subject: New ASUS notebooks have amazing audio [print this page] New ASUS notebooks have amazing audio New ASUS notebooks have amazing audio
While today's high-end laptops have the processing prowess and graphical grunt to shame most desktop PCs, even the best road warriors can't compete when it comes to audio fidelity. It's the nature of the slim-lined beast, with most manufacturers unwilling to integrate the larger sized speakers necessary for Hi-Fi sound, instead using tiny two-dollar speakers. ASUS looks set to buck this trend, with the launch of its SonicMaster brand.
Derek Chang, of ASUS's Taiwanese Technical Marketing department, visited Sydney's Trackdown Scoring Stage, a professional sound recording facility, for the Australian (australia asus laptop battery)unveiling of SonicMaster-equipped laptops. According to Mr Chang, ASUS research found that the average computer user spends over nine hours each day doing activities that involved audio in some way. Given we spend so much time using our ears, it was only natural that the company would eventually focus on fixing the sub-standard audio quality of today's laptops.
ASUS created its own internal working group to solve the issue, with the ASUS Golden Ear Team including many members with over twenty years of audio experience. This team partnered with ICEPower, an R&D branch of the premium audio supplier Bang & Olufsen, which specialises in external consultation to deliver high quality audio products (past clients include Audi and Samsung). This team identified three major areas where notebook audio suffered, the first being the static noise many laptop sound solutions are plagued by. To remove this hissing sound, ICEPower created a new high fidelity codec to lower signal noise, using a technique known as balance signal analysis. It seems to have worked, with the demonstration units at the event delivering crystal clear playback with absolutely no white noise.
The second area of improvement is low volume, which has been rectified with the use of stronger integrated amplifiers, running at 3W, combined with 25mm transducers. Listening to the high end NX90JQ notebook at the event, the volume was at least double that of most notebooks; not enough to have the neighbours complaining but more than adequate for watching a movie from a few metres away.
The ASUS NX90JQ, with 80cc speaker chambers
The third and final issue targeted by SonicMaster is the lacklustre bass found on today's laptops. The solution is to include 80cc speaker chambers, four times the size of standard laptop speakers. Not only does this assist with better bass, it provides a wider frequency range across the entire audio spectrum. Don't expect the foundations of your home to be challenged but the bass displayed on the demonstration unit was far superior to anything we've heard before on a laptop.
We should point out that all of our listening tests at the event were conducted with the high-end NX90JQ laptop, which has the new 80cc speaker chamber strapped to either side of the large display. This 18.4" multimedia behemoth has plenty of room for such imposing speakers. However, SonicMaster technology is rolling out across the entire N series of ASUS laptops, which ranges down to a more petite 14" model. Obviously these smaller notebooks don't have room for the 80cc speakers, so it'll be interesting to hear how they sound. They do include the more powerful amplifier and new codec though, so we anticipate a higher audio quality than the scratchy noise that passes for audio on most of today's laptops.
The actual speaker chambers of the NX90JQ either side of one found in a standard notebook
After an hour of listening to theNX90JQ, it's apparent that ASUS has set a new benchmark for integrated laptop audio quality. While SonicMaster doesn't quite match the precision or volume offered by set of dedicated speakers or headphones, it's easily the closest match we've heard. And considering you don't need to worry about packing in another device to make the most of this audio quality, it's definitely the more convenient option. We look forward to testing some of the other SonicMaster sound solutions in the very near future - keep your ears open for our upcoming review.
