Macbook air speakers- strange sound mix

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Level 1

132 points

Macbook air speakers- strange sound mix

I have a MacBook Air (2020) with side speakers that, amazingly, separate the stereo sound BEYOND the parameters of the laptop making it sound as if the sounds are originating a few feet from the laptop speakers!

Totally cool but......I find that no matter what equalizer setting I select all the vocals sound as if they are thin and in the background, while the rest of the instruments are much louder. The vocals are centered with other instruments on the left and right. These centered vocals are not the most prominent sound. How can I fix this so that the vocal in the center are louder than the instruments? This was not a problem with my 10 year old MacBook pro.

Thanks

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jun 3, 2022 9:21 PM

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Answer 1

Jul 3, 2022 9:05 AM in response to Steve Panther

Steve Panther wrote:

I have a MacBook Air (2020) with side speakers that, amazingly, separate the stereo sound BEYOND the parameters of the laptop making it sound as if the sounds are originating a few feet from the laptop speakers!

Totally cool but......I find that no matter what equalizer setting I select all the vocals sound as if they are thin and in the background, while the rest of the instruments are much louder. The vocals are centered with other instruments on the left and right. These centered vocals are not the most prominent sound. How can I fix this so that the vocal in the center are louder than the instruments? This was not a problem with my 10 year old MacBook pro.

Thanks

? this may be beyond your control, source dependent.

You can see your Applications/Utilities/Audio Midi Setup.app and see if there is anything there

Audio MIDI Setup User Guide for Mac - Apple Support

You can submit your Apple Feedback or file a bug report Product Feedback - Apple

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Answer 2

dialabrain

Level 10

135,599 points

Jul 3, 2022 10:23 AM in response to Steve Panther

I don't suppose you have a set of headphones you could test with?

FWIW, I don't hear what you are describing with my M1 MacBook Air. I assume since you mentioned EQ settings your are using the Music app for your source?

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Answer 3

dialabrain

Level 10

135,599 points

Jul 3, 2022 11:18 AM in response to Steve Panther

Also, you should check other music sources such as Spotify, Tidal, Prime Music, YouTube etc.

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Answer 4

dialabrain

Level 10

135,599 points

Jul 3, 2022 11:14 AM in response to Steve Panther

You're welcome. In that case since it's only "certain songs", I would agree with leroy that it is the source material. In any case, EQ settings would not be involved. You can always disable the equalizer to check.

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Answer 5

Steve Panther Author

Level 1

132 points

Jul 3, 2022 9:19 AM in response to leroydouglas

Thanks for your reply.

I find this extreme sound separation with my MacBook Air very interesting and it is very prominent on some songs but not others. It doesn't matter the age of the original recording. But what I find I don't like is how the main vocals are pushed to the back and semi muted. This is what I'd like to fix.

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Answer 6

Steve Panther Author

Level 1

132 points

Jul 3, 2022 11:00 AM in response to dialabrain

I have listened to the same songs with headphones. They do not give me any "distance" audio. The sound just pours into the left or right ear. Depending on how the song is stereo mixed I may "feel" the sound on the left side of my brain or right, or in the middle. But it's not the same effect. The effect I'm talking about makes the sound appear to come from a distance on the left and right. On my 2020 MacBook air the speakers are about 13 inches embedded in the box. So you would think you would hear all sounds coming from those two speakers at their real distance. But if I sit in front of my laptop, and play certain songs, it appears that some instruments, or hand claps in the example of Ob La Di Ob La Da, appear to come from an origin source well outside that distance. Sometimes it sounds are emanating from another room all together. In the process the main vocals are often diminished. This happens regardless of the EQ settings.

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