Do you get speaker buzz when you play stuff loudly? It depends on what I'm listening to, but if I max out the software volume, then have more than four or so squares, I get an annoying buzz sound which is definitely not part of the music. Kinda like something in my computer is rattling around...
tinny buzzing when you play your speakers "loudly" (anything above four squares)
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celticpride678
Guest
It sounds like something is wrong. Maybe the speakers or the Main Logic Board. I would take it to the Apple Store and have them take a look.
gethyphyyo
macrumors regular
a buzz or rattle?
celticpride678
Guest
According to the OP, a buzz noise.
gethyphyyo
macrumors regular
oh I didn't read the whole thing. but yeah I have the same issue on a 13" MBP. if you play a song that makes the noise put your hand over your keyboard and kinda push down a bit. the sound will go away. so it's just the way the keys sit in the keyboard
read the last sentence
read the last sentence
celticpride678
Guest
I understand that. I read the entire thing
However, the OP clearly states in the title and the body of the thread, that it sounds like a buzz. However, the OP COMPARES it to rattling.
airplaneman
macrumors 6502a
As the previous posters stated, there is probably a problem. I can play music at full blast and nothing rattles. Is anything loose? That might explain it.
I tested this same issue on 5 mbp's 13'' and 15'' in an apple store when they didn't have music playing on the store speakers and it was nice and quiet in the morning on a weekday. Essentially, there are two things that the OP is probably hearing:
1. The keys on the keyboard do rattle and make a slightly audible buzzing noise if you're close enough to hear them and the volume is up. It's just how the keys are anchored to the mbp. I hear the buzzz/rattling of the keys more on the right side (confirmed when I put my hand just barely on the right side keys, the buzzing is dramatically reduced)
and...
2. The speakers in these small laptops are pretty crappy by necessity. The space is just too small. On lower quality sounds (try youtube videos) with the volume up, you'll hear the buzzing/distortion sounds. It's also especially noticeable for human voices. This is not something that can be fixed. Unless the OP is hearing the buzzing on lower volume settings AND with high quality recordings, replacing the speakers will do nothing. The way to test if this is just the crappy quality of the speakers is to play a audio cd (high fidelity) and turn the volume up maybe 60-70% of full. You need to select a well-recorded album. If there's a bunch of buzz/distortion in the speakers, I would take it in. If you only notice the buzzing on higher volume settings and/or on lower quality audio, then welcome to the world of tiny laptop speakers
Note to the OP: people will post after me stating that I'm wrong and that their mbp's speakers are amazing/perfect or something. The reason for this is that people have different hearing sensitivity and perception levels. Such is the nature of hearing and various other factors related to personal sensitivity to sound, age etc. Go ahead and take your mbp into the "genius" bar. But unless the buzzing is obvious to them, they'll play the "that's within specifications" game with you.
I guess it could be the keys, but I don't think it is. It really sound like something within the computer (even with the speakers?) is rattling around a bit and it seems to only occur sometimes. I think certain frequencies may stimulate it. I notice it alot when I watch videos. next time I find a youtube video that does it I will find the exact place, post here, and you guys see if it does it too... or find some of your own and we can compare
PeteDaBeat
macrumors newbie
i have the same problem.
during certain songs with heavy bass (for me, it was radiohead's "everything in its right place" which made me notice the rattle), i can totally hear this rattle/buzz. so i brought it into the apple store and had a genius ship it out for repair. just got it back today and guess what.. it still rattles! i'm starting to think it's just poor quality speakers; not sure if it's worth another ship/receive headache. for a quick remedy, i just went into itunes' equalizer and lowered the preamp one notch below zero. did the trick. but man, what a pain!
by the way, it's a 13" uMBP, about 4 months old.
during certain songs with heavy bass (for me, it was radiohead's "everything in its right place" which made me notice the rattle), i can totally hear this rattle/buzz. so i brought it into the apple store and had a genius ship it out for repair. just got it back today and guess what.. it still rattles! i'm starting to think it's just poor quality speakers; not sure if it's worth another ship/receive headache. for a quick remedy, i just went into itunes' equalizer and lowered the preamp one notch below zero. did the trick. but man, what a pain!
by the way, it's a 13" uMBP, about 4 months old.
You are right. It's the quality of the speakers. There is no fix. It's just bad design.
Interestingly enough, I installed Windows 7 recently through bootcamp and have been doing the exact same activities (I work online ~15 hours a week doing the same stuff...) and everything seems to sound pure. No annoying tinniness. It's weird, but I'm thinking perhaps the sound drivers in Windows are just better
Interestingly enough, I installed Windows 7 recently through bootcamp and have been doing the exact same activities (I work online ~15 hours a week doing the same stuff...) and everything seems to sound pure. No annoying tinniness. It's weird, but I'm thinking perhaps the sound drivers in Windows are just better
There's actually a bug in the windows bootcamp sound drivers. The gain is set too low. So that would probably explain the difference.
eh, i guess but if it eliminates the tinniness, how is that a bug? i haven't used it much, but so far it is MUCH better.
Opstech
macrumors 6502a
I just got my uMBP and now i'm hearing the left side speaker beginning to buzz. I hate this. I paid top dollar for the machine and to hear that apple says it's normal will be very disappointing. I live in Bakersfield and the nearest apple store is in LA. A Two hour drive. Damn
Chances are your sub is loose, screwed down too tightly or too loosely (there's a fine line) it's a common problem, get a screw driver and pop off the bottom and have a look on ifixit for the location of your sub and just play with the screws a bit.
