My Macbook 1.83 Ghz has very low volume and I'm unable to raise it to what I would consider an acceptable level. Turning up the volume in the sound preferences or by using the slider in the menu bar does me no good. Even at 95% it just isn't loud enough.
anyways i did find out a way to make the iTunes much louder
one is the sound check off (look above for instructions)
the second way is to highlight all music
right click and click on get info.
under get info you will see a "volume adjustment"
put the tab all the way to the 100% and it makes a significant difference.
Hi,
Sorry but if you read earlier postings on this thread you'll see it is not the speakers but the signal. Increasing the various settings also increases the treble and results in distortion-THIS IS NOT A FIX! Apple needs to address this problem. Increasing or decreasing the settings mentioned is not adequate.
I am with you. Increasing the signal is not a decent solution. It is very strange also that some Macbooks after the last firmware update got better and some other didnt; and the Core2Duos have much better sound quality. Different sound cards?? we should do something about it.
there is a clear test:
- Lower the volume down to the half of your coreduo and then the same with a core2duo. Compare both.
The difference is then very obvious.
Hi,
That still will cause distortion and having to buy a program isn't a viable solution. This is a hardware problem, not a software problem. This is a very basic problem that Apple needs to address.
I was also very surprised at the low output volume on my new 2GHz Core Duo MacBook. I have had a PB Titanium and PB 17" aluminum, and both weren't great on internal sound but the MB Core Duo is MUCH worse. Earphones are okay. On internal speakers, iTunes is almost inaudible unless I max out both the application volume and the system volume controls. The MIDI utility fix doesn't improve mine. I suspect they have compromised for battery life, but my reaction is "ugh."
I got some improvement in iTunes by going to the equalizer, (Windows menu) and first overriding the automatic setup to impose a particular music type, then boosting the preamp main control (gives an additional 12db). Some distortion results with the preamp adjustment, both on earphones and speakers. Note that if you show the system volume slider from the top right of the screen, it will automatically drop the volume by 40% and back to 100% if you plug and unplug earphones, so the machine is obviously adjusting for the different power requiements of the speakers vs the earphones. This is also application-specific, not system-wide.
I think it is non-Apple-like to produce something that is so inadequate on a basic function of the device when used as intended. Even as an individual user in a quiet space (let alone having others try to listen to something with me from the machine), the experience says "this is not good" instead of the "wow, they clearly put some real thought to the end user here."
So should we demand a duo core # 2 to solve this problem? That would be a real test of their customer service. Now that Apple is in TV, they should make the audio perfect.
I don't know if it is possible, but maybe it is just some of the MacBooks with Core Duo that are slightly bad and the others (rest of them) are just
really bad...
My speakers are quiet and not of *great quality*, but using the above instructions to raise the sound levels higher after already having my remote raise the volume to the max seems to work just fine to get the sound itself a bit louder to hear, which is all that was really wrong with my speakers and output.
I configure them to have it set so I could still turn the volume up some with the remote itself, and adjust with the volume leveler thing to get a decent output volume and keep that extra bit of volume control on the remote's highest settings available for instant volume control (if not using my external speakers with subwoofer).
But when I turn the volume up as high as it goes with both remote and volume leveler, I do
not see anything out of the ordinary (your speakers will normally start to get a crackle sound to them if using at top/maximum volume - especially all the time- anyways, and definitely if they are just the "average" cheap internal speakers).
The MacBook Pro most likely
does have better sound quality from it's speakers as they are better speakers (and larger) and that would also most likely indicate that they have a better internal sound card as well (as it is the "upgraded" system version of the MacBook, with better Graphic options etc).
But for everyone saying that it is a signal problem, that it happened with the last update of the OS, and that it couldn't possibly be
just the speakers not being decent or the volume level set as high enough, can you possitively say that ALL of the Core Duo MacBooks have this problem, that the MacBook Core 2 Duo's don't have it at all (why would it affect
just the CD and not the C2D MacBooks after that update, when the only thing that was supposedly changed was the Processor and the Speed of the SuperDrive- unless they changed other things with the MacBooks from Gen 1 to Gen 2)?
Maybe it does affect only the CD laptops, and maybe it is supposed to affect them all... I did get a Refurbished MacBook just recently, so maybe I got one that had the problem fixed before I bought it using the parts for a C2D MacBook?
But I do know that while the Sound Level and Quality are on the slightly bad side (more like average really, considering the speaker's size, location and that they are
low-end), but they really aren't that much worse off (if not equal to) the speakers and sound from other laptops I have heard or the one I own, and I can compare it to sound from 2 different Great Sounding MP3 Players (Toshiba Gigabeat S and a Dell DJ 20 Gen 2) as well as a PDA and $500 cell phone, and 4 different sets of External Speakers (2 with subwoofer and more expensive and 2 without and cheap, like $15-20 cheap).
So after comparing to bad quality sound, good (or great sound) and the different volume levels, I really have to say that if there
was a "signal" problem with the speakers/sound card and it was affected by the update (and could possibly be fixed by another update) then there doesn't seem like it would be much of a difference after it being fixed (some change, but nothing drastic and
really noticable).
In fact, I don't think I would really end up noticing if an update did happen and fix it, as I think only getting better internal speakers, placing them in the front of the MacBook so that they are closer to you, and possibly upgrading the soundcard to one slightly better could make a real difference at all...
Hello,
The low volume has nothing to do with speakers and good sound cards cost about 20 bucks for the consumer so there is a problem that Apple needs to address. The consumer should not have to deal with this problem after spending lots of money for a product. As someone who helped build the listening stations at the biggest indie store in SF, I know this is bullsh*t that Apple doesn't know what they did. They got sued for the ipod's volume causing damage to children's ears and they over-compensated. Well, now they are going to have to compensate for an inadequate signal. A notebook's audio signal should be exactly the same as whatever Apple calls the G5.
Well, I really don't want to get in a big fight over this and all (though I do love a good arguement or debate)....
If you look at sound cards for PCs (or even just PCI slot compatible cards) you see cards for about $20-30 that are ok, cheap and maybe sound a bit better than the internal (integrated) sound on the machine, but that does not mean they can still get anywhere near as good quality out of them as a $70 card, or the $100 card, or the big $150 "block unit" looking type...
Just think of the whole "Creative Labs Sound Blaster" series (wide variety of price and quality). Adding a slightly better sound card to a laptop (for $20 or whatever) might be a better option, but the sound is still going to suck basically. What they need to do is use the $20 more "upgrade" card as the default base card, and then also allow the option of having a better and more expensive model used instead in a customized purchase order.
The only thing is, there are not as many laptop sound cards available as ones for Desktops, and as most people don't upgrade their laptops (harder to do so if at all possible for some parts), and just looking around to buy a soundcard for a laptop right now, it is nearly impossible to do (PCMIA card slot versions are mainly the only option).
But yes, even with that as an issue, we as consumers should not have to put up with that especially for the amount of money we pay for the product (and this is Apple with them already charging more for it's system of compared to a PC version of the system with all of the same specs. But we have gotten used to possibly (or possibly quite often) paying more for Apple Products (it is for the name, the expected standard and value of the product or conveniences like not having as many (if any) viruses and so on...
We need to show that we do love Apple and it's Mac products, and we are willing to pay slightly more for them because of everything that they stand for, but then also show that when something is wrong, that we are willing to say "we won't take this" and try and get it fixed instead of just continuing the "Macs are great" attitude, and nothing ever goes wrong with them. Fight for what will make a difference.
Unfortunately, I just don't see that problem with this product and issue as many of you others do. I can't say whether its because I am still new to Macs and I am possibly used to "inferior" products so I don't see the difference in quality, or that my MacBook just does not seem to have this extreme problem that you others have and therefore I cannot really understand how it makes you feel, how the sound actually sounds for you, and to feel frustrated that there is nothing being done about it currently.
So I apologize for that, I will help fight for the cause if so many people are convinced that they are correct with what the problem is and that it should be fixed, but I can't really do anything myself to help until others that
are experiencing this issue so much more drastically than I am, start to fight and do something themselves. But I will not sit aside and say "Ha, you got screwed, you poor @(*$@#."
So anyways, you live in Emeryville and helped build the listening stations at Ameoba? (biggest indie that I can think of, but I also am in Berkeley and all we really have are Ameoba and Rusputin's) in SF... You been liking the cold lately, or are you one of the ones like me that hate the cold (and snow, and REALLY hate ice) and can't wait for the weather to start getting a bit warmer again (slowly through the next week it should get back to being in the low 60's).
I was amused that the governor had called a State of Emergency last weekend because of the cold in California, when other states would think this was great weather (especially after the Ice Storms going on in Missouri last week among other
real Emergencies).... Oh no, it's too cold for the actresses/models to go out on the beach in Bikinis and get their picture taken... How are they going to survive without being able to work? They are going to
die because they have no Fat on their bodies to help insulate them! Oh no! We need help from the government on this one.
i believe that no one has taken into acount the fact that apple has puposefully made their speakers less powerful for the same reason they made the out put on the ipods less powerful. the got sued, and to comppensate, the lowered the volume. cosequently, i carry portable speakers around with me to listen to music or anything.
i believe that no one has taken into acount the fact
that apple has puposefully made their speakers less
powerful for the same reason they made the out put on
the ipods less powerful. the got sued, and to
comppensate, the lowered the volume. cosequently, i
carry portable speakers around with me to listen to
music or anything.
Who sued them, and for what? Can you post a URL concerning this?
This is a hardware
problem, not a software problem. This is a very
basic problem that Apple needs to address.
But what about the poster above (several posts up) who said that his Macbook audio is much louder when he boots up in Vista? Doesn't this prove that it is in fact a software problem and not a hardware problem?
