w3v sound

Someone posted before that w3v's dvd playback had weak sound..

I can really notice the weak sound power, not just dvd but even music such as winamp, compared to other notebooks. Can this be fixed? or is it going to be this weak?

 

I was the one who posted... (don't know if anyone else...) and I think isn't fixed yet. I wish! because even hearing music with headphones is poor the volume -not quality of sound- you get.

 

My sound is definitely weak -- it could certainly be stronger! -- but in a quiet environment I can hear anything except DVDs. And when I'm watching a DVD, I just plug in the crappy little external speakers that came with my crappy old Dell desktop 5 years ago and they work fine -- I don't even turn them up halfway and explosions are loud enough to scare the cat......

Haven't tried headphones yet, I will admit, but if you really need sound, powered external speakers will work just fine. I know that doesn't help much when you're out and about, but it's a start.

I'll start borrowing headphones from people to see how well they work on the W3V, and if I find any that wrk exceptionally well, I'll post.

 

It seams that W3v headphone out at maximum volume is around the standard line out level, which is great for conecting to external amplifier, powerd speakers.... but seams to weak for headphones.

But the sound quality is rather good for a laptop.

 

There is another thread that discussed this to some degree if you search the forum. Basically, you need to find a set of headphones that have the lowest impedance possible, or consider buying a soundcard to get around this problem. I'm considering the noise cancelling Sennheiser's that fold up for travel, but haven't purchased them yet to see if they do a good job.

 

Something I've seen on every notebook in the last five years........ external speakers and headphones are loud as anything though...... I've noticed different players play differently as well........ also one HUGE thing.. make sure it's playing in stereo and not trying to play like 5.1 or 7.1..... it makes those speakers on the laptop even lower.

 

Justin, how does one make sure that it's output in stereo and not 5.1, etc.?

I absolutely love my W3V, but the DVD playback volume is pathetic, I had to buy an external sound card just so I could watch movies (the $30 Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro, it was cheaper than nice headphones). I messed with a ton of settings and a few different softwares, and it got incremently louder because of various things, but never enough where I could even watch a movie without subtitles.

When you say this is something you've seen on all notebooks the last 5 years, do you mean all Asus notebooks or all notebooks? I had a Compaq Presario 2800T (about 3 years old) which was fine in DVD playback, from the internal speakers or headphones, I have seen friends with all manner of older Dells, HPs, etc. that never had this much trouble. I'm not saying they're better notebooks, not even close, but volume-wise they were much louder. My brother has a Z71V which is loud enough through headphones to be tolerable in a quiet room (he said on an airplane he couldn't hear it), but the W3V DVD audio is laughably soft from internal speakers or regular headphones. In a quiet room I literally strain to hear regular dialogue from a movie. This isn't me being picky either, I'm not an audiophile and I'm not the kind of guy that can even tell the difference between a couple of different sets of headphones or speakers, or whatever, this is just simply being unable to hear movies.

Any advice W3V owners have as to settings or anything that I might be missing, please let me know.

 

yes the w3v speakers aren't great and it's probably below average compared to other laptops but i can't say for sure since this is my first laptop but i do know in general laptop speakers are tinny and horrible so no tears over here.

i however disagree with the mention that even with headphones the sound is horrible. i took my w3v on a flight to LA a couple weeks ago, had a window seat near the engines
and donning my fantastic Target-purchased phillips headphones, had no problem listening to music or my DVD's. was it complete silence? of course not but the sounds of the jet engines were relegated to the depths of ambient noise haha.

EDIT: i'm thinking of getting a PMCIIA sound card just to have a more robust set of outputs to hook up the laptop to a HT system but i'm hoping the digital out on the w3v will be more than sufficient. we'll see.

 

I agree that by the maximum sound volume coming out of the W3V's speakers is fairly low. Once you put in a DVD, which tends to have an even lower normalized volume by default, it is even worse.... HOWEVER...

If you want to boost the sound output noticeably:
Load up the Realtek Sound Manager... go the the graphic equalizer... boost ALL the sliders up to maximum - a 12 dB boost. This should get the sound to an acceptable level for most of your situations, and it doesn't distort the sound noticeably either - especially with DVDs.

 

I fly to NY all the time from LA, I have the Bose Triports (cant afford the noise cancelling ones ), and they do hell of a good job in keeping out the ambient noises, better than some Phillips ones.

As for lower sounds when watching DVD's, some times the DVD application may have it's own volume control. So sometimes you may need to raise the volume in 3 different locations to get the sound up... and of course, there are other tools, apps, and hardware to help applify... with a little distortion of course.

 

What's your review of the Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro?



-Loyal

 

Hey Uniballer, I would also like to know how you like the Turtle Beach Micro.

 

man i hate the wimpy sound level coming from the w3v.... mp3s via media player... disappointing... dvd play.... awful.

 

The Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro is pretty sweet. It's not your ultimate sound card, but I got it for $30 at Circuit City and there is a $10 mail in rebate (note to self: mail the damn thing in) that will bring the price down to $20. For $20, you really can't beat it.

First, it is definitely portable, it's a little shorter and a little wider than a USB flash drive, and nearly weightless, it feels like just an empty piece of plastic. It comes with a little extension cord so you don't have to have the dongle sticking straight into your USB ports where it could break off, etc. That is pretty handy.

I haven't done a lot of testing of it's Digital 5.1 capabilities or anything like that, thought it supposedly can. It comes with it's own software suite that you have to install before you can use it, but I haven't really messed with the software too much.

Basically I bought it for one purpose, to plug my headphones into it so I can actually hear a DVD movie. It does this perfectly. I installed the software, plugged in the Micro, plugged my headphones into it and instantly my movie is 3x as loud as it was. This is before I messed with any settings or anything. I'm not an expert at audio stuff at all. I tested it on my gf with some run of the mill earbuds I have. I plugged the headphones directly into my W3V and played a movie (Training Day, actually). She said she could barely hear it and was unconsciously leaning into the notebook to try to hear better. I plugged in the Micro, then stuck the headphones into that (you will have to re-open your movie player) and hit play. She immediately popped the earbuds out and said that it hurt her ears (I still had the volume at max because you have to with the W3V on DVDs). Anyhow, it works for this and the sound quality is great.

Some cons of the product:
1. It will not do any of the Creative EAX sound stuff. I turned on the basic EAX setting in Call of Duty and it sounded decent most of the time, but would make some pops and clicks. I actually played the game with EAX on because the random pops were worth it: the EAX sound stuff is pretty cool, a lot more ambient noise, etc. than the basic setting. EAX 2 and 3 would pop and click all the time and make some other god-awful noises as well, so those are out of the question.
2. You install the micro on a USB port, and your comp will only recognize the device if you stick it in the same port that you installed it on. So make sure it's the one you'll be using. (Side note: it's handy to be able to plug your headphones into the left side of the notebook, I wasn't a big fan of the placement of the audio port on the W3V, it got in the way of my mouse sometimes)
3. For some reason if I plug in some powered external speakers (some old Altec Lansings) they make random pops and clicks doing basic Windows noises, like going to a new webpage in IE. It's a little weird, and I need to try some settings to see if that corrects things. I will try some tonight and re-post on here.


Overall, I'm happy with the product. It won't do everything that the Creative PC sound card will, the Audigy Notebook NS or MX or something. But it's a good $80-$100 cheaper. It's also cheaper than a $100 pair of headphones. My main reason for purchasing was that I like to watch DVDs on airplanes, and I like to watch them with people. I have a little Y-splitter from Radioshack that will let you plug in 2 pairs of headphones into one jack, but the signal is split and thus further weakened, making movies on an airplane with a W3V out of the question. So rather than get 2 nice pairs of headphones and hope that they get loud enough, I bought this little guy and it pumps the sound for me.

Sorry that I this review isn't very thorough and I didn't do a lot of technical testing, but I don't have a ton of freetime and it does what I want it to. I will do some more testing this evening and re-post.

 

This is exactly what I want to do. Thanks for letting us know that $20 will solve this little problem.

 

Just to follow-up for anyone else who bemoans the inadequate DVD sound with the W3V... I am now using this little Turtle Beach "doo-hickey" (technical term) and it is exactly as advertised. The sound is great, and as a bonus I can use a USB extension cable to allow two people to enjoy the sound without worry of not enough earphone cable.

 

Sorry to bring this thread from the dead, but I might be getting a z63a soon, and as I love listening to music, the poor sound issues have scared me.

Is the sound still abnormally quiet if I plug in Klipsch speakers, or is it only something with headphones and the included laptop speakers.

Thanks

 

You will not have a problem if you plug in Klipsch speakers, as they are self powered... the level of the line out coming from the laptop is more than sufficient for that. The issue is with amplification to headphones or the built-in speakers.

Again, as I have said, the easiest way to rectify this on the W3V is to turn up the equalizer... with lower average volume sources such as DVD, it will boost sound significantly without distortion or the need for an external card.

 

I have been looking for good headphones for my MP3 player and bought the Koss "The Plug" http://www.koss.com/koss/kossweb.nsf/SPdispCall?ReadForm&THEPLUG.

Getting the earpieces in is a bit of hassle, but once in, these headphones are impressive. The foam inserts cut out background noise at least as well as the noise-cancelling headphones that I have tried and the sensitivity is very good - 112dB/mW (which means that you get quite good loudness at the W3's limited audio output). They are also surprisingly inexpensive. However, don't think that they eliminate background noise, but it is significantly reduced.

I had previously bought a pair of Sony MDR-EX71SL, which looked good. They are rated at 100dB/mW and are very quiet in comparison with the Koss Plugs. However, not all Sony headphones are that quiet: Those bundled with the Sony D-NE920 CD player are similar to the Koss plus in loudness, but with much less sound isolation. Unfortunately, I can't find any model number.

John

 

I have been using "The Plug" for years now, and I have yet to find a better pair of in-ear phones for that price. Incidentally, I also have the Shure E2C and E3C phones (much more expensive) and I still prefer the Koss. Also you can't beat the lifetime warranty! (which I've used a few times, and always received a brand new pair)

As an add-on, I also have the Creative Audigy 2 ZS PC Card because of the weak volume on the W3V, and I'm very happy with it. The Turtle Beach sounds like a great (and less expensive) alternative. One feature I do like about the Audigy is that it can play back the amplified sound via the laptop speakers, thereby boosting volume 2-3x.

 

If you really want to get those speakers working its not really a problem i have the volume turned almost all the way down now cuase they are so loud. Anyways first boost the realtek Device all the way up on the equalizer... Then i know for sure if you use windows media player or cyber link dvd then you can use their built in app. Ill explain what im talking about for Media Player 10. Go to tools then options then the dvd tab then advance then the misc tab and click on the noisy envirment circle and there you go instant boost in your sound. Same thing for cyberlink dvd as they are the one who make this option for media player.
Good luck hope this helps....