Low sound 15" mid-2012 MBP

[kahlil88]

Sold a refurbished 15" mid-2012 MBP to a customer and he's complaining that the volume is substantially quieter than his previous 17" 2009 model. He lives over an hour away so I haven't gotten a chance to inspect since he picked it up last week. I doubt there are louder speaker options or any possibility of swapping his old speakers in. My best guess is the 17" models simply had better speakers or Apple downgraded at some point. I suppose there's also a slim possibility it could be related to swapping his old hard drive in, though I haven't had problems with that in the past (maybe it needs an NVRAM reset?).
Anyway, wanted to get some feedback before I dive into replacing parts!

 

[chscag]

Too many variables involved to even make a good guess.

Who knows what kind of sounds he's listening to? Music? Games? I doubt that the hard drive has anything to do with it. Give him a call and teach him how to do a SMC and NVRAM reset and find out what kind of sounds he's listening to. Could be a configuration problem but setting the sound is not complicated.

 

[pm-r]

I don't know, but I would certainly suspect a 17" MacBook Pro would have louder speakers just because they would probably be substantially larger then those found in a 15in MacBook Pro, which would be restricted in jamming larger speakers into a smaller case.

Just like the larger speakers in an audio store certainly seem capable of producing louder sound than the smaller units, and probably cheaper speakers.

It should follow that bigger is louder, just as higher price would normally produce louder sound.

Personally, I would be rather surprised that someone would even question the fact with all the differences between the two completely different MacBooks.


- Patrick
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[krs]

I found the maximum volume on those MacBook pros also too low sometimes.
Depends on the source of course and I don't know of some calibrated source that somehow could be used to decide if there is really a problem or if that level is normal for that Mac model.
And I also only owned a 17" MBP once many years ago.

There is software called Boom 2 that may work on the 2012 MBP depending which macOS is being used.
I don't think that software is being regularly updated to stay compatible with the macOS. I have also read several times that people are concerned in that they may blow the speakers on the MacBook.
When the volume of a video was too low and one couldn't understand what was being said at maximum volume, we ended upplugging in a small external USB-powered speaker to solve that problem - not a great solution but from what we could see, the only option.

 

[pm-r]

Have a read and a solution in some of the comments here:
Q: HOW TO INCREASE SOUND IN MAC PRO?
HOW TO INCREASE SOUND IN MAC PRO? - Apple Community

It seems there may be a bit of a workaround from the standard volume level, and maybe that me make a difference.



- Patrick
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[pm-r]

we ended upplugging in a small external USB-powered speaker to solve that problem -

Hmmm... that's an interesting and appropriate fix I haden't heard of... upplugging!!! ;-)



- Patrick
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[krs]

Seems Boom is still around - but it's now called Boom 3D
However, I have not tried it
Boom3D, best Volume booster & equalizer for Mac and Windows | Feel the Bass

From the website:
Boom 3D for Mac is a system-wide volume booster that safely increases the volume beyond its regular limits to deliver an intense and rich audio experience

 

[krs]

Hmmm... that's an interesting and appropriate fix I haden't heard of... upplugging!!! ;-)



- Patrick
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I obviously did that on purpose;D;D

Just to see if anyone is actually reading my post.

Patrick, you passed with flying colours!

 

[pm-r]

Seems Boom is still around - but it's now called Boom 3D
However, I have not tried it
Boom3D, best Volume booster & equalizer for Mac and Windows | Feel the Bass

And maybe have a look here:
The Fix - Improve sound quality on your MacBook
YouTube

And for more hits maybe:
2012 15" MBP speaker sound very low - Google Search

Or maybe just use a decent set of earphones.

It would be interesting know if the MBPro speakers are actually producing the proper output level that they should be, but I don't know how one is able to test or check that, nor what the output level actually should be.


- Patrick
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