All iPads Stereo speakers for games and movies? - Your view

[Piggie]

Would you like it, if Apple finally separated the two speakers from being side by side at the bottom of the iPad, and put one on either end of the device.

So that when in landscape mode watching a movie or perhaps playing a game, you can actually have a stereo effect.

Even in portrait mode you could write say a game to have sounds at the top where something is happening at the top of the screen, or sounds more at the bottom for things near the bottom of the screen.

Would you like that? I know I would and I have always felt it should be made this way.
(probably not worth it on a phone due to physical size, but on a tablet, yes)

Or do you want Apple to carry on as they have done since iPad 1 and have both speakers right next to each other, aiming the sound out only at the bottom/one side of the device, and if you want anything better then you should wear headphones?

Given the size of case, I cannot really see any technical difficulty in making this a reality if they wished to.

What are your thoughts?

 

[hamiltonDSi]

Given the size of case, I cannot really see any technical difficulty in making this a reality if they wished to.

What are your thoughts?

It's not about the case or technical difficulty, it's about Apple's obsession with design.
Everything has to be aligned perfectly and symmetrically.

 

[Piggie]

It's not about the case or technical difficulty, it's about Apple's obsession with design.
Everything has to be aligned perfectly and symmetrically.

I can understand that.

However a speaker on either side exactly symmetrical and in line with each other would be perfectly balanced on the device.
More so, one could argue, than two speakers side by side on one face.

 

[Piggie]

Wow. 208 views so far, and not 1 person has an opinion one way or another!

 

[Night Spring]

Wow. 208 views so far, and not 1 person has an opinion one way or another!

Lol. Seems you have your answer -- most people here on Macrumors don't care.

 

[Charliebird]

It's kind of cool my SP3 has little speak slots on each side of the screen. It would be nice to see Apple do the same thing.

 

[darngooddesign]

Wow. 208 views so far, and not 1 person has an opinion one way or another!

I agree that HTC's solution would be better, but considering I move, tilt, and change the orientation of the device how often would I get stereo effect. Since I often hold my iPad by one or both of the top and bottom bezels, I would end up blocking the speakers.

 

[Mechayoshi]

I do think its lame how the speakers can easily be blocked. Maybe one speaker could be moved to the top?

 

[Jessica Lares]

That's not how audio works. It's L, R, or both. If you want to emulate sound coming from the sky, you'd start at either end, channel sounds into both sides, and then exit the other end. You'd apply that same approach to things happening on the land/ocean/whatever.

Headphones are the best way to deal with this. You don't have to worry about whether you're using the device in portrait or landscape, and you get the same experience either way.

If you put speakers on the top AND bottom of the device, it destroys the "artistic value" of the sound mix in portrait mode because it's all made to be enjoyed from left to right, and right to left because that's how our hearing works.

 

[cynics]

That would make sense for me personally. The only time I'd appreciate stereo sound is when I'm doing things in landscape (movies/videos, games, etc).

In portrait mode most videos I watch are things on Facebook and such and aren't recorded in stereo nor do I can to hear whatever it is in stereo.

Music is what throws everything off. For example someone wanting to play music in the background while continuing to use their iPad normally. That's not a factor for me because I use airplay or headphones to do that.

TL;DR Stereo on the side makes more sense for me personally.

 

[colodane]

Stereo speakers would not interest me much at all.

Speaker sound on an iPad is an afterthought at most. Laws of physics prohibit getting any meaningful sound out of something this small or thin regardless of the number of speakers or their placement.

I can't imagine watching a full-length movie or doing any serious music listening with iPad speakers. That is what earphones (or external speakers) are for.

The speakers as they exist are fine for incidental sounds such as ringers, listening to short video clips in Safari, sound effects, etc.

 

[iSee]

Stereo speakers on the iPad sound like a good thing to me.

The only problem is that it breaks the idea that you can hold the device in any orientation.

Still there's probably more good than bad.

Maybe do this:
- arrange speakers so they are at the left and right for one of the landscape orientations.
- when the device is in landscape and the speakers are at the bottom, enable stereo.
- when the device is in landscape and the speakers are at the top, enable stereo but swap the speaker each channel goes through. That is, the left channel is still on the left and the right channel is still on the bottom.
- when the device is in portrait, route both channels through both speakers (or both through the bottom speaker? whicheever sounds best)
- These are the defaults to give a decent experience with most apps -- an app should be allowed to take direct control of what goes through a speaker based on its own needs.

I don't see this as high-priority though since if you want a quality stereo experience, use headphones ...
or your home hi-fi room (I always imagine audiophiles have a carefully designed and sound-proofed room in their houses with a precisely placed leather chair where they sit motionless, listening to classical music, classic rock from the AOR age, and old jazz records.)

 

[Piggie]

I suppose I only see this as a positive.

Let's be totally honest with ourselves here for a moment.

If the iPad always had stereo speakers from day one (one either side when in landscape more) I would find it hard to believe anyone would be posting in Apple forums or anywhere saying:

Stereo speaker placement is wrong, both speakers should be very close together, at the bottom of the device.

In fact I think we'd be only too happy to point out that other brands did not have just a good/obvious speaker placement.

 

[iSee]

I suppose I only see this as a positive.

Let's be totally honest with ourselves here for a moment.

If the iPad always had stereo speakers from day one (one either side when in landscape more) I would find it hard to believe anyone would be posting in Apple forums or anywhere saying:

Stereo speaker placement is wrong, both speakers should be very close together, at the bottom of the device.

In fact I think we'd be only too happy to point out that other brands did not have just a good/obvious speaker placement.

No one's really disagreeing with the idea that stereo speakers would be nice, at least in some situations.

 

[kupkakez]

I guess it doesn't bother me. I just use headphones.

 

[fewlio]

it bothers the hell out of me. having them on opposite sides for portrait? who's watching a movie or game in portrait? and they are so close together, the effect is lost. as far apart as possible is what u want, and that would be landscape view! apple is too proud to admit an obvious design mistake imo... just bc they are selling more tabs doesnt mean all their choices are the best..

 

[Piggie]

it bothers the hell out of me. having them on opposite sides for portrait? who's watching a movie or game in portrait? and they are so close together, the effect is lost. as far apart as possible is what u want, and that would be landscape view! apple is too proud to admit an obvious design mistake imo... just bc they are selling more tabs doesnt mean all their choices are the best..

As far as I'm aware no one has ever suggested they should be left/right when in portrait mode.

As you quite rightly say, you want the maximum distance to get best stereo separation. tie that in with movies/video would pretty much always be viewed in Landscape mode, and most game are in landscape mode, and user surveys have shown most people use tablets in landscape mode, as if fits the human field of view more comfortably.

So naturally everything point to the simple point that when in landscape orientation there should be a speaker on the left and one on the right, as have been the case on consumer electronics in general since they invented stereo sound.

In Portrait mode you could have a variety of options, even feeding both stereo channels to both speakers if you wished simple for a more "all around" audio experience.

Many options.

I don;t see why you should be forced to wear headphones. At night in a quiet room the loudspeakers can give of plenty of volume, just is may as well be mono.

There ARE already two speakers, and the iPad is a large device. I'm sure it would take minimal design effort to do this. It's simply they have no will to do it, which is a shame.

 

[Night Spring]

There ARE already two speakers, and the iPad is a large device. I'm sure it would take minimal design effort to do this. It's simply they have no will to do it, which is a shame.

Minimal? I don't think so. Sure, it can be done, but it would take some effort. Especially considering Apple likes to keep their devices as thin as possible. Sure, YOU might say make it thicker if that's what it takes to have stereo speakers on right and left. But that's you. Other people would prefer to have their devices thinner.