Supposed "Surround Sound" on HP HDX 18T Notebook

I purchased an HP HDX 18T notebook several weeks ago.  The sound when I played DVDs was terrible, virtually inaudible when I was sitting only three feet away.  I returned it for a replacement.  The new laptop is much louder but it is still far from offering the "surround sound" I was promised in the company's advertising.  Is there any way of enhancing the volume of the speakers when I play DVDs?  Is this an manufacturing flaw in this series of laptops?  I have owned much cheaper versions of HP notebooks and they have had much better sound systems than this much touted "entertainment center."  <text deleted>
Thank you.
Daniel Harris
Message Edited by WendyM on 03-22-2009 12:39 PM

I find that all that so-called "surround sound" on a laptop does nothing but make the volume lower.  If you want to watch a movie with better sound, it's best to use a home theater setup, or at least a good set of powered external speakers on your computer.
The problem is that computer makers fall over themselves to provide sound features that seem good on paper...but not in real life.
Thje way I got around this problem is by downloading Media Player Classic (available at Afterdawn.com).  It doesn't even have to be installed.  Just run the program, and click file, open DVD.  The movie will play in glorious (loud) stereo...as long as you have another DVD playing program on the computer to supply the codec.  After all, what good is 7.1 surround, if you can't hear the dialogue?

Similar Messages

  • HP-HDX 18t w/ Vista 32 won't retain default sound source after sleeping

    That about sums it up. It's a brand new HP HDX 18t laptop running Vista32. It's setup with HDMI to our flat-panel TV and we have a Turtle Beach Audio Advantage-Micro usb card so we can use the SPDIF digital audio passthrough to get the 5-1 dolby sound to the surround sound receiver. It all works as it should playing Blu-Ray DVDs as well as any other sound... no problem. If we completely shutdown and then turn it back on it's fine. But if we put it into sleep or hibernate mode instead, then it loses the default sound source setting we've chosen (SPDIF) and we have to manually reselect it. Same thing if we disconnect it entirely. But that makes some sense and we don't plan to do that a lot so it's not as big a deal.
    Thanks for any insights.
    I hope I've provided enough info.
    Sheila
    Message Edited by Sheila-Seattle on 01-05-2009 01:52 PM

    I have the macbook pro 13 inch 2,66 Ghz april 2010 model.
    I can't get my headphones to work in Windows 7, 64 bit(bootcamp). It seems like the cirrus logic CS 206 A (AB13)drivers are the problem.
    I have installed the latest drivers, have set the headphones to standard audio device (I don't know how you call that option in english as my windows is dutch). I also disabled the macbook speakers, the digital audio device and nothing seems to work. I can play music through my macbook but can't play it through my headphones. In mac osx there is no problem at all doing this, the problem is only in windodws 7.
    It's very annoying because I would like to play some games.
    And yes I've installed the 64 bit drivers.

  • X-Fi Notebook and Surround Sound / Opti

    Hey, I was wondering if the X-Fi notebook would accept 5. sound input. I'll explain what i'm trying to do:?I want to conenct my HD TV box to the sound card so that I can use my 5. creative speakers to watch TV and also play DVD. Would this be possible with this card + the surround sound expansion bay?Thanks?(Also, is there an external alternati've to this; with the same quality)

    Any thoughts?

  • X-Fi Xtreme Audio Notebook -no surround sound

    All of sudden my surround sound is gone! Maybe it's due to some recent updates from microsoft, but system restore won't help.
    Anyway I got Inspiron E705, genuine vista 32, pcie sound card with 5./7. adapter. When I go to control panel - sound - configure, my configuration is 5. and it checks out just fine after hitting the test button. (sound appears in each speaker) However, when I want to play mp3s or movies on vista, the sound goes only through two (left and right) front speakers. Any ideas on how to fix it's
    PS. sound driver - up to date (from their website 7/4/2007)

    That is perfectly normal functioning for music playback unless you select CMSS Surround mode. Set the slider for 50% (middle) and you will get sound out all speakers. For monophonic sounds or music, you will get almost no sound at all out the front left and right, most sound out the center, and a bit of sound out the rear surrounds for spatial effect. This is at least how my Extreme Gamer card works.
    Phil

  • Mute Button Light Not Working, HP HDX 18t

    I just reloaded my HP HDX 18t series notebook and everything works flawless w/ Windows 7 Ultimate, but whenever I mute the system, the light does not turn red like it's supposed to.  Quick Launch buttons drivers are installed and everything.  What do I do to fix this?
    Also, it's red when I boot the PC, but when it loads Windows it goes to white and will not turn red.  Thank for the help.

    Same problem on my DV3T-2000 CTO after Vista to Windows 7 upgrade.  Updating IDT audio driver fixed it.  Windows Update and HP Support Assistant did not find that update, but HP Customer Care - Software & Driver Downloads did.

  • How do I convert analogue 5.1 surround sound into a digital signal? (Pioneer SE-DIR800C headphon

    I understand that my SB Audigy 2 card will only output 5. sound from games through its 3 analogue connectors. How do I convert this analogue signal into a digital one? What hardware do I need to purchase?
    I have read the thread on "Digital Connections, SPDIF and Dolby Digital Info", and also I've thoroughly read the "Creative Speaker Connectivity Guide".
    The reason I ask is that I have just bought a pair of Pioneer SE-DIR800C Surround Sound headphones. This are supposedly fantastic for recreating surround sound on headphones because there is a clever little decoder box. They accept a DTS / Dolby Digital signal via the digital co-axial and optical inputs, and there is a single analogue input which only accepts stereo sound.
    My XBox and PS2 will output true digital 5. sound via an optical cable and I am confident this will work perfectly with these headphones. I'm really looking forward to playing Halo in surround sound! But for gaming on my PC, I'll be limited to just an analogue stereo signal. Well, unless I can find some device that will convert my SoundBlaster's analogue 5. outputs into a digital signal, which I can then plug into the little decoder box for these headphones.
    So, back to my question:
    What hardware do I need to buy to convert an analogue 5. signal (via 6 x RCA or 3 x 3.5mm stereo ) into a true digital signal (via optical or co-axial SP/DIF)? Is it some type of headphone amplifier I need? If possible, please recommend makes & models of equipment.

    Thanks stefan
    OK, basically I have found 3 options for getting digital 5. out of a PC:
    a) Creative DTS-60 (approx $90). This converts the SB's analogue into digital, but it's not available in the UK and it also introduces a noticeable 50ms sound delay. Also, who wants an extra box hanging out of their PC?
    b) Buy a new sound card which has Dolby Digital Li've output. For example, ) BlueGears HDA X Mystique 7., or 2) Turtle Beach Montego DDL, or 3) Terratec Aureon 7. PCI (NOT the Space, FireWire or Uni'verse cards). I couldn't find the first two available in the UK so I have just ordered the Terratec card from Komplett.
    c) Buy a new motherboard that has built-in Dolby Digital Li've output, for example the ABIT Fatalty AA8XE. Unfortunately my PC is only just over year old and I'm not quite ready to replace it.
    I hope this info is useful for people. Maybe Creative will start making a card with DDL output too.Message Edited by NinjaHeretic on 2-22-2005 08:46 AM

  • Can't get surround sound to work while default format is 96000Khz

    Hello,
    I finally figured out that for some reason I can play 5.1 surround sound if I choose the 24bit/48000Kh as the default format from the realtek manager, or for that matter from the Sound control panel.  But if i choose the 24bit/96000Kh from the realtek sound manager I only get stereo sound when played either from WMP or WMC.
    Does anyone know if this is a limitation of the sound card I have?
    According to the spec's I should have the for the s3480a are:
    Sound/Audio
    High Definition 6-channel audio
    ALC 888S chipset
    Also, and maybe for another post, i bought HDMI cable because I have a TV Tuner card in this unit but I can't seem to get it to work...
    HP ENVY 17-j005tx Notebook, HP ENVY Recline 27-k001a, HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 G2020T, HP MediaSmart EX495 Server, HP MediaVault 2020, HP ENVY 120 AiO Printer

    I've seen similar OEM "configurations" with RealTek codecs and the sound hardware on the motherboard. I "think" channel limitations at higher Khs are either a real hardware/codec limitations or the folks that design the PC are safeguarding against problems that show up when multi-channel is enabled at higher Khs (power draw, popping noises, whatever).
    This is total speculation on part.
    I have seen cases where updating the sound codec using the latest drivers available from realtek.tw allows you to select from more hz and channel options. But keep in mind more problems might pop up if you select a hz range beyond 48Mhz.
    ... an HP employee expressing his own opinion.
    Please post rather than send me a Message. It's good for the community and I might not be able to get back quickly. - Thank you.

  • Problems with HQ-2300D headphones. Lack of surround sound and other minor probs.

    I've bought Creative HQ-2300D, and I am disappointed so far.
    My first problem was instructions. I am not trying to insult anyone, but the booklet didn't instruct anything. It merely explained what the buttons did and what did the pictures mean (as if I can't recognize a notebook when I see one). The diagram did not include PCs, either.
    Regardless, it wasn't useless as finally I've made the headphones & the decoder work. I was surprised that the cable connecting my machine and the decoder was short and thin. Very thin. Here's what I had in my bundle, aside from the decoder, headphones, and cheap Energizer AA batteries:
    http://img293.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0020qh6.jpg
    "A" is used for connecting the headphones to video game consoles, I gathered, so I put it aside, since I needed to connect the headphones and decoder to my PC. I tried using "B", but couldn't fit the black thing anywhere. "C" worked. Did I get it right?
    I tried music first. Horrid. Bass sounded blurred out and what closely followed could only be described as hands clapping with bass at zero. After messing around with settings, I've managed to reduce that effect to a minimum. Then I've tried watching a movie, and the sound quality was actually very good. Although I've been watching a DVD, I didn't notice surround sound.
    Then I've tried games. Half-Life 2 and then Doom 3 with EAX patch. The sound quality is admirable, but I didn't notice surround sound. Is there anything I need to tweak? Also, there's faint noise after low sounds.
    Are the headphones defected, or what?
    EDIT: Forgot to mention my soundcard is X-Fi Platinum.
    Message Edited by Flawless on 07-07-2007 08:31 AM

    I'm really sorry for the double post, but after thoroughly reading the instructions again, I've managed to eliminate that faint static by pressing Dolby Pro Logic II and Dolby Headphones buttons simultaneously and holding them for 2 seconds.
    But the surround sound is still absent. I thoroughly tested with the helicopter sound circling you, with both CMSS-3D on and off, I fired up Half-Life 2 and Doom 3 and tested if there's any difference between front and back, with both CMSS-3D on and off. I closed my eyes, and I couldn't tell where the sound was coming from.

  • Connecting PCMCIA Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook to Onkyo HT-S580 Recei

    Hi
    I have PCMCIA Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook audio card with my Thinkpad laptop.
    I have bought Onkyo HT- S580 Hometheater system. I was hoping to connect the Line out, Line out2, Line out3 jacks to the receiver's Front, Surround(rear) and Center in jacks.
    The color on the Onkyo Recei'ver end are Center - Green , Surround(rear) - Blue , Front - White
    The color on the Creative Card end are Center- Orange , rear - Black , Front - Green
    There is color difference between these two ends . Is it advisable to connect these two jacks ?
    Please recommend the suitable cable type and name for this connection
    Thanks

    dilip wrote:
    Hi I have PCMCIA Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook audio card with my Thinkpad laptop. I have bought Onkyo HT- S580 Hometheater system. I was hoping to connect the Line out, Line out2, Line out3 jacks to the receiver's Front, Surround(rear) and Center in jacks. The color on the Onkyo Recei'ver end are Center - Green , Surround(rear) - Blue , Front - White The color on the Creative Card end are Center- Orange , rear - Black , Front - Green There is color difference between these two ends . Is it advisable to connect these two jacks ? Please recommend the suitable cable type and name for this connection Thanks
    Hi
    Colours may vary --> just connect by the instructions from both manuals.
    There are good explanations for
    - Stereo and 4-Pole Jack Diagrams
    - Connecting a multichannel home theater receiver
    - cabletypes needed on connections
    on User's Guide.
    NOTE: This User's Guide can be found on your driver CD too.
    Also, here is the Onkyo HT-S580 manual.
    jutapaMessage Edited by jutapa on 0-0-2006 03:32 AM

  • ???????????HOW TO GET SURROUND SOUND ON MACBOOK???????????????????????

    I have a macbook osx 10.5.8. I purchased some Logitech X-540 5.1 surround sound speakers to hook up to my laptop. There are 3 cables (an orange, green, and black) that come from the different speakers/subwoofer that are supposed to plug into the computer, but i can only plug in 1 of the 3 into the headphone jack my macbook. Here's some pics of the speakers:
    http://techgage.com/print/logitechx-540_51speakers
    When I do so, only some of the speakers play, not all of them. I went to BestBuy and asked someone if surround sound is possible for a macbook, but he said "no". I have seen online many people claiming it is possible to get 5.1 surround sound for mac, but haven't figured out how. Can someone please be of some assistance????

    Since you only want to play CD's why not just use the two for the normal Left/Right channels your CD was created with?
    If you want to use ALL of your speakers, you'll need to invest in a USB or Firewire device that will connect to your Macbook and then allow you to connect all your speakers.

  • Hooking up MBP to home theater receiver: Surround sound for games?

    I'm looking for a way to hook up my MBP to my home theater receiver to play games in surround sound. From what I've read, it sounds like the digital optical out will only provide 5.1 sound for DVDs, not games.
    I have also read about the Griffin Firewave which supposedly provides 5.1 sound from the firewire port...however, it looks like there are five separate outputs from that device (center, and both front and rear speakers), and my receiver's inputs are not arranged in this way, so I don't think this will work for my setup.
    Anyone know of a way to do this successfully? It's looking like it's not possible, but wanted to see if there were any solutions I was missing. Thanks!

    Peep this...http://www.forums.bestbuy.com/bb/board/message?board.id=TV_Home_Theater&thread.id=1153
    Disclosure: Former BBY employee.

  • Hdmi cable only produces sound to tv..not surround sound

    Hooked up apple tv today and the sound works only from the tv...not from the amplifier...the tv works through it but not with apple tv...am I supposed to do something special to connect them?  Thanks...

    there have been posts like your many many many times
    in this forum
    I can't comment from personal exp as I don't use surround but
    most reply's to posts like yours seem to be that your expectations of what will provide
    surround sound audio differ from what does comes with surround audio
    it be a mix of trailers not having 5.1
    to your media converts not being don in a way the atv support

  • No Surround Sound out the optical port to my receiver?

    In lieu of this post:
    http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=soundblaster&thread.id=270
    What to people do that want a 5. experience out of a game, but don't want to go buy an entire second set of speakers to plug into all those mini-jacks in the back of the card to get 5. game sound? Is there some other layer or 3rd party drivers that took upon the task of converting the EAX stuff to the optical audio jack? Obviously it can support it, as I can fire up a DVD and play it in Windows Media Player and it sends a 5. signal out the optical jack to my receiver. It's just the games which fail heinously.
    I'm using the "XFTI_W7DRVBETA_US_2_7_0007" driver currently. I've tried flipping things on and off, but never get a surround sound output out of that optical jack. I find it hard to believe I'm the only one that 'only' wants to use the optical out to a receiver as my sole source of sound. I was wondering what solutions were available?
    Edit: I suppose it would be helpful to know I have an X-Fi Titanium.
    Message Edited by notebene on 05-02-2009 2:09 PM

    : For )
    Find the 2 packages from here -> http://support.creative.com/download...rType=3#type_3
    Download these...
    http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message board.id=soundblaster&thread.id=4090
    Thanks much. I downloaded the 2 apps for future use.
    Now I'm stuck on the fact that it will 'not' let me install drivers anymore. It keeps telling me I don't have a supported device. I do have a supported device, and I 'did' have the drivers successfully installed and working at one point, but now it won't let me install them. That doesn't make 'any' sense to me at all.

  • Surround Sound via HDMI

    I've tried just about everything to get Surround Sound out of the MacBook Pro. I'm starting to wonder if it's even possible.
    I have a MacBook Pro Mid-2010 (the first model to support Multi-Channel Audio, BTW), and I've been trying to output surround sound to a Vizio 7.1 Surround Sound System (It's got sound quality like you wouldn't believe, if only the speakers weren't so slippery and would stay still.) It's connected to a Vizio HDTV through optical audio, which is connected through an HDMI cable to the MacBook, which is using a Moshi HDMI to Mini DP adapter (It's pretty good quality). I know it's not a problem with the HDTV or the Sound Bar, as Surround Sound works fine with our 3D BluRay, our DTV Box, an HD Upscaling DVD Player, and Windows 7 or 8 PCs, including my Surface Pro 2 (Worst computer in the universe.) The Sound Bar doesn't like PCM very much (sometimes it works), and prefers Dolby.
    First, I thought it might be a problem with the TV, so I moved the whole system upstairs to a 720p LG HDTV, which also supports optical surround-sound passthrough from an HDMI source. It still showed as a 2 channel device in MIDI Setup. Then I tried various different settings and restarting and resetting the PRAM. I also tried another, unmarked HDMI to Mini DP adapter that I had in a random box, also to no avail. I thought maybe it only works with a lower display resolution, but no. I even tried using someone else's Retina MacBook Pro, but it had the same problems. Seriously, how does anyone even consider a mac as an audio production platform? This is a serious issue for audio professionals (Not that I'd know, I'm an artist). Anyway, I've even tried a few supposed software solutions, like Perian, which didn't work at all. Someone suggested Soundflower, but I know that doesn't work, because I've actually had it for years. (It's quite useful for recording or redirecting audio.) There's a few tutorials I've seen to solve the problem, but they all stop making sense at the "Set the format to 6 or 8-Channel" part. Obviously, if I can't output Surround Sound, that means that there's no "Format" option that's not labeled "2-channel".
    Screenshots: (Ignore the Premiere Pro option, that's just there just it's open in the background)
    So basically, what do you do if Mac OS X tells you there's no Surround Sound, and every other device tells you different?

    Dam I've done it, ok next thing is where the volumes are grey'd out I would like to increase the volume to the rear speakers.

  • Surround Sound Headphones?

    Has anyone here tried surround sound headphones with the SPDIF output on an nForce mobo? If so, how do they work with games?
    -r

    Quote
    Originally posted by Ryu Connor
    I've had to read your question a few times to be sure that I'm answering the question right.
    I'd have to say the general answer to your question is no.
    Setting the panel to headphones is supposed to cause Windows to do something to the output of the sound.  I can't perceive any difference when I shift the setting about.  I've begun to wonder if the setting is only applicable to analog sound cards.
    Furthermore an external DSP is required to use S/PDIF.  At minimum you need a DAC to convert the digital signal back into analog.  You also have to remember that any DD sound output from the S/PDIF must be decoded before it goes to the DAC.  Since it appears that the nForce encodes any sound that passes through it, this too would make a DSP required.
    I should have been a bit clearer on the external DSP. I realize a DD decoder is necessary when using the SPDIF output, but a DSP for additional HRTF would not necessarily be needed (if I'm understanding this correctly).
    Quote
    The adjustment of these settings along side Pro Logic tend to create the necessary HRTF output through headphones.  That's for DD content any ways.  3D Sound API's acheive their goal by processing before output through the S/PDIF or analog outs.
    But is the 3D Sound API's sound processing "preserved" when encoded to Dolby Digital? In other words, does the EAX and/or A3D positional infomation remain after it is encoded to DD?
    Quote
    One person who recently listened to a DVD-A song on my rig said the following afterwards, "Wow, the sound felt like it was in the back of my head."
    Which I suppose is the result you're looking for.
    Yes, exactly! But for games  as well as DVDs?
    Good info Ryu! Thanks!!
    -r

Maybe you are looking for