Paducah Home Theater Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 (edited) I have a nice AlienWare laptop with some kind of "powered by Klipsch" system but it keeps sounding harsher, basically hi-hats, "S" sounds from the singer, etc. are just real aggressive and harsh. Seems to be getting worse. Did I blow a sound card? Is that even possible? Is there any fixing it? Usually I use Spotify and feet it into my stereo which goes into RP-160M's or Heresy's depending on my mood, but they're not sounding right, just excessively bright on everything. It does not do this with vinyl so I don't think it's the amp and it is real bad on some non-Klipsch outdoor speakers so it's not the speakers. Not sure if there is anything I can do or what to look at. Guess I need to further isolate it and try the laptop in my theater room first. Edited July 13, 2016 by MetropolisLakeOutfitters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 Isolate the problem as you say. What do headphones sound like? WMcD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max2 Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 Maybe an EQ setting in the onboard audio? You are probably passing that music through three programs, but maybe one or more got boosted. I would go through them all and make sure they are all flat and go from there. iTunes, Jriver and the rest all have EQ's or some sort of "optimizer," not sure about spotify. Make sure you check the sound card setting first in your hardware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twk123 Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 For me digital sounded like garbage until I got a decent standalone DAC but it sounds like you are just now having problems. For $100 I got the Schiit Modi 2 and it is a pretty decent DAC. Also, check your Spotify settings. Sometimes they reset when you update to a new version and High Quality Streaming might be off or "Auto Level All Tracks" is on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paducah Home Theater Posted July 13, 2016 Author Share Posted July 13, 2016 (edited) Maybe an EQ setting in the onboard audio? You are probably passing that music through three programs, but maybe one or more got boosted. I would go through them all and make sure they are all flat and go from there. iTunes, Jriver and the rest all have EQ's or some sort of "optimizer," not sure about spotify. Make sure you check the sound card setting first in your hardware. Playing with it just now, the only thing I can find that I can change is turning Dolby Digital Plus off, which sounds insanely different. The high shrilly sounds goes away but so does all the liveliness elsewhere, the mix sounds very dead with it off. But yeah the high end harshness does go away. Of course if I turn it off but then turn the treble and bass up then go back and turn on DD+, it sounds even worse. Maybe I need to play with that a little. Edited July 13, 2016 by MetropolisLakeOutfitters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paducah Home Theater Posted July 13, 2016 Author Share Posted July 13, 2016 Ah, yeah that's what it probably is. Dolby Digital set itself to the "open" dynamic EQ setting which looks like the curve below, which apparently I don't like at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 (edited) Experiencing simbilance? Fatiguing sound? Edited July 13, 2016 by Schu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paducah Home Theater Posted July 13, 2016 Author Share Posted July 13, 2016 Experiencing semblance? Fatiguing sound? It kinda looks like I was experiencing a 12 db boost in the low treble range, 2-4 khz maybe. Hi-hats are as annoying as can be imagined with Dolby Digital Plus enabled and set to this mode. Trying to play with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max2 Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 If you're running this through a system I would turn all that mess off and go flat or direct if it will let you. If you need all that boost for laptop speakers to produce more sound, I get it. I would also check the basic windows volume/bass/treble settings as they may be boosted or have sound fields activated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimjimbo Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 I have to say, I laughed when I read the title of this thread......maybe for obvious reasons, that's a new one on me.... "Laptop Sounding Harsh" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 Lol... ^ Me to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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