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Do you use any external speakers with your rMBP?

P

PDFierro

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Sep 8, 2009
3,932
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I'm just curious how many of you use desktop/external speakers with your rMBP. I'm not an audiophile by any means, but I can certainly tell the difference between horrible audio and good audio.

The rMBP speakers are amazing. Even the Air ones were good to me, but the ones in the rMBP are more impressive and fuller sounding. I'm sure there are people who still do use desktop speakers, but I think the quality of the built-in ones are starting to make that unnecessary.
 
PDFierro said:
I'm just curious how many of you use desktop/external speakers with your rMBP. I'm not an audiophile by any means, but I can certainly tell the difference between horrible audio and good audio.

The rMBP speakers are amazing. Even the Air ones were good to me, but the ones in the rMBP are more impressive and fuller sounding. I'm sure there are people who still do use desktop speakers, but I think the quality of the built-in ones are starting to make that unnecessary.
Click to expand...

I'm the same, I went from an Air to a Pro and I really noticed the increase in quality. I did use external speakers with my MBA but now with the MBP I don't.
 
I have a rMBP as my only machine right now. When at my desk, my rMBP is on one side as a dual monitor and so using just the rMBP speakers would mean all my sound coming from the right side, where as using external speakers means the sound is more centered in front of me.
 
PDFierro said:
I'm just curious how many of you use desktop/external speakers with your rMBP. I'm not an audiophile by any means, but I can certainly tell the difference between horrible audio and good audio.

The rMBP speakers are amazing. Even the Air ones were good to me, but the ones in the rMBP are more impressive and fuller sounding. I'm sure there are people who still do use desktop speakers, but I think the quality of the built-in ones are starting to make that unnecessary.
Click to expand...

Did you try listening to any type of music that has bass? Also the rMBP speakers are too treble hot.

But I definitely notice an improvement of the speakers when comparing my 2010 15" MBP and the 2013 15" rMBP. But that doesn't mean the speakers are good though.
 
UBS28 said:
Did you try listening to any type of music that has bass? Also the rMBP speakers are too treble hot.

But I definitely notice an improvement of the speakers when comparing my 2010 15" MBP and the 2013 15" rMBP. But that doesn't mean the speakers are good though.
Click to expand...

I noticed the rMBP speakers had a lot more bass. Not saying it's a lot of bass but coming from my MBA it feels almost too bassy when playing (non music) sound that doesn't have bass:p
 
They're adequate for watching YouTube and the like, but to say they're "good" speakers by any stretch is crazy. Probably the best laptop speakers I've ever heard but they're not gonna make good drivers unnecessary.

I keep headphones at all times. I cannot imagine listening to music with the built-in speakers. It'd sound like someone playing it for you over the phone.
 
When I have mine hooked up to my desk monitor, I have the sound go through a cheep pioneer 5.1 sound system. I have a 6' 3.5mm cord that I plug into the headphone plug on the rMBP that goes into the AUX input on the receiver. It is great for listening to music, watching movies or farting around on the intewebs.
 
I have a Bose SoundLink Mini.

bose-soundlink-mini-best-price-review.jpg


Love this speaker! Bluetooth, so works great with all my Apple devices. Very portable, 7 hour battery life, plus matches the aesthetics of the Mac very well. Sound is great for the size of it.

Review here from 9to5mac: http://9to5mac.com/2013/08/17/revie...est-sounding-portable-bluetooth-speaker-ever/
 
SomeGuyDude said:
They're adequate for watching YouTube and the like, but to say they're "good" speakers by any stretch is crazy. Probably the best laptop speakers I've ever heard but they're not gonna make good drivers unnecessary.

I keep headphones at all times. I cannot imagine listening to music with the built-in speakers. It'd sound like someone playing it for you over the phone.
Click to expand...

See, I feel the exact opposite. But that's why I started this thread.
 
PDFierro said:
See, I feel the exact opposite. But that's why I started this thread.
Click to expand...

No offense but these are NOT high quality speakers. They simply are not. They do the job, they do all right for podcasts and YT videos, but pull up ANY music and compare the sound out of them to a good set of headphones (not crappy iPhone buds) and it's night and day.

They have very little low end, as in they cut off at around 120Hz. Meaning that any tones lower than 120Hz are not reproduced whatsoever. That's at full volume. If you're watching a movie or listening to music with any appreciable bass to it (it doesn't have to be rap/techno, either), then it's going to be flat and hollow sounding. 120Hz is a WAY high cutoff point for even ENJOYABLE listening.

They're pretty clear, highs have some sparkle, but under no circumstances are these going to replace external speakers of some kind.
 
SomeGuyDude said:
No offense but these are NOT high quality speakers. They simply are not. They do the job, they do all right for podcasts and YT videos, but pull up ANY music and compare the sound out of them to a good set of headphones (not crappy iPhone buds) and it's night and day.

They have very little low end, as in they cut off at around 120Hz. Meaning that any tones lower than 120Hz are not reproduced whatsoever. That's at full volume. If you're watching a movie or listening to music with any appreciable bass to it (it doesn't have to be rap/techno, either), then it's going to be flat and hollow sounding. 120Hz is a WAY high cutoff point for even ENJOYABLE listening.

They're pretty clear, highs have some sparkle, but under no circumstances are these going to replace external speakers of some kind.
Click to expand...

I wasn't exactly implying that they are replacing external speakers, but rather being damn good laptop speakers and perhaps swaying some people away from using external speakers.

Of course you are always going to get better sound from external speakers.
 
I find the speakers in my rMBP to be more than adequate for most of my needs.

However, I do have a BlackBerry Music Gateway hooked up to my receiver, and I have all my devices (HTC One, iPad, rMBP) hooked up to it via bluetooth for those times when I'm doing some extended music listening and want to use my full sound system.
 
PDFierro said:
I wasn't exactly implying that they are replacing external speakers, but rather being damn good laptop speakers and perhaps swaying some people away from using external speakers.

Of course you are always going to get better sound from external speakers.
Click to expand...

That was my point. They're good laptop speakers, but that's all. If I had to use them as my only audio output I'd lose my mind.
 
PDFierro said:
I'm just curious how many of you use desktop/external speakers with your rMBP. I'm not an audiophile by any means, but I can certainly tell the difference between horrible audio and good audio.

The rMBP speakers are amazing. Even the Air ones were good to me, but the ones in the rMBP are more impressive and fuller sounding. I'm sure there are people who still do use desktop speakers, but I think the quality of the built-in ones are starting to make that unnecessary.
Click to expand...

the rmbp's internal speakers are better than some of the thin and lights out there, but i wouldn't call them "amazing". they're pretty tinny and not full at all.

anyway, i use these Creative bluetooth ones:

http://us.creative.com/p/speakers/creative-t30-wireless

http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Wireless-Bluetooth-Computer-Communication/dp/B00EVWX8R0

creative-t30-wireless-8.jpg


great sound for the price, and once you hear these in comparison to the internals, you'd probably change your opinion on that last sentence.

----------
Craigy Boy said:
I have a Bose SoundLink Mini.

Image

Love this speaker! Bluetooth, so works great with all my Apple devices. Very portable, 7 hour battery life, plus matches the aesthetics of the Mac very well. Sound is great for the size of it.

Review here from 9to5mac: http://9to5mac.com/2013/08/17/revie...est-sounding-portable-bluetooth-speaker-ever/
Click to expand...

i had that for a few days.. returned it after i heard the TDK A33, which had a fuller sound, a bit more stereo separation (which is not much with these small portable bluetooths), and better low end handling. not only is it better sounding than the Bose, but it was also $80 less.

http://www.tdkperformance.com/en-us/Home-Audio/Boomboxes/Wireless-Weatherproof-Speaker/

http://www.amazon.com/TDK-Life-Record-Wireless-Weatherproof/dp/B008VMT2HQ

i did end up returning the TDK also, since i needed true stereo separation. went with that Creative T30 above, and i'm real happy with it. but if i ever needed a real portable bluetooth for on the go.. i wouldn't hesitate on getting that TDK again.
 
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