controls) stick I bought, which is based on the same C-Media codec as the Turtle Beach Amigo, drives in-ear monitors and more efficient such phones pretty well at more sensible volumes (albeit at 1 or 2 - i.e. minimum - volume settings out of 100) with no hiss.

Whereas a couple of other 'no-names' I couldn't even identify the codec and they sounded distinctly sub-par. As I said, crapshoot. If you get a 'good' one though, it's going to be at least as good as the Amigos, etc - and even devices like the e7 / nuforce (and more).

If you're trying to use in-ear phones with these types of cards you should choose one that's known to be quiet, or buy an attenuator. It's actually better to run the digital volume high, then use decent analog attenuation to get the listening volume down to sensible levels.

 

i wouldnt call the one i bought excellent but it corrected that power or impedance problem with my woodees and thats more than enough for me.
my koss and jvc speakers still sound a tad better when plugged directly but now at least i have options.
the koss sounds particularly good with my laptop audio with v good clarity and seperation plus natural sounding bass.