How to improve the sound quality of my laptop

SuprSi

I listen to quite a bit of music on my laptop and headphones. I mix on it and while I haven't done produced anything in a good while, I may get back into it when I get my new laptop.

Anyway, is there a way to improve the sound that I hear through the headphone socket? I'm not bothered about the speakers, just what I can hear through the headphones.

Is it as simple as picking up a high quality USB sound card?

Anima

Your laptop by default probably has an onboard sound card which won't be high quality (they're usually as cheap as possible to keep costs down). Even my own, when I plug in my decent studio headphones I can hear noise.

So like you said, a proper dedicated sound card either internal or external will give much better quality.

SuprSi

Thanks, I wasn't sure it was that simple but found the following;

http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/Gadgets.4/FiiO.406/5510043/Fiio__Andes__E07K_Portable_USB_DAC_Headphone_AMP_Portable_Amplifier.14000.html

Seems like a good device and isn't too bulky either.

Anima

Hmm not sure if that is the same thing. I've never heard of the brand anyways.

Have a look here: http://www.thomann.de/ie/audio_interfaces.html
It's a great site for this kind of stuff and price is usually decent.

Stereomaniac

Can't go too far wrong with Thomann. You'll find great bargains on there. An external soundcard is probably your best bet. As was mentioned above, the ones that come with laptops are generally rubbish. Hope you get back into the mixing.

was.deevey

Get yourself a Native Instruments Audio2, cheap as chips (sub 100 euro), bloody good sound quality and can take a beating if you are out and about.

If you are really on a budget a 25 euro behringer UCA222 will definitely sound better than the crappy internal soundcard of a laptop (anything would), but really a no-go if you are looking to get back into production.

keith_d99

SuprSi wrote: »

Thanks, I wasn't sure it was that simple but found the following;

http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/Gadgets.4/FiiO.406/5510043/Fiio__Andes__E07K_Portable_USB_DAC_Headphone_AMP_Portable_Amplifier.14000.html

Seems like a good device and isn't too bulky either.

Have heard good things about those Fiio amps - Amazon have a good selection:
link

was.deevey

A headphone amp is not designed to improve a signal thats already bad, it will just amplify the bad sound.

was.deevey

keith_d99 wrote: »

Have heard good things about those Fiio amps - Amazon have a good selection:
link

A headphone amp is not designed to improve a signal thats already bad, it will just amplify an already bad sound.

They are designed to be used with high impedance headphones or high quality output sources (e.g. some mixing desks, pre-amps etc).

SuprSi

The Fiio amps accept music from a USB source, which means that rather than hooking my headphones up to the laptop, I connect the Fiio to the laptop with a USB cable and connect the headphones to it, thus bypassing the inbuilt audio. From a purely listening point of view, it sounds like an excellent device and can even be used by some smartphones like the Galaxy S3, again bypassing the built in audio port in favour of USB.

was.deevey

The Fiio amps accept music from a USB source

Careful now .. Most of the Fiio DAC's are usb soundcards, however the regular Fiio headphone amps do not accept USB as a source they are just signal booters.

I'd go with a NI Audio2 Anyday over one TBH, simply as they have been tried and tested in live and production environments.

ironclaw

+1 on the Traktor Audio2. I have one to replace my Maya44. Really good.

keith_d99

OP - did you go with something for a finish?

Have a decent pair of Sennheiser 380s, a Spotify Subscription (set at high quality 320kbps), and a bog standard Dell laptop, so just looking at a reasonable USB Dac to get best out of Sennheisers.

Thinking either Traktor Audio2 (€99 direct) or the Fiio E07K Portable USB DAC Headphone AMP Portable Amplifier (£70) link

Both support lossless 96KHz/24bit

Both get excellent reviews

Oldtree

running the laptop on battery will cut down some noise if anything else is plugged in like a stereo, some sort of elec feedback loop.

SuprSi

keith_d99 wrote: »

OP - did you go with something for a finish?

Have a decent pair of Sennheiser 380s, a Spotify Subscription (set at high quality 320kbps), and a bog standard Dell laptop, so just looking at a reasonable USB Dac to get best out of Sennheisers.

Thinking either Traktor Audio2 (€99 direct) or the Fiio E07K Portable USB DAC Headphone AMP Portable Amplifier (£70) link

Both support lossless 96KHz/24bit

Both get excellent reviews

Haven't decided yet. I'm leaning towards the Fiio due to it being portable and have just confirmed that it works with the HTC One (I'm due a phone upgrade this month) so I'd be able to use it with both the laptop and my phone when travelling.

SuprSi

I bought one of these during the week and having spent a couple of nights using it am very impressed. It's very portable (similar in size to a Galaxy S4/5) so I could use it out and about if I wanted, but when hooked up to the laptop as a primary USB soundcard I get nice a lovely low latency, excellent quality sound output.

TimeToShine

Download FLAC or at the very least 320kbps music. Get a DAC and a good sound card. Buy a good pair of headphones (I recommend HD25/Amperiors for DJ/mixing).