Oh my goodness. I knew they were supposed to be good but WOW. I am blown away by the speakers.
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Are any other 14" owners blown away by the speakers?
- Thread starter Jacoblee23
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I can second this...you expect to be underwhelmed by the small grill size but when you hear the sound, it really does surprise you how full and rich it is. In my opinion, it lacks some crispness in the highs but really shines in the mid-low range.
The oomph is pretty awesome. It's obvious the small body will limit the broadness of the sound the speaker can do, but the bass of this thing is nothing comparable on a laptop, and it sounds very natural, sometimes I don't even recognise my sound is playing from the internal speaker if the Mac is not switching to my 2.1 speaker system connected. Of course, you might wanna compare to latest iPad Pro, they have similar sound characters.
I moved from the 2019 16" to the 14", expecting to sacrifice a little in sound quality. But nope, I am just as satisfied at the fullness of the sound and especially the low frequency range.
p/s: I'm always a little apprehensive about putting 'blown' and 'speakers' in the same sentence
p/s: I'm always a little apprehensive about putting 'blown' and 'speakers' in the same sentence
Funny, when you hear the speakers for the very first time you're astonished at the depth and clarity of such small speakers. It was probably the biggest surprise next to the 14" screen. The speaker sound alone make the slight chassis thickness at the ends of the MacBook lovable.
Yes I was totally! They are amazing
Especially the spatial sound!
I moved from the 2019 16" to the 14", expecting to sacrifice a little in sound quality. But nope, I am just as satisfied at the fullness of the sound and especially the low frequency range.
p/s: I'm always a little apprehensive about putting 'blown' and 'speakers' in the same sentence
Good to know. The speakers on the 2019 16" are pretty impressive, and I was expecting the same moving to the 14". Will be a week until I can pick it up due to travel.
I actually fine I prefer the 14 to the 16! Yes the 16 is slightly louder but 14 has absolutely the best to my ears sound. It has more highs and crispness in my opinion. The 16 is great of course but I know which one I totally prefer And yes I own both 14 and 16! After weeks of going back and forth I decided to buy both! ? I have the 16 max and the 14 base.14 is SO much more portable even around the house. 16 is my main work computer with the 16 as my only main screen. I put the 14 next to it and watch YouTube or something. Very handy and then I can take that anywhere as well. 16 silver and 14 grey
And yes I own both 14 and 16! After weeks of going back and forth I decided to buy both! ? I have the 16 max and the 14 base.14 is SO much more portable even around the house. 16 is my main work computer with the 16 as my only main screen. I put the 14 next to it and watch YouTube or something. Very handy and then I can take that anywhere as well. 16 silver and 14 greySay that again ? You're talking about 2021 models,and u think the 14 m1pro has better than the 16 m1pro(or max) ??? Mind explaining ?I actually fine I prefer the 14 to the 16! Yes the 16 is slightly louder but 14 has absolutely the best to my ears sound. It has more highs and crispness in my opinion. The 16 is great of course but I know which one I totally prefer
Yes, totally agree with the OP here. I finally went to best buys today to have a look at the new macbook pro 14 and 16 and my they are gorgeous in person. I couldn't decide on what size to get so I had to go experience them in person. I did a sound test on both and I was amazed at how it sounded playing some of my favorite songs on youtube! The bass is really impressive. I couldn't really tell a difference between in sound between the 14 and 16. Although the 16 has more screen real estate, the downside of it for me was it's way too big. The 14 is just perfect. I had a 17" powerbook back in the day and I know how that was carrying that thing around. Looked a bit awkward. A laptop shouldn't be any larger than the 14" MBP imo, or else it defeats the purpose of it being a laptop. If I wanted something that large, I rather go for a desktop. So I decided on the 14" MBP!
I personally found it much easier to carry around my 17" than a desktop. Battery life was also much better.
Been there, done that. Like I mentioned. I had a PB 17" back in the day. It wasn't fun and awkwardly large. I rather get a desktop then if I were to go for the 16" MBP.
Yes, and while I do love the sound, I actually installed eqMac to lower the bass for everyday use. I know, I'm a killjoy, but it just seems a little excessive and I'm paranoid about eventually having the speakers blow which is one of the reasons I replaced my last MBP.
Just installed Boom3D (system-wide EQ) and it's a huge improvement. Audio and music no longer sounds muffled/muddy; mids and highs come through and have much more clarity. There are a few threads on reddit that address the same issue of the MBP speakers being overly bass-heavy and resulting in muffled sounding audio. Seems like Apple went the route of prioritizing loudness and "fullness" of the audio at the expense of clarity.
I used to use Boom on my XPS 15 hackintosh. It's greta app, never thought about giving it a go on my 14". Will see if my license is still active. Do you have a link to the reddit post?
They are so loud that while I was jamming out to Skynyrd the tenants of the apartments above, below, and to the side of us broke our window through the fire escape, grabbed my laptop, threw it to the ground, and all four of them starting stomping on my computer so I could never play music that loud again.
Thank god I got AppleCare+.
Thank god I got AppleCare+.
The 16" has a more extended low end presence than the 14". That might be why you think the mids/highs are more pronounced. Glad you are enjoying both of them.I actually fine I prefer the 14 to the 16! Yes the 16 is slightly louder but 14 has absolutely the best to my ears sound. It has more highs and crispness in my opinion. The 16 is great of course but I know which one I totally prefer
Anyone with headphones can hear the differences between both with the below video. Both are superior to what came before.
Just installed it and so far have only used the default EQ settings recommended by the app. I can tweak it even more, but just the defaults improve the sound substantially in the Music app, Youtube, and Apple TV.
There is a marked difference when toggling the app on and off. For example, hi-hat hits and the higher frequency snare sound on snare drums come through clearly with the app running, whereas they are muddied and lost on the unmodified output.
Sound is a subjective thing, and what sounds fine to one person may sound terrible to another. I think Apple went with a "warmer" sound with these new speakers because that seems to be what a lot of buyers, especially younger ones, look for. It might also have something to do with the fact that I'm in my late 30s, and by this age, many people have lost some degree of high frequency hearing. So perhaps I'm not hearing as much of the highs as I once would have, requiring sounds in that frequency range to be increased for things to sound good to my ear. But as evidenced by the reddit links in my subsequent post, I don't seem the be alone in my opinion of the speakers.
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