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2011 Macbook Air sound recall?

11' with samsung ssd and display 4gb version..no issues here...if anything its louder than my sold mba 11 c2d 2gb ram
 
I have 2010 13" and a 2011 13" and cannot hear any difference at any volume setting
 
Initially i thought my speakers were faulty as i was hearing buzzing noises at 90-100% volume. Then i realised it was the keys on the keyboard vibrating against the metal chassis. If i put my hands over them, the buzzing noise stops :) They sound much better compared to my 13" alum (late 2008).
 
I have a 2011 11" MBA and bought an app on the app store called "Boom" In addition to increasing overall volume, it will convert audio and video files to play "better" and it also gives you an EQ to tweak sound.

I'm not saying you should accept a faulty MBA and then buy a tweak in the app store to compensate...if you are having problems...return it. I just thought I'd throw out this option in case it's helpful to someone.
 
I bought the 11" Air a couple of days ago and all seems well. I have no qualms about the audio volume, but it definitely lacks any kind of bass. I supposed this could be described as "tinny" - but I don't know if this is the norm for the Air or if mine is faulty? Yes, one could say that as long as I'm happy, then there is no problem. On the other hand, if it's supposed to be better than this, then I'd want to investigate further.

My wife has a 2-year old Macbook Pro and the sound is definitely better on that. On the other hand, I realize the Air is much smaller and thinner, so I wouldn't really expect it to have as good of a speaker.
 
Okay, after a couple of days now with my 11" Air, I'd definitely say the speaker stinks. I can't really say there is something "defective" with it, but it's definitely not very good quality. The overall volume level is sufficient, I guess, but the quality of the sound is very "tinny" as you guys mentioned. There is very little bass response, and the higher frequencies sound too trebly.

In short, the speaker on my Air doesn't sound much better than the speaker on my iPhone. In fact, I'd wager that my iPad's speaker is actually a little better. It's not a deal-breaker for me since I don't actually use the sound too much anyway. But without the ability to Airplay the sound to my home theater speakers (except in iTunes, where I can do that), I'm a little disappointed...
 
RobT said:
I have a 2011 11" MBA and bought an app on the app store called "Boom" In addition to increasing overall volume, it will convert audio and video files to play "better" and it also gives you an EQ to tweak sound.

I'm not saying you should accept a faulty MBA and then buy a tweak in the app store to compensate...if you are having problems...return it. I just thought I'd throw out this option in case it's helpful to someone.
Click to expand...

Thanks RobT, after hearing your comment, I tried the boom in both MBA and MBP and it works. It is an interesting app. I enabled it when needed. But I won't turn it on as sometimes it makes MBP too loud for some audio source.
 
I'm slightly confused at what I should be finding that's wrong on my 11". I turned my favorite rock band's songs up to full volume, and nothing distorted the audio, but I could feel the song through the whole laptop if I put my hands on the MBA. Is this what people are talking about?
 
Speaker issue solidarity

Hi,

Thank you for the thread, I've also found the speaker issue.

For me (with the 2011 13" MBA) the speaker issue is not one of quality but of hissing/static sound. I noticed it a couple of days out of the box and attributed it to a poor audio on the film I was watching. However, in the weeks since I've experienced it on skype calls, multiple shows and music. It doesn't only affect it at the highest levels, either.

Sadly, I'm travelling in the Middle East and can't get back to the UK where I brought my apple for a few months. However, I will phone support tonight and tell them about the issue and let you guys know what they say.
 
Travisimo said:
Okay, after a couple of days now with my 11" Air, I'd definitely say the speaker stinks. I can't really say there is something "defective" with it, but it's definitely not very good quality. The overall volume level is sufficient, I guess, but the quality of the sound is very "tinny" as you guys mentioned. There is very little bass response, and the higher frequencies sound too trebly.

In short, the speaker on my Air doesn't sound much better than the speaker on my iPhone. In fact, I'd wager that my iPad's speaker is actually a little better. It's not a deal-breaker for me since I don't actually use the sound too much anyway. But without the ability to Airplay the sound to my home theater speakers (except in iTunes, where I can do that), I'm a little disappointed...
Click to expand...
What exactly were you expecting from an 11inch notebook?
 
What kind of sound do you guys expect from a laptop that is less than 1" thick? It's sounds better than I would have expected.
 
Mine makes a slight buzzing sound when playing song with big base and volume over 75%. With my Mbp there is no such issue. I just put this down to smaller speakers. Presumably smaller speakers less power etc compared to Mbp / bigger mac means slightly decreased speaker output? The MacBook pro has two speakers on top. Not sure about air I can notice it slightly but I bought this for travel and work not so much playing music. Should I return it? Or would that just be a bit OCD

If it gets worse over time and is within apple care them they will fix it / replace it right?
 
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i don't really use my speakers that much. i know that the speakers aren't good and i'm not considering perfection. :p

They are tiny and hidden behind buttons etc. its very limited how perfect the sound can be. I can just plugin my lovely nice in-ears and ... voila! perfect flawless sound <3 (and then I'm not disturbing anyone in class either!)

at home i have music and video playing on my desktop pc.
 
I'm having this issue with my MBA as well when playing bass-y music and the buzz goes away if i place my palm over the right side of the keyboard.

If my MBA is within its standard 1 year warranty, Apple will either fix it right? Mine is 2011 MBA... Will they replace it with a new 2011 MBA if they don't opt to fix it?

Did they repair it right away at the Genius bar or did it take a few days?
 
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