Audio Quality on Framework 13

Own a framework laptop 13, dropped the laptop with my DT 770 Pro in them, I don’t believe my audio was ever the same after that.

Bent Aux cable and quieter port. Not sure how the noise floor was before I dropped my laptop but noise is present. What was sad to me is when I got new IEM’s I wanted to try, the Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite noise floor was so much higher😭.

And after that horrific incident. Today my AUX port finally stopped working for my DT 770 Pro, Kiwi Lite, and Truthear Hexa. The USB C dongle that works with my phone will only work with certain ports.

  1. 165Hz Pixio (HDMI)
  2. Charging port (USB C)
  3. Wooting 60HE (USB A)
  4. Logitech Mouse (USB A)
    ^This what I use for my setup.

As you can see from my IO ports, I don’t have any room to just slot in a new Audio Expansion Card.

If I get a port expander I could have Mouse and Keyboard run from 1 port, while the improved audio expansion card runs on another. The only issue I see with this solution is added delay to my mouse and keyboard, which is non negotiable. Would this work without noticable delay for my Wooting 60HE or Mouse?

So where do I go from here? How do I have an quality audio setup for my Framework 13.

@Fraoch but how does the signal to noise ratio compare to the expansion card? If I’m going go replace my audio board it seems silly to pay for shipping and only the audio board, while a dedicated DAC would provide better clarity then both the expansion card and the audio board.

What I want to know is this>>

Are the gains in audio improvement from frameworks provided audio solutions to a dedicated DAC worth it in your opinion?

Tech / musician here. I have a 990 pro 250 ohm and a FW13. The jack output has a very decent sound, it compares with the output of my pro-level Motu sound interface.
Nowadays it takes very little to make a headphones output that is flat and has a low noise floor, suitable for any headphones of reasonable quality.

1 Like

Yeah, you’re right. The audio change probably wont be massive.

My DT 770 Pro 32 OHM Edition struggled to output loud as I wanted sometimes post drop. I am running out of ports as well, so I was thinking of going with a bluetooth DAC/AMP (Qudelix-5K). Can you recommend a DAC+AMP combo for a good best price to value ratio?

I got my headphones dongle to work on certain ports only tho, kinda janky for this price but its still the best purchase I have ever made, and will still be until I buy a house or something.

I bought a brand new audio board kit for FW13, there is a noticeable noise floor using my Truthear Hexa, just like my old audio board. Plugging these and unplugging them confirms this clear as day.

Honestly was hoping this would be a one stop solution for most audio needs but its not.

I noticed the Truthear Hexa has an impedance of 20 Ohms and a sensibility of 120dB/VRMS. It is quite normal for such a device to exhibit a noticeable noise floor, as it means it needs very little power to move the membranes. Did you try it with other devices ?

Ive tried with other devices yes. Again its not a massive noise floor, you will most likely automatically tune it out.

But for me, i don’t like hearing something when I’m suppose to hear nothing.