# How to improve the audio quality of dell inspiron 15R ?



## subhendu (Mar 17, 2011)

I tried fl studio & sibelius in dell inspiron 15R ... but the playback was not so smooth ... 
is there any options to improve audio quality by adding any add on cards or any other options through usb ?
specs
i3 370m cpu
320gb HDD
2gb DDR3
ATI 5470 512 mb with dx11
onboard audio


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## MRCL (Mar 17, 2011)

Either
- internal soundcard
- USB soundcard
- you hook a receiver/amp up to the onboard sound like I do.

Also, it depends on your speakers. No soundcard can turn 10$ speakers into high class speakers.


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## entropy13 (Mar 17, 2011)

You're using the laptop's speakers?


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## Mussels (Mar 17, 2011)

if its just music playback, why not use fubar2000 or winamp?


as has been said, best ways to get better sound is to add a better soundcard, and better speakers.


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## subhendu (Mar 17, 2011)

not mp3 playback..when I tried sibelius and fl studio software there was stuttering ....playback was not so smooth


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## BazookaJoe (Mar 17, 2011)

Then your rendering settings are too high.

I forget exactly what they call it in the menus on FLStudio - haven't used it in a while - but you can increase your processing buffers, and decrease your rendering accuracy filters - problem solved.

One has to always remember that laptop components are scaled DOWN significantly from their desktop counterparts to make them smaller, lighter, and less power hungry.

And their performance scales with them.

The i3 drops a pretty good 1M super-pi for a mobile processor - but it is still running much lower cache - much lower power - on a slower & weaker bus- and on far less responsive ram.

Sadly - multichannel accurate filtered audio mixing creates a LOT of load, a lot more than one might think - And unless you are dropping a few thousand on your laptop, its unlikely you will ever have much joy performing rendering or ANY kind on it - even audio rendering.


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## INSTG8R (Mar 17, 2011)

My lappy has an optical out in the headphone out. So I just bought the right optical mini jack adapter and run it out to my home theatre. It runs in Dolby Digital and sounds great and avoids my laptop speakers all together.


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## subhendu (Mar 17, 2011)

BazookaJoe said:


> Then your rendering settings are too high.
> 
> I forget exactly what they call it in the menus on FLStudio - haven't used it in a while - but you can increase your processing buffers, and decrease your rendering accuracy filters - problem solved.
> 
> ...



but i played crysis in medium settings and bfbc2 in low- med settings w/o any issue with that cpu....are you sure that it is not capable for fl studio & sibelius ? audio processing done in my onboard audio chip right? I think that is not capable ..


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## xBruce88x (Mar 17, 2011)

this is probably one of the best your gonna find as far as usb goes... unless you get a headset with built in usb sound.

Creative Go! 70SB129000000 24-bit 44.10 kHz USB In...


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## twicksisted (Mar 17, 2011)

Studio & music production programs work best with an ASIO driver... your onboard audio probably dosent support ASIO so get a soundcard that supports this or you could potentially try ASIO4ALL (google it as this could work for your onboard). 

Make sure you set the latency up correctly... too little latency and youll get stuttering in playback, too much latency and it will have a noticeable lag especially if you are trying to record in midi notes in real time with a keyboard.

Generally speaking if you are not using a MIDI keyboard or recording live audio into the progream in real time, a high latency will not be a problem.


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## Mussels (Mar 17, 2011)

everyones onto the wrong track because of how it was worded.


BazookaJoe has it right - he's running CPU intensive software thinking it runs on the soundcard, and its not working out well.


subhendu: an i3 CPU is low end in todays market. its just a budget dual core - yes, it is very possible the software you're running could max it out, especially since its a laptop version.

And before you start thinking you got ripped off on the laptop, or the softwares bad or anything like that - this kind of thing is just CPU intensive. i'm sure there are settings that would make a high end i7 lag in those programs. scale down what you're doing to suit the fact you have a budget laptop and not a full fledged workstation.


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## entropy13 (Mar 17, 2011)

FL Studio by default have multithreaded generator processing and multithreaded mixer processing enabled, i.e. they benefit from more cores.


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## slyfox2151 (Mar 17, 2011)

entropy13 said:


> FL Studio by default have multithreaded generator processing and multithreaded mixer processing enabled, i.e. they benefit from more cores.



this dosnt mean with his current settings, that his CPU is powerful enough to handle the load its under.


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## entropy13 (Mar 17, 2011)

slyfox2151 said:


> this dosnt mean with his current settings, that his CPU is powerful enough to handle the load its under.



What I'm saying is that by default the program is already too much for his Core i3.


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## Brandenburg (Mar 17, 2011)

I have used FL studio and if you have alot of instruments going at the same time.. IT really eats up the processing power.Most music programs do...Anything past 50 to 60% usage and you will get stuttering..   lol.. Haven't used FL in awhile but I do use Guitar Rig with PC Drummer...  Those 2 programs can be very CPU intensive..

IMO.. Music programs can be much harder on a CPU, than any game..


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## subhendu (Mar 17, 2011)

so laptops are useless for running this type of applications  ? so nothing to do with my laptop right ?



> Minimum System Requirements of FL studio
> 
> 
> 2Ghz AMD or Intel Pentium 3 compatible CPU with full SSE1 support
> ...


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## Mussels (Mar 17, 2011)

its not that you cant run the program, its that whatever settings you're using, is too much. turn stuff off/down. the final sentence of your quote says it all.


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## subhendu (Mar 17, 2011)

^^ thanks mate ...can you suggest specs of the laptop that can run these type of applications ? (one ,which will not break my wallet)


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## Mussels (Mar 17, 2011)

subhendu said:


> ^^ thanks mate ...can you suggest specs of the laptop that can run these type of applications ? (one ,which will not break my wallet)



no... i'd be guessing.

the most powerful laptop processors are still slower than desktop ones, so you're not going to find it cheap. at the very least you'd want/need a quad core, but i cant say how fast of one you're going to need.


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## Jack Doph (Mar 17, 2011)

My son was able to run FL at almost completely full settings on his single-core Pentium.
What held him back the most, was the lack of RAM, which is partially what the issue is here.
If the laptop is running Windows 64-bit, I suggest going to 4GB at least; if you're running 32-bit then 3GB is really the only other option.
Furthermore, running such programs on a laptop is, generalised I must admit, not a good idea.
You're much better off building a desktop PC dedicated to music creation in the fashion you use, than it is to invest money in a laptop that will cost considerably more than an equivalent desktop would..

EDIT: yes, a multi-core processor certainly does help too


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## AsRock (Mar 17, 2011)

Just get some  computer speakers and make sure they have a 3.5mm jack to them.  If there like the Older model the speakers are at the front and kinda under the parm rest which is real crappy.

I hope ya got a good deal with that as i am glad i got my Inspiron 17 before the R version came out as they changed from i5 down to i3 for the same price.


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## subhendu (Mar 17, 2011)

^^^ yea I am using desktop speakers for my laptop..I think Jack Doph is right ...i have seen so many you tube videos..so many guys have uploaded videos of fl studio running in a laptop..I am using 32bit os and memory is only 2gb ...


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## slyfox2151 (Mar 17, 2011)

subhendu said:


> ^^^ yea I am using desktop speakers for my laptop..I think Jack Doph is right ...i have seen so many you tube videos..so many guys have uploaded videos of fl studio running in a laptop..I am using 32bit os and memory is only 2gb ...



why dont you run the program and check your total ram usage.... then you will know if thats the problem.


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## Brandenburg (Mar 17, 2011)

subhendu said:


> ^^^ yea I am using desktop speakers for my laptop..I think Jack Doph is right ...i have seen so many you tube videos..so many guys have uploaded videos of fl studio running in a laptop..I am using 32bit os and memory is only 2gb ...



OUCH.. desktop speakers..  well they are a step up from laptop speakers but thats about it

Its very possible to run FL from a laptop, but the more instruments/tracks you run.. the harder it will be to run things smoothly.. Again.. This depends on the power of the CPU, Ram and soundcard..  Yea.. soundcard.. Music programs tend to run better on add-on soundcards.. just my opinion though

ON those programs it generally takes a bit of tweaking the settings to get the best possible performance..  

I know I had to tweak the latency settings on the ASIO control panel of Guitar Rig 4 a bit..  too little it would stutter/crackle.. too much and there was a noticeable delay... I *settled* for 7ms latency buffer delay.I know your talking FL but Guitar Rig can be very CPU/Ram intensive too.I can tell you.. If your pushing more that 50 to 60% CPU usage on most music programs.. Your approaching the "danger zone".. 

And yea.. I have used FL studio but don't use it much anymore..  Mainly I used it as a drum machine , so I could write riffs on top of it..Not all the time but mostly....  Now I just use PC Drummer which IMO has superior drum sounds..

Check your CPU usage and ram usage..and how many instruments are you running?  Ill have to install FL to be of more help..  Will do it in a few


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## Brandenburg (Mar 17, 2011)

Just installed it and played the demo.. Bitch was cracklin bad until i went to options and used Creative ASIO..  Gotta love the Creative ASIO..  f*kin superb.. Tested the all in one drivers and they worked ok too.. The main difference is I get 4ms less on the creative ASIO.. Probably more but thats what stood out

MY God..  This demo uses up 45% CPU usage and ~450Mb ram...bout what I would expect..

Using FL Studio 9 BTW

When using such a program.. I would not recommend running too many things in the background.. Don't care how much ram you might have.. Never a good idea


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## subhendu (Mar 17, 2011)

yea when I tried running sibelius it is taking 1.25gb of ram ..I don't have creative sound card in my laptop....


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## Brandenburg (Mar 17, 2011)

subhendu said:


> yea when I tried running sibelius it is taking 1.25gb of ram ..I don't have creative sound card in my laptop....



your probably stuck with the all in one ASIO drivers.. Just going to have to tweak with the options I bet..  Since I have a creative card.. im always going to get better performance using there drivers most the time

As I said.. The 1st time I ran FL without tweaking it a tad.. it sounded like utter shit

Think you problem might just be a lack of ram or you just need to mess with the audio settings in the options..

What OS you running.. I went back to look but I dont think you said...if you running vista/7.. you DEFINITELY don't have enough ram.. with XP.. you should but i dont know.. I remember when I had XP.. after bootup I had around 200 of ram usage but my system was running kinda lean.. Add that too the 1.25Gb and your using like 70% of your total Ram.. That's the reason I said.. not to run stuff in the background if you can avoid it... this might help..  These music programs are RAM and CPU hungry...  

Never used sibelius but I know what it is.. That program uses 1.25Gb.. Wow... I picture a pacman just gobbling up 1's and 0's   LOL

Are you running BOTH of these programs simultaneously?


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## twicksisted (Mar 17, 2011)

guys before you get carried away with upgrading his pc...an i3 is more than fine for audio use... he needs to check in the programs audio settings what soundcard driver he is using (WDM, ASIO etc...) and at what latency it is set at... even an overclocked i7 will stutter with a non ASIO driver with the latency set too low...

You can get away with a crappy CPU on FL studio and other audio DAW's if you just set the latency higher so that the processor needs to do less in realtime... or alternatively use an ASIO driver


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## Brandenburg (Mar 17, 2011)

twicksisted said:


> guys before you get carried away with upgrading his pc...an i3 is more than fine for audio use... he needs to check in the programs audio settings what soundcard driver he is using (WDM, ASIO etc...) and at what latency it is set at... even an overclocked i7 will stutter with a non ASIO driver with the latency set too low...
> 
> You can get away with a crappy CPU on FL studio and other audio DAW's if you just set the latency higher so that the processor needs to do less in realtime... or alternatively use an ASIO driver



What i have been saying ALL along


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## subhendu (Mar 18, 2011)

I am using win 7 32bit os ...I have 2gb ddr3 in my laptop..I guess it is the latency problem..I have to check it..
I am using onboard audio of my laptop ..how to check the latency settings ?


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## Brandenburg (Mar 18, 2011)

options>Audio is the screen you will need i think

select ASIO4Allv2

then select show asio panel

I know there is a readme that explains these settings. You might need look at it if you already haven't..  Beyond that.. i dont know


<edit>
... latency is listed on the top of the ASIO property..  Mine says *Buffer length 512 samples (12ms)*..  latency would be the 12ms

You need to adjust the ASIO buffer size.. click on the show asio panel..  after that.. bottom of the screen that button takes you too
slide the slider to the left=lower latency
slider the slider to the right=reduces glitches


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## kcaj_sac (Mar 18, 2011)

Yeah any USB audio device would be good. They are commonly called "DAC"s.By any I mean the ones over $50, the really cheap ones might not be any better then your onboard .


http://www.apex-computer-repair-london.com/


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## twicksisted (Mar 18, 2011)

kcaj_sac said:


> Yeah any USB audio device would be good. They are commonly called "DAC"s.By any I mean the ones over $50, the really cheap ones might not be any better then your onboard .
> 
> 
> http://www.apex-computer-repair-london.com/



as long as it supports ASIO... (theres many of them, mainly audio interfaces for music production starting anywhere from £40 up


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## subhendu (Mar 19, 2011)

wow now I am using fl studio & sibelius w/o any issues ...Thank you very much friends....You guys helped a lot ..


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## Brandenburg (Mar 19, 2011)

subhendu said:


> wow now I am using fl studio & sibelius w/o any issues ...Thank you very much friends....You guys helped a lot ..



what did you do to fix it?


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## Mussels (Mar 19, 2011)

Brandenburg said:


> what did you do to fix it?



my guess is ASIO4all


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## Brandenburg (Mar 19, 2011)

Mussels said:


> my guess is ASIO4all



AHH.. yea..  after i installed FL..  it stuttered alot..  Not sure what the default was.. but it improved greatly after i set it for ASIO..


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## subhendu (Mar 20, 2011)

yea...true  .I just changed it to ASIO4all  ..now everything working fine w/o any problems .


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## de.das.dude (Mar 20, 2011)

Mussels said:


> if its just music playback, why not use fubar2000 or winamp?
> 
> 
> as has been said, best ways to get better sound is to add a better soundcard, and better speakers.


FUBAR?? seriously?? 




MRCL said:


> Either
> - internal soundcard
> - USB soundcard
> - you hook a receiver/amp up to the onboard sound like I do.
> ...



+1.

i thought my onboard VIA was great. Till i jacked it up to my sony MHC G50II with a stereo to dual phono cable i made.

the audio quality has increased 0/0 times!

@subhendu
ps, r u a bangali like me? ur name sounds like it


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## Mussels (Mar 20, 2011)

de.das.dude said:


> FUBAR?? seriously??



i use winamp, but i hear people rant about fubar still.


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## Brandenburg (Mar 20, 2011)

Mussels said:


> i use winamp, but i hear people rant about fubar still.



i use winamp for audio....VLC for video


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## Lazzer408 (Mar 20, 2011)

If your sequencing in FL you can turn up the latency.  Try >50ms.  Although ASIO-for-all offers lower latentcy, it also takes some processing power.  If your CPU is your bottleneck then you need to unload as much as you can, not add more.  Low latency is desired by a musician who is playing along with the music in real time.  Like a keyboardist.  In that case, ASIO-for-all can benefit them.  If your only sequencing then just turn up the latency.

$.02

Ditch FL and get Reason. =)


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## Brandenburg (Mar 20, 2011)

Lazzer408 said:


> If your sequencing in FL you can turn up the latency.  Try >50ms.  Although ASIO-for-all offers lower latentcy, it also takes some processing power.  If your CPU is your bottleneck then you need to unload as much as you can, not add more.  Low latency is desired by a musician who is playing along with the music in real time.  Like a keyboardist.  In that case, ASIO-for-all can benefit them.  If your only sequencing then just turn up the latency.
> 
> $.02
> 
> Ditch FL and get Reason. =)



Reason I set my latency to the lowest that is possible with out stuttering any.. Believe I set my Creative ASIO control panel to 7ms.. Perfect setting for my PC..  any less and the skipping/stuttering starts


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## twicksisted (Mar 20, 2011)

Lazzer408 said:


> Ditch FL and get Reason. =)



Ditch reason and get Ableton Live


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## Lazzer408 (Mar 20, 2011)

twicksisted said:


> Ditch reason and get Ableton Live



Been there, done that.


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