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macbook pro 15" 2010 right speaker louder?

Z

zentenk

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 17, 2010
39
1
Hi everyone,

I just received my MBP this morning, really excited as this is my first mac. However I noticed that the sound from the right speaker is significantly louder than the left speaker.

I checked the balance settings at preferences -> sound and also through the Audio MIDI setup under utilities and they are balanced.

is it normal? can anyone help? thanks!
 
same issue

hi

I got mine last friday and I have the same issue.

I was in contact with apple support: checked settings, reinstalled os, etc...

Issue still persists. I get a new machine next week.

From other forums I've read that it is because the mini-subwoofer is located under the right speaker.

It's a pitty having those issues... I have the feeling that it is a design failure and not a problem.
 
just called tech support and they didnt even know the MBP has a subwoofer in it and said there shouldnt be this problem, even on their machines : \
 
well... strange coincidence.

A friend of mine bought a corei5 15" yesterday. I will test the speakers this week-end.
 
cluthz said:
I've noticed it too.
I just turn the left one slightly higher.
Click to expand...

My 2007 MBP did this also. This was one of the first things I did after setting up my 2010 MBP...shoved the balance slider just a tad bit left of center. Problem solved.
 
i also have the same issue, just push the balance a little to the left, and the problem should be solved.:apple:
 
I noticed the same thing straight away. I also speculated that it might be that the subwoofer was located only on that side. Throws you off a bit for sure.
 
i called apple tech support this morning (not actually Apple itself, apple outsourced its tech support from where i live, Hong Kong) and they have no idea about there being a subwoofer in the MBP and that their test machines (2010 models) did not seem to have this problem (though the tech supporter didnt really sound certain and apparently she cannot blast it at full volume in her office) which kinda worried me
 
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Image above is from iFixit's MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Core i5 Teardown, the black L-shaped piece that's sitting between the optical drive and the case is the right speaker and sub-woofer (upper left of picture), the black narrow piece sitting below the logic board and next to the case is the left speaker (bottom right of picture), ergo since the right speaker and the sub-woofer are virtually in the same place the sound on the right will be louder. :)
 
This truly is a disappointment. Mine is definitely quieter than my 08 unibody and that one was quiet as well. They are almost useless to watch something on Hulu unless you lay down and hold the computer up by your face. If there is any background noise, forget about it. I'm thinking it's just an ignored design flaw and there is nothing we can do about it. If anyone does get better results from a new unit let us know!
 
same problem here.

In a Skype Conversation the left speaker doesnt work at all.
 
Same here, definitely a lot quieter on left side and this seems to be because of the subwoofer thing. Apple support seems completely unaware of this and they asked if I wanted a new one but since it's a design problem it won't solve anything.

But actually, I don't really care. I don't use the built in speakers for anything important anyway. To be honest, there are both advantages and disadvantages to this solution. You sacrifice stereo imaging for extended frequency response and to be honest, you're not getting very good stereo imaging anyway.
 
Yes, Apple does aknowledge the problem. But not what the real problem is..

A mono summed and placed to one side SUB-WOOFER is fine because Bass is mostly omni-directional.

The Problem is that the mono "sub-woofer" in the macbook pro is not a subwoofer, it is a mid range speaker with a frequency response of approx. 250-1500Hz. , though it doesn't roll completely off until about 100Hz downwards.

That leave the left speaker only with frequencies from 1500Hz and up.

For those of you that have seen a 2-way speaker:

6210S_SATELLITE_SPEAKER_1_m.jpg



It means that the so-called Sub-woofer actually represents what would come out of the bigger element. While the left side of the computer is left with the high frequencies that comes out on the small top speaker.

A sub-woofer would be something that started where the bigger of the 2 speakers couldn't play any lower. It would in other words be in addition to these two.

Wikipedia:
A subwoofer (or "sub") is a woofer, or a complete loudspeaker typically between 8" and 21" in diameter, which is dedicated to the reproduction of low-pitched audio frequencies (the "bass"). The typical frequency range for a subwoofer is about 20–200 Hz for consumer products,[1] below 100 Hz for professional live sound,[2] and below 80 Hz in THX-approved systems.[3] Because of their limited frequency range, most subwoofers are used to augment the output of loudspeakers covering higher frequency bands.
Click to expand...


The point with all this being that apple with it's sub-woofer talk tries to hide the fact that this computer does not have stereo. It's got a mono mid-range driver with reasonable low-mid response for being a laptop. And they have added another treble driver to give an impression of being more than mono.

It's "better" than the mono of my old macbook, but the cool-aid factor worries me.
 
kinda dissapointed!!

Hey yall..

Just bought the new i5 2.4 - 15" turned on some music and instantly heard something was wrong with the speaker balance. I must say I am really disapointed in this. Its been 3 years 2 of them with overheating and a defect fan in my old 1st gen intel duo core 2.0 Mbp. Today i finally bought this new machine and then it turns out the speakers are muuuch worse than what i am used to. I am a music producer and the speakers to me are very important since i run final tests on the mbp. Not sure what to do, my retailer said once the sealing is broken that I cant return my mbp. Is this really true? Also the whole unibody thing is not better than the old model i have. The comfort when typing on it is not good its actually really bad when lying in bed+the keyboard also feels like cheap plastic. I feel like crying...its gonna be hard to get used to something worse than what i had especially when paying this much. If only I could pump the processor of my old one i would because of the better speakers and the better design....my joints are sore from typing this....**** it...im returning it...this is junk!!

Ps maybe im paranoid since i had my 2 years of noisy fan problem in the old one. But I also hear some noise coming from the right side...not sure if its the fan running very slow or what it is. Im not running anything heavy just 1 browser window and when turning up the fan with smc then i can clearly hear the fan which sounds a bit different. Anyone have any idea what it is, I know its not supposed to run 100 silent, but stil??
 
mom0 said:
same problem here.

In a Skype Conversation the left speaker doesnt work at all.
Click to expand...

That's a different problem, since the microphone is in the left speaker grille, the left speaker turns off when the microphone is in use to prevent feedback. YOu can disable it but then there will be lots of echoing or feedback (the person you are talking to will hear themselves.) the best solution would be to use headphones or an external mic, or both (a headset?) But I can confirm my 2010 i7 MBP is louder on the right, it's just the subwoofer. Play some music loudly and you can actually /feel/ the subwoofer on the right if you hold the laptop in your hands.
 
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