Sound Quality of MacBook

Hi,

I tried to search and get some info on the sound quality of the MacBook... but couldn't really get any info..
Any comments from owners/reviewers of the MacBook as to how is the sound quality of the 13" MacBook??

thanks

 

Well, I guess they are adequate for a notebook, not loud by any means and the bass is horrible - but on pair with most notebook speakers I've seen (not many). Sound on earphone speakers seems pretty decent - but again I am not an audiophile. This is quite subjective, if you are really concerned with sound quality find some friend or go to a store and test them yourself; people have fairly different hearing ranges and expectations towards sound.

 

Well the speakers for it aren't that great, however if you have a good pair of headphones (I have Bose Triports) and plug it in, its awesome quality. I love it. I read somewhere from someone who checked the latency of them and said it was very very low, lower than he had originally expected.

 

coming from a windows xp desktop, I have to admit the macbook's speakers are really weak-I can barely hear anything during DVD playback, even when I turn the volume to the max.

I connected my speakers for my desktop pc to the macbook, and for whatever reason, there was no increase in volume, whatsoever.

 

Do your speakers have their own amplication source? Mine does and when I plug mine in, it gets REALLY loud.

 

This is kinda ticking me off now....
So if I wanna watch a movie on the MacBook.. I need to buy a seperate set of headphones or a new set of speakers???
I am not an audiophile meself... but I have been looking for a notebook for a long long time.. and some questions just keep coming to mind...
if by chance any of you have had the experience to compare the sound quality of the MacBook with some of the HP notebooks (with altec lansing speakers) would you be able to tell which is better???

 

I did see some HP notebooks on display, and to be honest they didn't sound any better. But it was a noisy ambient and I am not sure how they were set up, so who knows. As I said before, if it is so important to you your best bet is to give it a test-drive, either with Apple, HP or other manufacturer.

 

You're not gonna find many others to have that much better unless you specifically find a bulky media center laptop.

 

For a notebok it is very good

 

Yeah, really, at that size you're not going to be able to get much no matter what. A good pair of headphones will give you a much better listening experience.

I think only some of the 17" entertainment monster notebooks have anything close to approaching decent speakers (I've heard Toshiba's 17" notebooks are notable for pretty good harmon/kardon speakers).

 

I've been hearing Toshiba is 'must-avoid' right now.

With every type of notebook be it Ultra portable, Thin and Portable or Mainstream, they all have their advantages and disadvantages.

Mainstream (15") - Most media center oriented. these are the ones that are the thickest, and heaviest. Generally loaded with stuff you'd expect from a multimedia computer like gaming, music etc.

Thin and Portable (13"-14") - This is where the Macbook falls, this is thinner and lighter than mainstream and is designed for on-the-go. it cuts back on some of the unneeded features of the mainstream such as huge unsightly speakers and a bunch of unwanted bezel crap all over.

Ultra Portable (12" & under) - Same as above but takes it a step further and removes more stuff.

The middle ground in this case (thin and portable) is what the majority of the people prefer, because its easier to travel with and such.

Most notebook users have headphones anyways, even media center users. I mean you can't play your speakers out loud in an airplane or library or you'll tick off a lot of people.

I use the Bose Triport for my Macbook, and yes it's high end it's something that no notebook speaker can compare to anyways.

 

No I am not planning to get a 17" media center notebook...
I am trying to make up my mind between the MacBook and the HP DV 2000... trying to stick to the 13-14"... if I really find it worth it may at the max go for a 15" HP (no it will definitely not be the macbook pro)....
HP and apple are the 2 brands i trust right now...
So I am kinda comparing one with the other...

 

I have no idea.

it does have its own power supply, however.

 

Well, I came to my MacBook Pro from an eMachines laptop. I think that the MBP sounds AWESOME compared to my eMachines. Bass is a challenge for a laptop and you can't run on full volume for bass or it just overdrives the speakers, but compared to my eMachines, I actually enjoy listening to music on my MBP speakers. I would be fine with watching a DVD as well.

I would say the quality of sound on my MBP compared to the eMachines would compare to my stereo TV compared to a low wattage home theater system. The full range of sound is there, the tweets are VERY clear and the quality is great. You need external speakers or a sub to get great bass though.

I still can't get over the clarity of the sound on the MBP. My parents were over last night and I was playing some music in iTunes for them and they thought the machine did an amazing job with acoustic guitar stuff (think Eagles, Bellamy Bros., country ballads, etc.).

And I'm a bit of an audiophile. I play bass guitar and I have an 800 W home theater system. I typically listen to all my stuff with high bass and treble and medium mid. I *love* bass but I also like excellent clarity and fullness over screaming mids and tweets.

I don't know whether the MB has the same speakers as the MBP but I believe you'll find Apple has good quality across their product lines.

 

The MBP has a different sound set than the MB. The MacBook sounds much weaker than the Pro.

While the sound itself is good from the MacBook, the volume doesn't get loud enough to overcome background noise. In a very quiet room it's fine.

The sound (not the volume) is much better than my current Gateway 15.4" Windows machine. It does not sound as good as my previous Compaq Presario w/JBL sound.

IMO you need headphones (or earphones) or a decent set of powered speakers with a laptop anyway.