16" MacBook Pro M2 Max speakers

[instant_happiness]

Hi.
Just owned the machine which is incredible (comparing to my previous Lenovo Legion Y520 and HP ProBook).
However, I have noticed, that on the max volume the sound from the speakers slightly distorted (wheezing appears instead of bass, overall sound becomes flattened). Also, I hear that wheezing during the slack/zoom calls when the speaker has a low voice. So, in such cases I'm forced to decrease the volume around 70%.

Is it normal behavior? People all around talking about the crystal clean and powerful sound full of basses on new Macs.
My previous laptops had quieter speakers, but they didn't wheeze even at the max sound volume.

 

[casperes1996]

If you're still within the return period I would try and get it swapped for another one. I've not noticed anything similar to this on my M1 Max version of the 16". There have also been a small number of people who have had blown out speakers so it's possible you're having issues due to a hardware issue

 

[stanft]

However, I have noticed, that on the max volume the sound from the speakers slightly distorted (wheezing appears instead of bass, overall sound becomes flattened). Also, I hear that wheezing during the slack/zoom calls when the speaker has a low voice. So, in such cases I'm forced to decrease the volume around 70%.

Is it normal behavior? People all around talking about the crystal clean and powerful sound full of basses on new Macs.
My previous laptops had quieter speakers, but they didn't wheeze even at the max sound volume.

I just performed some tests on my 16" MBP 2023 and on my 16" MBP 2019.

What I have noticed: If I crank up the volume on the MBP 2023 the sound moves more towards the mids and highs when the volume is reaching around 75% and above. The bass level get's noticeably thinner. But I don't think that this is a failure but simply a physical limitation of the speaker system. Why? Because the same happens on the MBP 2019.

The sound doesn't get distorted on both machines but more "thin" on high volumes.

Is this the effect you are noticing?

 

[stanft]

By the way: Another thing that I have noticed is that the MBP 2023 speakers have a slightly better low end sound compared to the MBP 2019 - but the MBP 2019 can get much louder.

 

[whitby]

I have the 16" MBP M1 Max and have noticed that the maximum volume is pretty low compared to my older Intel based model, albeit with better frequency response. I suspect that better low end response means that the speakers will easily overload if driven too hard and hence they limit the volume. With regards to distortion I have not noticed any problems. On Zoom and FaceTime calls I often have the volume at maximum due to the aforementioned low volume issue and the sound is clean and undistorted.

 

[instant_happiness]

If you're still within the return period I would try and get it swapped for another one. I've not noticed anything similar to this on my M1 Max version of the 16". There have also been a small number of people who have had blown out speakers so it's possible you're having issues due to a hardware issue

I have bought it from reseller, not directly and that would be problematic to swap it.

The sound doesn't get distorted on both machines but more "thin" on high volumes.

Is this the effect you are noticing?

1. The effect you described.
2. Bass grunting typical for small speakers at high volume in some situations (also feels like the laptop case rattles).

Unfortunately can't compare mine with others, since the test requires very quiet environment conditions and specific music or live speech. Too many factors 😄

 

[instant_happiness]

Also, I have researched the crackling problem of new MacBooks and as I seen from different videos - it's not the same situations as mine.
They have an issue with involuntary noises.
I have the problem which can be related to "lack of power" (the same as when you max out the sound on your phone and it starts to wheeze. However, I can notice that in some cases only.