[G2244]

I got my refurb Mini 9 finally. I haven't had a lot of time to mess with it yet, but the sound seemed pretty awful (running counter-strike for a test).

I assume that the Mini 9 has only mono output for the speaker is that correct?

Is there actually 1 or 2 speakers (looks like 2 but sounds like 1 signal)?

Is it feasible to do a mod that would make it output in stereo or at least sound better? I am not familiar with what mini-sized options on sound may exist out there. I am talking within the Mini here not external speakers.

[strider_mt2k]

The speakers are pretty minimal, but there are two of them and they are in stereo!

A mild improvement can be found within the Realtek HD Audio Manager application in the form of the built-in equalizer in the Sound Effect tab.
I've found that the "Powerful" setting in the drop down next to the audio preset buttons gives a nice boost to the lows and highs without incurring any distortion or clipping.

As for modifying the sound system somehow, perhaps with upgraded or even additional speakers?
Well, anything is possible I suppose. We've already seen some cool modifications come out for these little wonders in other areas so ruling anything out would be unwarranted. :mrgreen:

[J.Mancine]

The speaker quality is pretty heinous, but not much worse than my other Inspiron notebooks. I recommend a bluetooth headset (if you have BT)...that makes the experience much more pleasant.

I found the Realtek HD Manager app to be pretty lame, so I disabled it and saved the 30MB of memory and CPU drain that it was using...most of the software I use has equalization functions built in anyhow.

[strider_mt2k]

Originally Posted by J.Mancine

The speaker quality is pretty heinous, but not much worse than my other Inspiron notebooks. I recommend a bluetooth headset (if you have BT)...that makes the experience much more pleasant.

I found the Realtek HD Manager app to be pretty lame, so I disabled it and saved the 30MB of memory and CPU drain that it was using...most of the software I use has equalization functions built in anyhow.

How did you go about disabling it? I thought it was part of the driver package. (noob question of my own here, sorry.)

[J.Mancine]

How did you go about disabling it? I thought it was part of the driver package. (noob question of my own here, sorry.)

It is, indeed, installed as part of the driver package. But you can just use msconfig > Startup to disable the process which is RTHDCPL.EXE. (incidentally, I also have these unecessary programs disabled: Reader_sl, dsca, GoogleUpdate, QTtask, jusched, WLSS).

[strider_mt2k]

Originally Posted by J.Mancine

It is, indeed, installed as part of the driver package. But you can just use msconfig > Startup to disable the process which is RTHDCPL.EXE. (incidentally, I also have these unecessary programs disabled: Reader_sl, dsca, GoogleUpdate, QTtask, jusched, WLSS).

Noted for future reference, thanks!
I think a thread detailing the Windows processes one can safely turn off on a netbook would be quite interesting if you're into it some time.

Sorry to hijack the thread. ops:

[G2244]

Good info, thanks for responding. On one hand I am glad to hear (no pun intended) that the output is at least stereo. On the other hand, sounds like outside of external speakers there may not be many options. I will probably mess around with the equalizer a bit and see if that helps. If not, I may disable it (so the thread wasn't really hijacked after all).

Other than that, I guess I will have to wait for Bose or someone to see a market for making awesome netbook speakers that would slide right into the Mini... :lol:

[Fanfoot]

Oh that's too bad, I was hoping somebody would figure out a better pair of INTERNAL speakers that could be physically installed with a minor bit of soldering and some chewing gum. I too think the sound output level in particular is just inadequate, and would like to see a nice mod here...

[strider_mt2k]

Originally Posted by Fanfoot

Oh that's too bad, I was hoping somebody would figure out a better pair of INTERNAL speakers that could be physically installed with a minor bit of soldering and some chewing gum. I too think the sound output level in particular is just inadequate, and would like to see a nice mod here...

A single subwoofer-esque speaker with dual coils or two smaller ones would be ideal, as in theory it/they could be hidden within the body of the Mini 9 and wired into the existing sound system to work along with the main speakers.

[Fanfoot]

Well, I was thinking of replacing the two original speakers with something more powerful, but from looking at the disassembly pictures cmarcho (red mini) posted it looks like these are pretty damn small (which should have been obvious given they're in the display). Interesting how much smaller they are than the grills. I guess some kind of flat panel speaker might work...