Speaker: 2012 MBAir worst ever?

[wallny]

Just got my 11" mid-2012 MacBook Air yesterday. (i7/8gb/256)

The overall performance meets my expectations, except for one thing:

Weird speaker problem.

Compared with my old 2011 11" MBAir (i7/4gb/128), new air is much worse.
The music feels weak, cheap, distorted: lows not strong enough while mid/high feels thin and broken…

It's hard to describe but the difference is so dramatic, like a $10 and $200 headphone, I could tell there's definitely something wrong from the 1st second.

I can't believe this is Apple product.

2012 MBA users please comment, if you ever owned 2011 air that's even better. Is it just me or a common issue?

 

[palpatine]

Just got my 11" mid-2012 MacBook Air yesterday. (i7/8gb/256)

The overall performance meets my expectations, except for one thing:

Weird speaker problem.

Compared with my old 2011 11" MBAir (i7/4gb/128), new air is much worse.
The music feels weak, cheap, distorted: lows not strong enough while mid/high feels thin and broken…

It's hard to describe but the difference is so dramatic, like a $10 and $200 headphone, I could tell there's definitely something wrong from the 1st second.

I can't believe this is Apple product.

2012 MBA users please comment, if you ever owned 2011 air that's even better. Is it just me or a common issue?

I don't know. The speaker didn't impress me in the 2011, and I know longer have mine, so I cannot compare. It is a total non-issue for me. I plug in my headphones if I want to hear great sound. I didn't buy the 11" for its speakers

 

[KPOM]

It seems the same to me, which is mediocre but adequate. If you notice a big difference, perhaps take it back to the store and compare it with one of the others. Maybe yours shipped with a defective speaker. I have the same exact model as yours.

 

[Skoopman]

I don't think that Apple would make them worse, maybe it's a hardware or software problem. You could try to improve the sound quality with Hear. I use it with my Mac Mini and Logitech z2300 speakers, it makes a huge difference.

 

[mattopotamus]

sounds good to me, better than my early 2011 pro