Macbook Pro Audio Quality - Page 3 - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio

torjeh · 06-09-2007, 12:26 PM

I think the sound from the late powerbook G4 was very good, but I have nothing good to say about the sound from the new iMac (Intel).

Was very disappointed by the sound from the iMac out of the headphone jack

senns&nonsense · 06-09-2007, 01:29 PM

Well Mushi I haven't had much practice working on computer problems over the past 2 years becuase since I switched to Mac I don't have any blue screens, fatal errors, virus invasions, registry nonsense or any other of that crud to deal with. I am just forced to spend time on Final Cut and other apps and actually working instead of fixing the Gates Gifts that keeps on giving and giving and giving.....

You are fooling yourself if you think it is as simple as the chipset or, even more moronically, if you think that asus manufacturing a Mac designed by Apple is going to be the same as them manufacturing the generic cut-throat- priced junk that is badly designed by Acer or Dell or whoreallycaresifitrunswindowsanyway corp. Just one example... I actually use an external DAC. But the DAC in my Mac is made by TI and specs out higher than a lot of the high-priced externals people rave about here. The SQ isn't just the chip. The discussions around here recently havebeen analyzing the effects of solder! I will believe my (and lots of other peoples') ears and be very confident that what my Mac is deliveringn is the result of a ciompany that actually cares about the user experience and designed a machine and had it manufactured to such a high quality that I am constantly thrilled with the performance i experience - audio and in numerous other ways.

And btw, I do like my music without all the hissing. Love how that gets mentioned as if it is an afterthought or somehow irrelevant to the typically superior Mac out-of-the-box music experience. If you can't afford a Mac, then fine, but the sour grapes arguments are really pathetic.

And one last thing. You couldn't convince me to run Bootcamp on my Mac for all the pirated CDs in China. Why would I ever want that Windows garbage on my lovely Mac?

bigshot · 06-09-2007, 05:33 PM

I use my Macbook as my main source in my system... DVDs, CDs, AACs... It's the best piece of a/v equipment I ever bought.

See ya
Steve

kwekeugene · 06-09-2007, 06:02 PM

I have a Macbook 1.83Ghz. My headphones are Grado SR225.

The sound quality from the headphone jack is pretty good. However, there are some noticeable hissing on quiet recordings. Other than that, it's sounds fabulous.

This thread is to simply point out how decent the sound quality from the Macbooks. I don't think it was ever intended to say "Macs are better than PCs". And when making comments, please do say by what you have heard, not what you assume it to be.

drizek · 06-09-2007, 07:37 PM

Well unfortunately I dont have $2000 to throw away on a mac, so I cant say that I have ever heard what a macbook pro sounds like. I have heard the sound out of a dell d620 though, which uses the same chipset(i assume, it would be nice if apple actually published their specs for once) and it sounds like crap compared to both my iriver and my chaintech.

And if apple cares so much about SQ, then why does the ipod hp out sound so bad and why have they been selling lossy music on itunes?

mshan · 06-09-2007, 07:42 PM

How do the Sennheiser HD-555 sound with the analog output of an Apple notebook.

My dad has a gen. 2 iPod Nano and when I listed to it with the HD-555 there seemed to be quite a bit of synergy there. Whether or not a particular person will like that particular Sennheiser sound, I don't know, but I was really struck how good the Nano sounded with the HD-555.

ChaseD13 · 06-09-2007, 07:49 PM

the macbook pro does have decent sq for a lappy (ive heard it). but it doesnt compare tower that costs half the price that was built with audio even slightly in mind.

Apple is great for people who don't know how to use a computer, but i run windows with NO real time antivirus (i do have a few scanners and stuff that i can use occasionally, but again, no real time) and i havent encountered any problems in the past year. Its just common sense about what you should and shouldnt click.

If you can afford it, apple makes awesome laptops, but for a desktop, id rather build that myself and pick what i want and save huge $$$

Pangaea · 06-09-2007, 08:11 PM

How is Vista working out for ya? I'm sorry that was mean.

drizek · 06-09-2007, 09:19 PM

Originally Posted by Pangaea

How is Vista working out for ya? I'm sorry that was mean.

I use linux. Just because I use a PC doesnt mean im an idiot.

JadeEast · 06-09-2007, 10:37 PM

Headphone out of the mac laptops are really quite good but do
still benefit from the addition of a dedicated headphone amp.

I'm not sure why the culture of apple customers is so rabid
it turns me off and I have been using apples nice the apple-II
I like them but they are just tools. Its allot like the apple
commercials where they cast John Hodgman as the pc they
are trying to make it look like he's uptight when in reality
John Hodgman is an author of a very funny book
"areas of my expertise", a blogger, a correspondent
on the daily show and from all appearances probably a
mac guy. The marketing is one thing, reality another.

I love macs and rely on them to make my living but you
don't have to drink the kool-aid.