forum members experiences with thinkpad sound cards?

[TheRedFox]

I was greatly hoping that this laptop would have a decent (as in less noise than music) sound card when I bought it, on account of my last laptop having the single most crappy sound card I had ever experienced in my life with the most maddening amount of noise in the background (as in the sort of buzzy, static-sounding stuff you get with crappy sound cards). I was actually very pleasantly surprised. of course, the onboard speaker is awful, but I never use that, anyway. The soundcard (with headphones plugged in) is wonderful though. I believe it's sound max. no discernible buzzy background static noise at all!

Sort of on impulse, I decided to make this thread, to see if other thinkpad users have had good or bad experiences with the sound cards attached to their thinkpads.

[Thinkpaddict]

I'm glad you started this thread. Yes, Thinkpads have good soundcards. I haven't experienced bad sound on any Thinkpad yet (X21, X24, T23, X31, T41p, and T42.) I seem to remember a Toshiba Tecra 8100 (my first laptop) had much worse headphone-out quality.

However, you need to use appropriate headphones. Don't try to use anything with too much impedance because the output will be very weak. I like to use Sony MDR-7506 headphones in my Thinkpads. Easy to drive and great sound.

You can get better sound with additional equipment (for example, a Digigram VXPocket 440, which is a PCMCIA sound card, connected to Sennheiser HD-580 headphones.) The difference is very perceptible, mainly because of the headphones (and to drive those headphones you need the extra juice from the Digigram card.) But the Thinkpad phone-out quality is excellent regardless.

I don't claim to have performed any scientific measurement regarding Signal/Noise ratio, distortion, or any other indicator. It just sounds clean and well. Just one more reason why I love Thinkpads.

[TheRedFox]

I'm using Sony MDR-V150 headphones (excellent sound for $20 headphones, and I got mine for $16 new on Amazon. Unfortunately, they are slightly shoddy (infact, some of the plastic broke just yesterday. it's quite sad. my usual tactic of duct tape is working, but just barely. might try hot glue.

thank you for the recommendation of a PCMCIA sound card. I have been looking at several (mostly older), and now I have another to check out, but then again, I might not, just because My current sound is quite acceptable.

[Thinkpaddict]

Some very cheap headphones are not that bad, so I'm not surprised about your experience. Good luck with the fixing up!

The reason I got the VXPocket card is because you get XLR inputs/outputs, and digital in/out as well. It might be a little overkill to just listen to music, but in order to use the HDR-580 headphones, because of their high impedance, you need something with a strong output, which this card provides. The sound is incredibly good though...

What other cards have you been researching? I got my VXPocket in eBay a few years back. You could watch eBay for VXPocket/VXPocket 2/VXPocket 440 cards. They turn up often for a good price. My card still retails for about $500, but I got it a few years back new for less than $200 from someone that was selling them in bulk.

One thing to consider is that the breakout cable for this card is quite hefty, so if you plan to use it portably you might consider something different like an Echo Indigo for example.

[Radioguy]

I'm using Sony MDR-V150 headphones (excellent sound for $20 headphones, and I got mine for $16 new on Amazon. Unfortunately, they are slightly shoddy (infact, some of the plastic broke just yesterday. it's quite sad. my usual tactic of duct tape is working, but just barely. might try hot glue.

I think the MDR-V250's are a bit more sturdy, and have a better frequency response. That said, I eventually had to repair them too.

[TheRedFox]

I was looking at an older Creative Audigy PCMCIA hi-def sound card. I think I also looked at echo brand
this is the creative one: http://www.amazon.com/Creative-PCMCIA-B ... B00067KZJI
I found one used for like somewhere between 60 and 90 bucks. But again, since I've been fairly impressed by the on-board sound-max, I might get a usb card as a space-filler instead (the door to my pc slot fell off, and the placeholder i'm using is annoying, so I want to expand the usefulness of my computer with a pc card instead).

[felixgogo]

I use my two X60 machines as theatre sound effects and music machines. I use Sound Cue System software to play these effects and music. Many people use PCs to drive external USB sound cards in this environment, but I have found the analogue output on these machines to be excellent. As in Hong Kong one tends to walk and use public transport - having a main machine and backup that can fit into a single laptop bag is most useful. Playing back tracks and spot effects at theatre volumes would expose any poor audio quality, and so far I have had nothing but excellent results.

I did worry when I got these PCs that their 'business' focus would mean they would have lesser quality audio, but this has not been the case.

In fact I got a second hand T60 to lend to other stage managers when I can't make a rehearsal or performance, and again, this has been superb.

Thinkpad audio rocks!

[TheRedFox]

I guess that's something that's nice about a high-end notebook. they don't skimp on components. everything's pretty high quality.
like for example if you were buying a budget notebook with high specs, there's probably somewhere where they had to cut costs. i. e. a buzzy soundcard, or insufficient cooling for a processor, or low battery life. just a thought.

[Thinkpaddict]

I was looking at an older Creative Audigy PCMCIA hi-def sound card. I think I also looked at echo brand
this is the creative one: http://www.amazon.com/Creative-PCMCIA-B ... B00067KZJI
I found one used for like somewhere between 60 and 90 bucks. But again, since I've been fairly impressed by the on-board sound-max, I might get a usb card as a space-filler instead (the door to my pc slot fell off, and the placeholder i'm using is annoying, so I want to expand the usefulness of my computer with a pc card instead).

If you don't mind me asking, why do you want to get an additional soundcard? Unless you need to use high impedance headphones, or record high quality audio into your Thinkpad, I think you should be fine. The only reason I got mine was to record through XLR inputs.

I don't want to discourage you, but I doubt you would see any benefit if you retain your current headphones, since they are probably the bottleneck of audio quality in your current setup. If you need to drive high impedance headphones, then by all means get a card that can drive them. But otherwise you seem to be happy about the sound quality that you are getting now, so my advice is not to change anything.

[Thinkpaddict]

I use my two X60 machines as theatre sound effects and music machines. I use Sound Cue System software to play these effects and music. Many people use PCs to drive external USB sound cards in this environment, but I have found the analogue output on these machines to be excellent. As in Hong Kong one tends to walk and use public transport - having a main machine and backup that can fit into a single laptop bag is most useful. Playing back tracks and spot effects at theatre volumes would expose any poor audio quality, and so far I have had nothing but excellent results.

I did worry when I got these PCs that their 'business' focus would mean they would have lesser quality audio, but this has not been the case.

In fact I got a second hand T60 to lend to other stage managers when I can't make a rehearsal or performance, and again, this has been superb.

Thinkpad audio rocks!

That is very impressive. Are you using the headphone out, or the line out? I knew that the analog output (at least through headphones) was very good, but I didn't know that you could run the signal through heavy amplifiers without exposing some quality issues.

[felixgogo]

I use the headphone out, not sure I have a line out!

I make sure the audio cable is a high quality one, and ensure it is not moved during the performance.

It works really well.

[TheRedFox]

If you don't mind me asking, why do you want to get an additional soundcard? Unless you need to use high impedance headphones, or record high quality audio into your Thinkpad, I think you should be fine. The only reason I got mine was to record through XLR inputs.

I don't want to discourage you, but I doubt you would see any benefit if you retain your current headphones, since they are probably the bottleneck of audio quality in your current setup. If you need to drive high impedance headphones, then by all means get a card that can drive them. But otherwise you seem to be happy about the sound quality that you are getting now, so my advice is not to change anything.

my plans for getting an external sound card were mainly because the soundcard of my older laptop was just awful. I don't think I will now. I don't think I really have a mic that's capable of high quality recording, anyhow.