Can latest MBP 15 Audio Quality be matched/beat?

LIstened to a friends new MBP 15 a few days ago and was blown to bits by the audio quality via the builtin speakers. Very thin notebook, as thin as my humble Zenbook, but incredibly robust sound.
I know they have their other issues, but something was 'fixed' audio-wise that seems, to my ears, to beat everything in the same class on the market.

is there even competition in this regard in the PC notebook/laptop space?
the zenbook audio is awful - a total shame. Windows 10 has audio issues systemically ...

 

All laptops speakers are (at best) tolerable, let alone bad, MBP included. If you want actually-good sound quality, pick up a good pair of headphones/speakers.

 

so you yourself with your own ears have listened to a late model 2015 issue MBP 15? When?
what did you listen to?

 

You've never listened to an Alienware's sound, the P870DM sound, or the old Toshiba Qosmio laptop speaker setup. They would crap all over any Apple built in speakers.

 

I'm a college student, the stereotypical buyer of MBPs (including the 15). So yes, just about everything from Youtube videos, rock music, dubstep, talks, etc. I've listened to on it via friends' MBPs. They're fine if you don't have/want external sound solutions, but if I have a laptop (of any kind, including the MBP 15) and I want to sit down and listen to something, I'd rather have my Sennheiser headphones plugged in. Note that the MBP isn't much thicker than your Zenbook, so there's just as little room to fit decent laptop speakers in there.

Speaking of Windows 10, I haven't noticed any audio issues on my Elitebook 820. Might be a botched driver you're having problems with?

 

Gentlemen and Ladies, laptop sound is cue speaker grade at very best. Macbook Pro sound is bested easily. The new B&O Bluetooth speaker is amazingly good. Better than most people's home sound systems out there. And does not embarrass itself in front of my two high end separates systems from the mid bass upwards. And my systems both are powered by McIntosh amplifiers at that. I am in the profession of audio to begin with. There are plenty of gear out there better than MacBook Pro audio.

 

This has got to be a joke. Enough said.

 

to return to the op, why is the honest question: "is there even competition in this regard in the PC notebook/laptop space?" a joke?
The idea of a light, thin, notebook should be portability. If I were talking about workstations/desktops I wouldn't be here. I have good headphones, ok earphone/in-ear monitors, great desktop sound, home theater, and good musical equipment [i'm a musician] - what I heard was something easy to move around, carry, etc without auxiliary burdens that delivered a great sound [the 2015 model...] right where the typical notebook user's two ears would be whilst using the little guy. I ain't interested in headphone reco's as useful as such may be from some expert.

Thank you RAIDRIAR for at least answering the question that was typed. I have not listened to every Alienware thingy ever built so if you could kindly be model-specific I would appreciate it. Something ballpark competitive. 15x? And the P870M @10.6lbs, & 17 display seems hefty but I'd love to hear it.

my only use for MBP is very specific to one musical chore; otherwise I use notebooks for work and home, which is why I asked.
iPads for quick work/reading/travel, 'droids for pocket

 

you are fortunate. looks like IDT came out a winner in a bad neighborhood. Win10 has had issues since tech preview days with some audio devices on 64 bit ver, which continue to the present and which are acknowledged by MS if you get the right forum or IT folk. i've posted some helps around nbr concerning workarounds. as to zenbook it just wasn't designed to sound decent, on a good day.

 

Hmm, I'll have to check and see if I have the IDT driver on my laptop. Though I won't see it again until I head back to campus. in January.

Even as a non-audiophile, laptops pretty much fail to impress me with their sound, and I've owned/used/reviewed quite a few. You compromise a lot of quality to have a computer which is portable.

 

The bigger, bulkier, and heavier the laptop is, the better the built in speakers can be. Which is one reason why the big Alienware behemoths and their ilk have better on board sound than the thinner and lighter laptops can deliver. That said, laptop sound is still not as good as better headphones or a good separates system. It can't be and be portable.

 

i have had 2 "gaming" laptops who are supposed to have good speakers. However if i want to really enjoy my music i always immediately plug in my headphones.

 

I'm on my 3rd one and personally, I've been fine with the speakers... But yes, if I do want to listen properly, I have a set of Sony MDR-1ADAC headphones which I use which are awesome!

 

To date, the best built-in speakers I've personally heard on a mobile device (laptop, phone, or tablet) were on the HP TouchPad tablet. That thing sounded amazing for such a small device.

But overall, the comments you're reading are true. Decent headphones or speaker systems are always going to sound noticeably better than speakers on a mobile device.

 

Dedicated headphones are always better than built-in solutions.

Nevertheless, speaking of mobile devices - what do you think of the One M8/M9 speakers?