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matt_90 Author

Level 1

92 points

Volume triggered Muffled Speakers - 2016 MBP 15” Fault (w/ Video Demonstration)

Hello all,

I’m having an unusual problem with my Late 2016 Macbook Pro 15” with Touchbar (model shipping 17th December 2016).

Whenever playing audio that reaches a certain volume the internal speakers would become muffled. When lowering the volume the sound continues to be muffled. The only way to get clear sound is to either:

Restart my Macbook
Plug in headphones and pull them out again
Type ‘midi’ into spotlight to enter ‘Audio MIDI Setup’ and change the audio frequency (Hz) of the Internal Speakers output.
Killing the ‘coreaudiod’ process within terminal or activity monitor and restarting it.

Increasing the volume again will result in the audio becoming muffled again.

In this video I demonstrate the problem in detail.

I find this problem unusual as I’ve searched extensively for a resolution and cannot find anyone else with the same problem. I realise there was a problem around launch with bootcamp audio drivers breaking the speakers. However I had never used bootcamp and this problem started in the past week.

Here are the things I’ve tried

I’ve reset the NVRAM/PRAM (on multiple occasions) [Via. boot keypresses & terminal]
I’ve reset SMC (on multiple occasions, however as there is no confirmation I’m unsure if it really processed)
I’ve formatted & reinstalled OSX Sierra (version 10.12.5)
I’ve formatted & Internet Recovered OSX Sierra (version 10.12.5)
I’ve downloaded an older version of OSX Sierra (version 10.12.2) and installed it.

Yet, the problem remains.

I decided to install Windows 10 via. Bootcamp and the problem no longer occurred. However after some use it started occurring. I believe it is harder to trigger the muffled sound as Windows 10’s maximum volume on the MBP 2016 is lower.

Apple Diagnostics report reference code ADP000 ‘No issues found’.

I’m tech savvy, however am stumped at what is causing this.

Hopefully some of you have some ideas?

At first I thought it was a software issue however after trying everything outlined above I no longer think this is the case. Do you think I should take my mac in for warranty? This is a last resort as I’d hate to be without my mac for a week.

See the full demonstration on YouTube here!

Keywords to help others search for this problem.

Poor Quality Sound, Low Quality Audio, Sounding Distant, Sounding Hollow, Sounding Underwater, Low Pitched, Distorted, Deep

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2016), macOS Sierra (10.12.5)

Posted on Jul 16, 2017 5:09 AM

Top-ranking reply

Bryan Bassett

Level 1

9 points

Posted on Sep 18, 2017 5:23 AM

Same computer, same problem. Similar things temporarily solve the problem.

Opening Audio MIDI setup for example and changing the hz of the output will fix the problem unless the volume moves again. (image shows headphones, because I'm currently using them, but problem is not with headphones)

View in context

134 replies

Aug 9, 2018 1:48 AM in response to Kai V. Ahlefeld

Mine (MBP 15", 2016) was recently repaired under warranty (European 2nd year warranty aka "Gewährleistung"). The service protocol states that top case, battery, keyboard, trackpad and speakers were replaced.

MS2394

Level 1

10 points

Aug 12, 2018 10:14 PM in response to matt_90

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015)

It's been just 3 weeks since I got my logic board replaced and now this speaker issue. So my right speaker gets muffled and none of the tricks worked except in MIDI I reduced the Master stream number 2 to 50%. So that doesn't mean anything is fixed, I am probably just reducing the right speaker's effect. I just shifted to a new college and the nearest Apple centre is 6 hours away. To say that I want to throw this machine is an understatement but didn't I just foolishly spent a fortune on the logic board replacement?

Is there anything we can do other than be frustrated?

Aug 17, 2018 2:03 AM in response to matt_90

MBP 2017, 2.9MHz, same issue with both speakers. I hope this will get more attention from apple and they come up with a fix. I'm pretty sure this is not a hardware issue, because it can be temporarily fixed by software means.

Sep 4, 2018 12:38 PM in response to matt_90

I have this problem too. I bought macbook pro 2016 w touchbar in march 2018.

Speakers sounds normal in <50% volume or if i listen music without bass(only violin for example).

For reset to normal sound i change frequency in the midi dialog but volume should be less than 50%.

Maybe its overload protection?

jesnft

Level 1

4 points

Sep 8, 2018 11:48 AM in response to jontelang

Same issue here. Tried all of the above except the hardware fix which doesn't really seem to fix it. MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016) with touch bar.

Apple does not care about customer service anymore...I will NOT buy an Apple laptop again. I am also going to recommend to our IT department that they notify Apple...we have a lot of MacBooks in circulation where I work.

Sep 15, 2018 3:46 AM in response to jpjd

For me the MIDI app is instantly fixing this issue.

On that topic, does anyone know of a way to change the rate 44k/48k hz through the command line or so? So that I don't need to open the app time.

When video calling, there is often a lot of mic interference and this is driving me insane at the moment.

TayMasi

Level 1

8 points

Sep 20, 2018 11:15 PM in response to matt_90

I’m mad beyond belief I spent a year worth of savings into a MBP 2016 i7 w/TouchBar out of the box it had a backlit problem, took me months until being able to take it to the Apple Store, once fixed I got a blue tint on the very same spot, now Iran out of warranty and feels like they are going to fix it for free, and now I got the speaker problem, holy molly these MacBooks are crappy.

Oct 4, 2018 5:31 PM in response to matt_90

Same problem here with the MBP 15" 2017 with Touchbar. Had this problem with High Sierra, upgraded to Mojave and it still has the same problem. All software solutions listed work only temporarily. Very frustrating for such a high priced machine.

nebur28

Level 1

4 points

Oct 7, 2018 6:40 AM in response to matt_90

Same issue with MBP with touch bar from 2016. We bought 14 MBP's for our company and already 5 machines are having this issue. The service of Apple on this issue is extremely poor, as this is certainly a design error so it should be treated the same as staingate for example, with a repair program.

Oct 11, 2018 11:26 AM in response to nebur28

I have the exact same issue. MBP 2016 Touch Bar.

Apple certified tech replaced top assembly about 5 months ago - now it's back.

I don't think this is a hardware issue - why would sound come back just fine after a reboot if it were?

Oct 11, 2018 11:39 AM in response to Rasmus Schwenger

I have this issue too. And sound does make a LITTLE better when i reboot, or change audio frequency in MIDI player.

BUT the sound not the same in speakers. Left speaker more muffled than the right. I think its hardware issue.

My Macbook Pro stands on the table all the time and i do nothing to make speakers blow out.

Before this Mac i have MacBook Pro 17" 2009. And speakers NEVER get muffled, when i turned them loud.

I think it's must be a repair program!

Oct 17, 2018 3:05 PM in response to matt_90

I have exactly the same issue. Have to keep the volume less than 80% and sometimes even lower (I think it gets worse on songs with more bass).Can't believe a laptop worth +£2000 has two annoying issues (Keyboard and audio).

When is Apple gonna do a recall for this?

Oct 21, 2018 9:47 PM in response to Djgcue

Even I've got the same issue on my MacBook Pro 2016. This is the 4th time, it's happening with my MacBook in last 45 days. First 2 times, got the top case replaced, 3rd time, the motherboard was replaced and yet again for 4th time I've got the exact same issue. I'm really surprised to see Apple not doing anything despite these many complaints

Oct 24, 2018 3:16 AM in response to matt_90

Tech replaced logic board - no luck. Now the will replace top case for a second time....this will probably cure the issue for a few months (did the trick last time)....but there is a serious glitch somewhere in this model...

mehdi27

Level 1

8 points

Nov 5, 2018 8:21 AM in response to matt_90

Same thing happened with mine, got it fixed by apple under warranty 6 months ago and today it happened again, except I am no longer under warranty... paid around 4500$ for this Macbook, I am very disappointed

Volume triggered Muffled Speakers - 2016 MBP 15” Fault (w/ Video Demonstration)