Is This Intel/Realtek Combo Audio Interface Better than a Standard Realtek Interface?

[Chris Kelly]

This is the audio interface found in the late 2018 - mid 2019 HP SPECTRE 15.6" HP SPECTRE x360 premium laptops. I accidentally posted about it in the headphone amp section and didn't know this would be a better place to discuss it. Below is some info which might help someone identify it. Is this the superior audio interface used in the Macbook Pros? If not, is it superior compared to standard Realtek interfaces?

Name Intel® Smart Sound Technology (Intel® SST)
Manufacturer Intel(R) Corporation
Status OK
PNP Device ID INTELAUDIO\CTLR_DEV_9DC8&LINKTYPE_02&DEVTYPE_01&VEN_8086&DEV_AE20&SUBSYS_8518103C&REV_0001\5&2E2007FD&0&0100
Driver C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\INTCDMIC.SYS (10.23.0.3672, 639.30 KB (654,640 bytes), 9/29/2022 6:48 AM)

Name Intel(R) Display Audio
Manufacturer Intel(R) Corporation
Status OK
PNP Device ID INTELAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_8086&DEV_280B&SUBSYS_80860101&REV_1000\4&399645E9&0&0201
Driver C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERSTORE\FILEREPOSITORY\INTCDAUD.INF_AMD64_D148A0EF920E06C0\INTCDAUD.SYS (10.27.0.8, 343.06 KB (351,296 bytes), 9/29/2022 6:40 AM)

Name Realtek High Definition Audio
Manufacturer Realtek
Status OK
PNP Device ID INTELAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0285&SUBSYS_103C8518&REV_1000\4&399645E9&0&0001
Driver C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\RTKVHD64.SYS (6.0.1.8668, 6.48 MB (6,794,528 bytes), 9/29/2022 6:47 AM)

 

[twsecrest]

Not sure what your goal is?
Not sure what an "Intel" Realtek is?
Are you thinking of replacing your HP Spectre with a MacBook Pro?

 

[Chris Kelly]

Not sure what your goal is?
Not sure what an "Intel" Realtek is?
Are you thinking of replacing your HP Spectre with a MacBook Pro?

Not at all. I think this is one of the best headphone outputs I've heard on a Windows laptop since after HP stopped using Beats. I just got the 300-Ohm Sennheiser HD 600 headphones, am waiting for them to arrive, and am wondering what will happen when connecting them to the headphone output. Will the volume be weak even at maximum levels? If so, I have a Yamaha AG-03 audio interface.

 

[twsecrest]

How well the HP Spectre's headphone jack drives the 300-Ohm Sennheiser HD600 is not something easily answered.
Unless someone else has already tried that combo and is currently using Audio Science review (which I doubt?).
You will have to try the HD600 plugged into the laptop and then the AG-03, see which sounds better to your ears.
Me, I think I would have invested into a tube headphone amplifier, for driving 300-Ohm headphones.

 

[Chris Kelly]

How well the HP Spectre's headphone jack drives the 300-Ohm Sennheiser HD600 is not something easily answered.
Unless someone else has already tried that combo and is currently using Audio Science review (which I doubt?).
You will have to try the HD600 plugged into the laptop and then the AG-03, see which sounds better to your ears.
Me, I think I would have invested into a tube headphone amplifier, for driving 300-Ohm headphones.

Tube amps aren't portable unfortunately. Even though my AG-03 can get louder, I know when using low-impedance headphones, my laptop does better 10Hz and below than my AG-03. In fact, when using low-impedance headphones, I usually keep my laptop's volume at only 25%. Even at 25%, things can get a little louder than comfortable once in a while.

 

[twsecrest]

Tube amps aren't portable unfortunately. Even though my AG-03 can get louder, I know when using low-impedance headphones, my laptop does better 10Hz and below than my AG-03. In fact, when using low-impedance headphones, I usually keep my laptop's volume at only 25%. Even at 25%, things can get a little louder than comfortable once in a while.

So you travel (get around town) with the HP Spectre and AG-03?
So if you had to get an add-on headphone amplifier, could it be powered by A/C and not battery?

With the laptop and 300-Ohm headphone liking lots of voltage, so the HD600 plugged directly into the laptop, will drain the battery, a little faster than lower impedance headphones.

 

[Chris Kelly]

So you travel (get around town) with the HP Spectre and AG-03?
So if you had to get an add-on headphone amplifier, could it be powered by A/C and not battery?

With the laptop and 300-Ohm headphone liking lots of voltage, so the HD600 plugged directly into the laptop, will drain the battery, a little faster than lower impedance headphones.

My 300-Ohm HD 600 arrived yesterday. When connected to my laptop, I only had to raise my volume from 25% to 37.5% to achieve the listening level I'm accustomed to. So either my laptop has a good headphone output, my hearing is very sensitive, or many audiophiles turn up their volume so high that they experience ringing in their ears every time they finish listening.

 

[Oso Polar]

Well, it depends on the definition of good. I've never yet encountered a laptop with a headphone output that was not able to get HD600 to play loud. However, some of the same laptops had HUGE problems with sensitive IEMs - noise floor was very high. And in general many sounded dirtier, less detailed, less punchy compared to headphone amps, I don''t know, may be because of elevated noise and/or distortion? BTW, I'll not be so sure about "superior audio interface used in the Macbook Pros" - headphone output in my old MacBook Pro 2015 was not so great IMHO, sounded worse and had less volume than my smartphone... I didn't try it on the new ARM ones.

 

[phofman]

Realtek is an Intel HDA codec, i.e. a DAC + ADC + analog switching, communicating over Intel HDA bus. That bus is similar to I2S but carries commands alongside the data. The Intel part is the HDA controller, almost always embedded in the motherboard chipset, communicating on one side with RAM and CPU over some internal data bus, on the other side with the codec over the dedicated HDA bus.

 

[Chris Kelly]

Well, it depends on the definition of good. I've never yet encountered a laptop with a headphone output that was not able to get HD600 to play loud. However, some of the same laptops had HUGE problems with sensitive IEMs - noise floor was very high. And in general many sounded dirtier, less detailed, less punchy compared to headphone amps, I don''t know, may be because of elevated noise and/or distortion? BTW, I'll not be so sure about "superior audio interface used in the Macbook Pros" - headphone output in my old MacBook Pro 2015 was not so great IMHO, sounded worse and had less volume than my smartphone... I didn't try it on the new ARM ones.

I don't know if it's because of how much things have evolved between 2015 and 2018, but my 2018-model laptop's headphone output has better frequency response and less noise at higher volumes than my 2015-model Yamaha AG-03 audio interface, which according to what's in writing is supposed to be one of the best.