March 17, 2006 1:38 PM PST

MacBook Pro Special Report: Audio distortion/poor sound quality

by CNET staff

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Several readers report poor sound quality from the MacBook Pro's speakers. In particular, some readers are reporting that the right speaker outputs distorted or otherwise poor quality audio while the left speaker is relatively normal.

Note that our in-house MacBook Pros do not appear to suffer from this issue, generating sound quality that is at least on par with the previous generation of PowerPC-based PowerBooks.

MacFixIt reader Raven Zachary writes:

"I could tell something was off with the speakers to my new MacBook Pro as soon as the unit booted up. It's hard to put my finger on it - it's both tinny and fuzzy at the same time - lacking bass and vibrating a bit too much at the higher frequencies.

"When I put this side by side with my PowerBook G4 and play the same song - turning each unit off back and forth, my wife and I can clearly tell that the PowerBook sounds better than the MacBook Pro."

Mark Qandil reports that, in his case, the issue may be restricted to certain applications. He writes:

"The only noticeable issue so far is the sound quality. There is something else going on with the sound other than just hardware. I had no luck adjusting the equalizer in iTunes, as changes did not do anything. After 30 minutes I was able to adjust. The sound quality while using non apple applications such as VLC, or MPlayer sounds so much better than sounds from iTunes, or QuickTime player and even better than my G4 15" 1.67 powerbook. Somehow it appears sound issue is related to apple applications."

More users report that the right speaker sounds significantly worse than the left speaker.

MacFixIt reader Jordan writes:

"I have a MacBook Pro 2.0GHZ and I definitely noticed a sound quality issue exactly as described here. Distortion in the right speaker noticeable at louder volumes."

George Kopp corroborates:

"My MacBook Pro speakers exhibit the same behavior. The Left speaker sounds normal but the right speaker is tinny and weak. Overall, the volume of the speakers seems less than my G4 PowerBook too."

David Schloss has a simple way for users to demonstrate the right-speaker distortion problem. He writes:

"I wanted to report I'm also experiencing the speaker issue with the MacBook Pro. It's my right speaker as well. A simple test of this is to open up Adium with the Tokyo Train Station soundset on. This soundset uses a tone that rings using stereo, so it's right, left, right. You can hear the distorted speaker clearly when doing this."

Some users have found that turning the volume down slightly reduced distorion. One reader writes:

"When I first played a tune from one of my playlists I too got slightly distorted sound from my right-hand speaker but on closer inspection I realized that the volume was turned up fully. After adjusting it down a notch every thing was nice and clear. I'm not sure this 'distortion' can be described the fault of the MacBook Pro or typical with small speaker systems. My experience with the small speaker systems on laptops is that on full volume you get some distortion."

Brandon Demko writes:

"I also have this issue with a stock 2.0 Ghz version. It's really noticeable with iChat during a conversation via audio/video since the voice of the person you're talking to is directed out of the right speaker. I did call Apple today and spoke with a product specialist who escalated the case to engineering. They are supposed to get back to me regarding this."

Some readers are reporting disappearance of the distorted sound after a few days of operation.

One reader writes:

"I'm another user that can corroborate the right-speaker tinny/distorted sound quality issue and the buzzing display when I first got my MacBook. However, now 5 days later the distortion seems to have worked itself out. I compared to my TiBook just to make sure I'm not losing it. The display buzz seems to have quieted some, and it's gone when on full brightness or completely off."

Also note that you can reverse sound output on the speakers to test whether or not the problem is caused by the speakers themselves, or a software issue.

First launch "Audio MIDI Setup" (located in Applications/Utilities/Audio MIDI Setup)

Next, go to the the Audio Devices tab and click Configure Speakers. In the Stereo tab, change the left front drop down menu to 2, and the right front drop down menu to 1. Click Apply.

MacFixIt reader Doug Speer writes:

"Just want to report that my MacBook Pro's sound is definitely inferior to my Powerbook's. Volume is much lower and there is definitely distortion, especially at full volume, which is necessary to hear anything."

One reader writes:

"The problem is not always obvious. I cannot hear it when listening to music. It is by far most apparent on Male speech such as podcasts or Steve Jobs Keynote. It almost sounds like the DVD drive is resonating. Please try the following with your MacBook Pros.

"Turn the volume all the way up. Launch this CNET video of Steve Jobs presenting the new Mac mini. Turn the volume control on the video playback window to 100%. Listen to part of the keynote and I bet you will hear the distortion."

Another reader adds:

"I have realized that the speakers in my MacBook Pro are worthless. The right speaker is horribly distorted. This distortion is most apparent at higher volumes when a male voice is speaking or music with bass is playing."

UPDATE:

We've now begun receiving reports from readers indicating that new replacement units from Apple do not exhibit the right-speaker distortion. Note that in-house, our MacBook Pro (which was among the first shipped from Apple) does not suffer from the right speaker distortion issue.

MacFixIt reader Brandon Demko writes:

"Sent back my first Macbook Pro which arrived in late Feb.

"First one had a horrid right speaker, TmOP hardware error, the CPU Whine and my trackpad button was a bit spongy.

"This one sounds 100% better. No more distortion on my right side speaker and the trackpad button is better. No inverter whine -- the CPU whine I think may still be there (need to double check again) but if it is, it's much quieter than my previous model."

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