ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
Personally I got fed up with Windows a couple of years ago - and changed to a MacMini for my desktop.
I have no laptop, but 2 iPads - which is what suits me.
For those of my friends still prefering Windows, HP, however will be my recommendation.......if they care for sound quality.
It is about time, that the sound circuits become isolated from other components on the motherboard, so I salute this initiative/cooperation.
MM
There is a tv - and there is a BV
"You think we can slap some oak on this thing?"
leosgonewild:I have never heard the ICEpower in the Asus(?). Are they any good compared to other built-in laptop speakers?
Certainly not worse, but the limiting factor is always going to be the size of the drivers. Simply replacing a generic dirt cheap S class amplifier chip with an ICEpower amp and slapping a B&O logo on top isn't going to guarantee a great end result. Fortunately according to the HP press release, this collaboration seems to involve a bit more.
Asus makes some desktop displays with ICEpower as well, for example MX239H and MX279H.
--mika
Any company can make a pc with ICEpower amps - if they buy these and simply use them as amps.
The cooperation HP/B&O is more than that.
Will be interesting to see (means: hear) if the difference in SQ is really noticeable.
I bought a HP with Beats audio back when they just started their partnership. The sound from the speakers is fine, not great not bad. But I was extremely disappointed with the noise isolation of the mini jack-output. There is a constant hiss which is really annoying, specialliy at night when playing at lower volumes.
I don't not if this has been addressed in newer laptops with Beats (mine is from 2011). But I surely hope that B&O (or Beoplay) branded laptops wont suffer from the same issue. This would do much damage to the brand!
Beovision Eclipse gen2 (GX) w/ floorstand, Beolab 14.2, 4 speaker Shape and ATV4/Chromecast.
Beoplay A9mk4 GVA, Beosound 1 GVA, H2, H3, H8, E6, Beoplay EQ
Beosound Stage, Beovision 8-40, Beolit 20, Beosound Explore.
leosgonewild: I have never heard the ICEpower in the Asus(?). Are they any good compared to other built-in laptop speakers?
I have never heard the ICEpower in the Asus(?). Are they any good compared to other built-in laptop speakers?
I currently have an Asus Zenbook Ultrabook with Bang & Olufsen Icepower and I can assure you that the sound is only mediocre and ashaming...My wife's Samsung Ultrabook with JBL speakers, sounds much(!) better and I was very surprised about these sound differences!The 15" inch Asus Notebooks with Bang & Olufsen Icepower are much better than my 13"inch Notebook.But please, don't argue with the size as mobile phones like HTC M-series with "Boom Sound" or the absolutely great Blackberry Passport or Z30 clearly show what's possible with small speakers. ;)So, let's hope the marriage between HP and B&O is not another dumb step to damage B&O's reputation again.
In all honesty - for a premium-segment AV vendor like B&O - the journey to laptop audio is just a pursuit to generate some incremental pocket money.
B&O's reputation will be maintained or lost on audio and video products like soundsystems, loudspeakers and TVs. B&O anyway cooperated with ASUS until now, but it's not like that could have changed my opinion on Beolab 18s or Avant.
AnalogPlanet: In all honesty - for a premium-segment AV vendor like B&O - the journey to laptop audio is just a pursuit to generate some incremental pocket money. B&O's reputation will be maintained or lost on audio and video products like soundsystems, loudspeakers and TVs. B&O anyway cooperated with ASUS until now, but it's not like that could have changed my opinion on Beolab 18s or Avant.
I agree that this Asus-B&O-experience might not have changed MY or YOUR opinion about their products as I know them.But from the perspective of a new customer he wouldn't even consider testing B&O equipment after listening to the B&O Sound on the notebook compared to - in this example - the Samsung with JBL speakers.
So I still have the opinion that this lousy audio experience on a Notebook CAN damage reputation and put of potential new customers from the Bang & Olufsen brand.
That's a fair point you've made.
And it touches again the discussion we have in some other threads about who would "modern" B&O target as their main customer group. I am curious to see what happens next during the course of this year in terms of new products and functionalities coming through existing product updates.
Here's the 2015 HP line-up with B&O :
HP with Audio by B&O PLAY delivers the rich, authentic audio experience that immerses you so deeply in your music and entertainment that you can feel it. Don't just listen… let HP with Audio by B&O PLAY move you. "
http://store.hp.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContentView?eSpotName=HP_Pavilion_AiO_Announce&storeId=10151&langId=-1&catalogId=10051
http://mashable.com/2015/05/04/hp-pavilion-pc-bo-play-audio/
How do you like it?
Double Post
My God, that's incredibly risky having the B&O logo splattered all over a cheap Windows computer. Terrible for B&O allowing that. It really looks as though its a B&O computer and B&O is endorsing it. What a damn huge mistake for B&O. Desperate. Just desperate. Definitely won't do the brand any favours when the professionals and kids are all wanting Apple products.
Desperate!
May be it's HP asking for it ?
Look at this one :
There's also a Bang & Olufsen logo ( in place of the Beoplay version) on the HP Envy X360 :
Paul W: My God, that's incredibly risky having the B&O logo splattered all over a cheap Windows computer. Terrible for B&O allowing that. It really looks as though its a B&O computer and B&O is endorsing it. What a damn huge mistake for B&O. Desperate. Just desperate. Definitely won't do the brand any favours when the professionals and kids are all wanting Apple products. Desperate!
Generally, humans are very visual people. They won't grok the distinction between B&O being responsible for the sound/audio, versus all of the other aspects of using those HP / B&O Play devices. Hence, generally, people may start associating B&O with more than just the audio -- the looks, useability, etc. which B&O aren't responsible for. I agree with Paul W in many ways. B&O's brand is taking a huge risk here.
I have to admit that the blue and the grey/silver HP desktop systems are really good looking!