Stereo separation m1 macbook air

[brilliantthings]

I've just noticed how incredible the stereo separation is on the M1 MacBook Air. It sometimes sounds like the sound is coming from speakers that are one foot either side of the computer. How on earth do they do that?!

 

[Shirasaki]

For normal people: magic.
For sound engineers: lots and lots of acoustic research and experiments. Soundwave directions. Beaming, etc etc.
Btw I am not a sound engineer.

 

[brilliantthings]

I've read a bit about how Bose does impossible things with such small drivers, but I've never heard separation like this.

 

[StoneJack]

Me too. Was listening to a movie on mba and even had to turn head to sides, such was strong the spatial sound effect!

 

[FNH15]

Probably a lot of DSP / time alignment going on. High end cars have done this for decades. My old BMW 330Ci had a little “hifi” (Harman/Kardon audio) button - when you pushed it, you’d swear vocals / guitar solos were coming from outside the car.

It’s amazing what they can do with the speakers in these machines. On my 16” M1 Pro it sounds like there’s a little orchestra playing across the keyboard, and with Dolby Atmos they’ve managed to make surround ambient noises come from behind. Simply incredible!

 

[Tenashus1]

The sound is fantastic on this machine. I recently got a Bang and Olafsen A2 beosound bluetooth speaker, and now it's almost as if I don't need it. The sound on the M1 air is wonderful.

 

[AudiHeel]

The sound may be great, but I wish it would play louder. My 2017 MacBook has more volume than my M1 Air. When streaming TV or a movie, it's not as loud when I'm across the room listening. I even turn it that direction.