MacBook Pro 16 M1 Pro Sounds muffled

[chongsen]

Hi everyone

I bought a M1 MacBook Pro 16 base model today. Seems the sound is quite muffled, a little bit too much bass.

Is that normal ? I have high expectation on new Macbook sound. Almost all reviewer said it has the best sound on any mobile device. Do I have a defect device ? Should I replace it ? Or bass represents good sound quality nowadays ?

 

[chongsen]

Sorry one more question

The screen does not look quite like 120HZ. I did UFO test. It was detected as 60HZ. I double check monitor preference and the pro motion is on. Do I miss anything ?

We have a Dell XPS 9510 with 3K Oled in house. In my opinion, XPS looks better... Maybe I should watch less YouTubers, before the purchase, to lower my expectation.

Update Dec 18: I installed Windows 11 in Parallel. it supports 120HZ in Windows fine.

 

[SirKeldon]

Hi everyone

I bought a M1 MacBook Pro 16 base model today. Seems the sound is quite muffled, a little bit too much bass.

Is that normal ? I have high expectation on new Macbook sound. Almost all reviewer said it has the best sound on any mobile device. Do I have a defect device ? Should I replace it ? Or bass represents good sound quality nowadays ?

Can't talk precisely about the 16", but my 14" is a lil bit on the bass side, yes, not as neutral as I'd like but definitely, better sounding than any of the other laptops I've owned (including 13" MBP 2020 M1) and not so far away of decent audio equipment, I've tested 16" on a Store, and yes, it was trendy on the bass side, but way more balanced than 14", the mid/treble were more bright, so a better-round-over-all sound, no crackling, no saturation, and a wide range of low-mid frequencies that I don't tend to listen but on my M-Audio monitors, as an amateur musician and comparing to the other speakers in other electronics I own such as TV, BT speakers, etc ... I think these ones on the 14"/16" are astounding, but of course, this is just my opinion.

Maybe try an equalizer app and see if you can tone those bass a little bit down, it's really hard nowadays to find "neutral" speakers in a mainstream product, even with headphones or earphones tends to happen the same, people love BASSSSS 😅

 

[pshufd]

I have an M1 PRO 16 and there's more bass but I only have a 2015 MacBook Pro to compare it to. There's a lot of volume as well. It's the best sound that I've ever had on a laptop. One other thing is that I can feel the vibrations through my legs when using it as a literal laptop. The vibrations aren't strong but it's an interesting effect when watching movies.

There are lots of reviews comparing the M1 PRO/MAX speakers to other laptops where they play a song from one laptop and then the other so that you can compare. If you know someone else with an M1 PRO 16 or you have a store with them on display, you could try a comparison with your system and another. I read one thread about a customer getting a keyboard with some very small chips and Apple is going to replace the laptop with a new one. So manufacturing defects do happen.

 

[chongsen]

Thanks everyone. You are the best.

To be honest, I rarely use laptop speaker. Just want to avoid a defect device. I checked local Apple stores. None of them have the same model in stock. I think I have to live with it then .

 

[Micka88]

Yes, the sound of MacBooks Pro is quite bad in general. Artificially boosted bass, space etc. makes it sound quite horrible. An elf pretending to be a monster - which sounds very "chemical" and you cannot really enjoy much any natural music (maybe except some techno etc.)

 

[chongsen]

Yes, the sound of MacBooks Pro is quite bad in general. Artificially boosted bass, space etc. makes it sound quite horrible. An elf pretending to be a monster - which sounds very "chemical" and you cannot really enjoy much any natural music (maybe except some techno etc.)

Yes I have similar feeling. Everything is about software nowadays, like the tricks on smart phone camera. I hope Mac has a build-in equalizer to twister around. I guess equalizer will never be an Apple thing. They intend to limit customization.

 

[marinersaptcomplex]

14". I found the speakers sound amazing when listening to music--but not so good when listening to podcasts/interviews/tv. Too much bass for dialogue.

 

[Hawker 800]

My 16 has a lot of bass.

 

[OhMyMy]

Sorry one more question

The screen does not look quite like 120HZ. I did UFO test. It was detected as 60HZ. I double check monitor preference and the pro motion is on. Do I miss anything ?

We have a Dell XPS 9510 with 3K Oled in house. In my opinion, XPS looks better... Maybe I should watch less YouTubers, before the purchase, to lower my expectation.

Update Dec 18: I installed Windows 11 in Parallel. it supports 120HZ in Windows fine.

For the millionth time and more, UFO test doesn’t work in Safari, Mac or iPad or even on the 13 Pro.
If it feels like 120Hz it’s 120Hz. If it’s not smooth enough then it isn’t. Display response times are bad on the new MBPs so you’d still be seeing some smearing at 120Hz.

 

[GoztepeEge]

Hi everyone

I bought a M1 MacBook Pro 16 base model today. Seems the sound is quite muffled, a little bit too much bass.

Is that normal ? I have high expectation on new Macbook sound. Almost all reviewer said it has the best sound on any mobile device. Do I have a defect device ? Should I replace it ? Or bass represents good sound quality nowadays ?

I noticed a similar thing on my 2021 MBP 14".
When I test it on Spotify at around 40% or 50% sound, I hear that the bass is pretty high. I feel it. Actually I liked it, so to say.
But when I increase it to 70% or 80%, the bass stays the same at the lower rate, but the treble increases.
It is interesting actually. So in this case, if you do not like to have bass, increase the sound 😄

 

[Tobarusus]

My 16" M1 Pro is exactly the same. I immediately noticed that there's a lot more bass and sounds like everything is a lower frequency compared to other models and speakers in general. For a lack of a description, more muffled?

Seems like it's the way the new speakers are calibrated.

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

Yep, my 16" is awful too. Artificially deep bass giving a muffled, hollow character, that leaves me feeling tired and stressed. Are all the reviewers tone deaf, or have some of us picked up faulty models? I find myself reaching for my 2015 15" rMBP to watch TV and movies instead of this new one. Will drop into Apple to get it tested, just in case it is faulty. Otherwise I am wondering if I should return it.

 

[pshufd]

Yep, my 16" is awful too. Artificially deep bass giving a muffled, hollow character, that leaves me feeling tired and stressed. Are all the reviewers tone deaf, or have some of us picked up faulty models? I find myself reaching for my 2015 15" rMBP to watch TV and movies instead of this new one. Will drop into Apple to get it tested, just in case it is faulty. Otherwise I am wondering if I should return it.

I have a 2021 16 and a 2015 rMBP 16 and there's no comparison on the speakers. The 2015 sounds rather tinny compared to the 2021.

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

I have a 2021 16 and a 2015 rMBP 16 and there's no comparison on the speakers. The 2015 sounds rather tinny compared to the 2021.

Yes, the 2015 has far less bass, so does sound tinny in comparison. And yes, the flat and wide frequency spectrum of the M1 is spectacular. Maybe mine is faulty? If not, the M1 sound, regardless of the impressive bass, just sounds wrong, especially with spoken voice. Mine has a muffled hollow sound, and it seems others are hearing the same. You can't hear it when playing movies/TV/YT with spoken audio?

 

[pshufd]

Yes, the 2015 has far less bass, so does sound tinny in comparison. And yes, the flat and wide frequency spectrum of the M1 is spectacular. Maybe mine is faulty? If not, the M1 sound, regardless of the impressive bass, just sounds wrong, especially with spoken voice. Mine has a muffled hollow sound, and it seems others are hearing the same. You can't hear it when playing movies/TV/YT with spoken audio?

I sampled 6 interviews with an audience, a couple of studio interviews (mostly male voices with a few female), a couple of TV shows and a few podcasts. The 2015 is slightly brassier. The 2021 feels like it takes out some of the noise at the high end. It's possible that it's an effect of hearing more volume at the low end which makes it seem like there's less at the high-end by comparison.

I listen to a lot of podcasts and audio quality is all over the place as you have people in their dining rooms with airpods to people in studios with good audio production equipment and maybe some post-processing afterwards. I usually don't care much about the quality as I'm more interested in the content. I can tell the difference but I try to ignore it.

I do not get the feeling of hollow unless you're referring to the absence of brassiness. But I associated the brassiness with noise.

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

I sampled 6 interviews with an audience, a couple of studio interviews (mostly male voices with a few female), a couple of TV shows and a few podcasts. The 2015 is slightly brassier. The 2021 feels like it takes out some of the noise at the high end. It's possible that it's an effect of hearing more volume at the low end which makes it seem like there's less at the high-end by comparison.

I listen to a lot of podcasts and audio quality is all over the place as you have people in their dining rooms with airpods to people in studios with good audio production equipment and maybe some post-processing afterwards. I usually don't care much about the quality as I'm more interested in the content. I can tell the difference but I try to ignore it.

I do not get the feeling of hollow unless you're referring to the absence of brassiness. But I associated the brassiness with noise.

Just test it on some movies, ones that have been released recently. Then you eliminate the bad source of audio.

 

[pshufd]

Just test it on some movies, ones that have been released recently. Then you eliminate the bad source of audio.

It sounds fine with movies and television to me - quite a bit better than my 2015. I rarely use the 2015 anymore because the 2021 is just so much better in many different ways.

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

It sounds fine with movies and television to me - quite a bit better than my 2015. I rarely use the 2015 anymore because the 2021 is just so much better in many different ways.

It is possible that mine is faulty, I do plan on going in to Apple and get it tested this week.

I compared a movie on it to my 2015 w my teenage son last night, just in case my ageing ears were the problem. He preferred the new one, saying it was more like the feeling in a cinema. Then when I pointed out how people's voices sounded muffled, hollow, and muddy, he agreed that they did a bit, and agreed that there was too much bass, but still preferred it. Then I turned on Audio Hijack, and turned the bass way way down, incrementally increasing the amplitude as the frequency increased, and he much preferred it that way. He preferred it to the 2015 still. I find it bearable with the bass turned way down on the 2021, but find it far more relaxing and less stressful and tiring to simply watch movies on the 2015.

Then I noticed another thing. Apple have turned the colour saturation up too. Those lovely bright colours on the 2021, are partly (or entirely?) them simply cranking up the saturation. Too much saturation is obvious when you look at how green the grass is, the blue of the sky, or the red of people's faces. Every single photo app has a saturation setting, and we've all seen how bad a photo looks when someone turns it up too high for some of their pics. Yet another thing to put on my list when I go into Apple this week - how can I turn down the colour saturation?

 

[pshufd]

It is possible that mine is faulty, I do plan on going in to Apple and get it tested this week.

I compared a movie on it to my 2015 w my teenage son last night, just in case my ageing ears were the problem. He preferred the new one, saying it was more like the feeling in a cinema. Then when I pointed out how people's voices sounded muffled, hollow, and muddy, he agreed that they did a bit, and agreed that there was too much bass, but still preferred it. Then I turned on Audio Hijack, and turned the bass way way down, incrementally increasing the amplitude as the frequency increased, and he much preferred it that way. He preferred it to the 2015 still. I find it bearable with the bass turned way down on the 2021, but find it far more relaxing and less stressful and tiring to simply watch movies on the 2015.

Then I noticed another thing. Apple have turned the colour saturation up too. Those lovely bright colours on the 2021, are partly (or entirely?) them simply cranking up the saturation. Too much saturation is obvious when you look at how green the grass is, the blue of the sky, or the red of people's faces. Every single photo app has a saturation setting, and we've all seen how bad a photo looks when someone turns it up too high for some of their pics. Yet another thing to put on my list when I go into Apple this week - how can I turn down the colour saturation?

One thing that I've found with the 2021 is that it's best experienced on my lap about two feet from my eyes. The sound and screen are the most immersive in that mode. I find that it loses something when I use it to watch something with someone else. My iMac 27 is a lot better for doing that. One of the other things about using it on your lap is that you can feel the vibrations from the sound on your legs. This is also true for the 2015.

 

[jav6454]

Hi everyone

I bought a M1 MacBook Pro 16 base model today. Seems the sound is quite muffled, a little bit too much bass.

Is that normal ? I have high expectation on new Macbook sound. Almost all reviewer said it has the best sound on any mobile device. Do I have a defect device ? Should I replace it ? Or bass represents good sound quality nowadays ?

The devices have a bit more bass than usual. Normal

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

Hi everyone

I bought a M1 MacBook Pro 16 base model today. Seems the sound is quite muffled, a little bit too much bass.

Is that normal ? I have high expectation on new Macbook sound. Almost all reviewer said it has the best sound on any mobile device. Do I have a defect device ? Should I replace it ? Or bass represents good sound quality nowadays ?

I have the same experience. Impressive volume and frequency response in the bass range, but with a muffled, muddy, hollow character to it, especially noticeable with spoken voice. I even went in to get mine tested at Apple, just in case. Yeah, they ran the basic diagnostics, and said it was fine. I much prefer my 2015 rMBP for watching movies/tv, simply for the audio, even though the 2015 screen is old and has aberrations, and the 2021 screen is lovely.

I bought Audio Hijack a while ago (a one off, not especially expensive price), and it's a marvellous piece of software. It basically can route the system audio from any application through a bunch of built in filters and enhances, and route it back out to the system audio, and/or an mp3 recorder. So, one of the things it can do, is take the audio, and pump it through a 10-band EQ. I turned the bass waaaaay down, and it does improve things. You can save different settings, so I have one for movies/tv, and leave it pretty much standard for music.

I totally recommend Audio Hijack, but would be interested in hearing of other solutions if anyone has any.

My conclusion is that all the people giving rave reviews on the speakers, simply don't use the speakers much. They merely played them a bit, and thought, wow, how about that bass! And that's it, never actually used them in anger, and wrote their review simply from playing some music through them.

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

One thing that I've found with the 2021 is that it's best experienced on my lap about two feet from my eyes. The sound and screen are the most immersive in that mode. I find that it loses something when I use it to watch something with someone else. My iMac 27 is a lot better for doing that. One of the other things about using it on your lap is that you can feel the vibrations from the sound on your legs. This is also true for the 2015.

I use mine on my lap almost exclusively. The majority of my work and play is with me sitting on my couch, or in bed, laptop on lap. And yeah, the bass is "impressive", but the character of it is god damn awful. Yes, it is "immersive", but it is muffled, muddy, and hollow.

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

Yep, my 16" is awful too. Artificially deep bass giving a muffled, hollow character, that leaves me feeling tired and stressed. Are all the reviewers tone deaf, or have some of us picked up faulty models? I find myself reaching for my 2015 15" rMBP to watch TV and movies instead of this new one. Will drop into Apple to get it tested, just in case it is faulty. Otherwise I am wondering if I should return it.

am i crazy if i say my mba m1 sounds better than my mbp 16 ? i like to listen to classical music ,with violons and high pitch sound,and the mbp makes it sound bassy .it sounds horrible to my ears

 

[mailman199]

SpeakerAmp also routes through an EQ and is usable on beta Ventura 13 (Audio Hijack is not). Using the EQ solves the problem.