4.1 Sound from ThinkPad ?

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arion · #1 Post by **arion** » Sat May 14, 2005 12:03 pm

The T4x ThinkPad has speaker out and mic in and uses the SoundMAX chipset.

Some motherboards like the ASUS A7V880 use the SoundMAX chipset as well but have speaker out front and speaker out front and the MIC in can be used as MIC in and as 6.1 / 7.1 rear speaker out.

Is it possible to make the MIC in on the T4x ThinkPad rear speaker out ? I assume that this can be done with the drivers ?

Does anyone have more info on the ThinkPad SoundMAX ?

Thanks.

chbone · #2 Post by **chbone** » Sat May 14, 2005 12:10 pm

wow, so advanced!

will you lose the warranty if you do that? I think T4xs are business computer. If you want the music, why not use the ASUS Z81 or HP DV1000s.. ? Or just add one creative sound card ( PCMIA).

arion · #3 Post by **arion** » Sat May 14, 2005 12:23 pm

Shound not effect warranty at all. All the SoundMAX chip seems to do for the most part is provide a set of inputs/outputs and the audio part is done by a codec in software.

Also I can't find a store yet that will ship the Creative Audigy 2 ZS Notebook PCMCIA card to Australia as the cost of buying the card in Australia is around AUD$300 but to buy via the web from the US it is around USD$85 which is about AUD$110

arion · #4 Post by **arion** » Sun May 15, 2005 9:20 am

Dam it Dam it Dam it.

It appears that the SoundMAX AD1981 used only has 2 channels. According to the SoundMAX web site. Come on it is not hard just to provide better sound with Laptops.

http://www.soundmax.com/products/inform ... odecs.html

http://www.analog.com/en/prod/0%2C2877% ... %2C00.html

Bluecat · #5 Post by **Bluecat** » Sun May 15, 2005 3:59 pm

Sound and firewire are the two drawbacks in Thinkpads as far as I feel. Both can be added externally though...

emorphien · #6 Post by **emorphien** » Sun May 15, 2005 4:07 pm

Bluecat wrote:Sound and firewire are the two drawbacks in Thinkpads as far as I feel. Both can be added externally though...

Yep, I see two things in the future for my thinkpad when I finally get it: A firewire card and a CF card reader. (More RAM too).

RoadHazard · #7 Post by **RoadHazard** » Mon May 16, 2005 5:15 pm

Bluecat wrote:Sound and firewire are the two drawbacks in Thinkpads as far as I feel. Both can be added externally though...

You forgot to mention serial ports. But again, that also can be added externally.

slagmi · #8 Post by **slagmi** » Mon May 16, 2005 6:40 pm

PCMCIA Audigy is about the only option I know of except some whitebox cards. Indigo even is only making a 2 channel card as far as I know.

6.1 surround may not even be on IBM's roadmap at all. Notebooks, generally, are easily portable. 6.1 speaker setups, generally, are not.

JHaislet · #9 Post by **JHaislet** » Mon May 16, 2005 7:12 pm

Your you could get the external USB Audigy/Audigy 2. I've used one for awhile on a dual MP2400 and it works great b/c I ran outta PCI slots.

arion · #10 Post by **arion** » Fri May 20, 2005 10:39 am

The problem with USB Audio is I am going to use the sound card at the same time as a USB2 HDTV tuner linked below and a USB Mouse.

http://www.digitalnow.com.au/DigitalNow ... tions.html

http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtopic=14878

Anyone know where to get them from US shipped to Australia?

Why do so many stores only ship to the US ?

Also Hopefully the ThinkPad T50 will have High Definition Audio (7.1) and more USB2 ports.

Thanks.

stgreek · #11 Post by **stgreek** » Fri May 20, 2005 10:54 am

emorphien wrote:
Bluecat wrote:Sound and firewire are the two drawbacks in Thinkpads as far as I feel. Both can be added externally though...
Yep, I see two things in the future for my thinkpad when I finally get it: A firewire card and a CF card reader. (More RAM too).

Get an X series, it has both!

JHaislet · #12 Post by **JHaislet** » Fri May 20, 2005 11:06 am

Dumb question here, but it sounds like your putting together an HDTV setup that will probably be stationary. Why not just build an inexpensive computer, which would run circles around the thinkpad in both options, features & performance?

I just put together a MicroATX media center PC & have been really pleased. The ability to use actual PCI cards over USB for anything media related is also a definite plus!

Doltan · #13 Post by **Doltan** » Sat May 21, 2005 8:14 am

How abt the Kensington Docking Station?

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2361

Can also just buy the port expansion as a USB port replicator.

a31pguy · #14 Post by **a31pguy** » Mon May 23, 2005 3:15 pm

Highly recommend the Creative Notebook ZS - if you can get it. Superbit DVDs play exceptionally and MP3 sounds are definitely enhanced. Only problem is finding the optical cable that connects it to SP-DIF connectors. Otherwise - the hardware audio acceleration and EAX effects are defintely worth it.

4.1 Sound from ThinkPad ?

4.1 Sound from ThinkPad ?

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