T40 sound...

[Bloodstein]

Being an audiophile, I'm just wondering what quality of sound I can expect to get from a T40. Is it better, worse or no difference when compared to the other laptops. I'll prolly get one of those fancy soundcard-type thingys from Creative (extigy??) later on. But for now, i'd like some decent sound...

Thanks...

 

[Pennstate]

If you are a true audiophile, you would never listen to music from a computer. A laptop is not meant to be a piece of audio equipment.

 

[Bloodstein]

I gotta nice set of sounds for everything from car to my desktop computer. I do recordings, etc and its "cheaper" to do them on the computer than to buy specialised equipment.

I'd like nice sounds from my laptop cuz I expect to travel a lot with it. I can't lug my desktop or home stereo with me (wish i could though). Discman jus got stolen (feel free to put a hex on the guy). So yeah...

 

[mocca]

The sound quality from T40 is ok, a little bit above standard for laptop speaker. The best laptop speaker AFAIK, is the JBL on some Compaq laptops. They have nice bass reflex. If you want a nice sound output from normal laptops, you should consider the Creative Extigy.

Mocca

 

[OldSpooky]

The internal speakers on the T40 are, like most other laptop speakers, very mediocre. The sound chip itself according to the Windows Hardware Profile, says SoundMAX. I don't know if this means anything to you.

 

[JZilla]

What if one used a pair of decent headphones, would the sound quality then be the same as a regular mobo using onboard sound?

 

[ES135]

I find the stock soundmax chip to sound fine with both headphones and external
speakers (cambridge etc) ie with windows MP EQ and WOW settings enaged.

That said, I just received the Echo Indigo sound card that I am reviewing which
btw installed just fine.

T40P owner...

 

[Bloodstein]

Dude, do post ur review of Extigo! I'm really interested. Dunno if i should get one...

 

[hwz8b]

I couldn't help chiming in. For extensive information on which built-in notebook soundcards have decent sounds, check out head-fi.org. That being said, IBM T-series actually has pretty decent built-in soundcards from what I have read. Nonetheless, if you want more, you should buy an external soundcard such as the Extigy or the M-Audio Sonica.

I have never had any external soundcards myself. However, I have products from both Creative/M-Audio (the Audigy 2 Platinum and M-Audio Revolution 7.1) installed on the same desktop. For music, the M-Audio Revolution beats Audigy 2 hands down. If the Sonica is anything like the Revolution, then it's really a worthy solution for the notebook. Nonetheless, due to its being powered by USB, don't expect it to power a pair of AKG 501 or Sennheiser 600 earphones directly.

An alternative would be a PCCard called Echo Indigo. Again, I don't really know how good this solution sounds in person.

 

[esaleris]

buy.com has a nice deal on the Extigy.

List price: $124.98.
Rebate: ($50.00)
Coupon: ($10.00)

Total price: $64.98.

For that price, almost nothing can beat it. Sonica is great, but I don't have Toslink input on my multimedia speaks. It comes out to be the same price - Sonica is about $50 at CompUSA if I remember correctly. Anyway, I ordered an extigy yesterday.

 

[dannybek]

Originally posted by: Bloodstein
Dude, do post ur review of Extigo! I'm really interested. Dunno if i should get one...

A combination of indigo and extigy?

 

[Bloodstein]

so ur getting indigo and extigy? Ok, even for me that's too much...

Btw, still waiting for that review u promised