I have the M2 Ultra Mac Studio and haven't got around to buying actual speakers. I thought I'd only use it for a few days, which turned to weeks, which turned to months. Now I'm listening to music with the damn thing. Doesn't sound great, but I like the songs anyway.
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Anybody (else) using the internal speaker?
- Thread starter omenatarhuri
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I have the M1. The audio quality is just okay. Most of the time I have it piped through my Samsung M8 display, which is somewhat better.
I still have an Altec Lansing sub and satellite speakers from a mid-1990s Dell XPS desktop that I'm going to see if I can hook up one of these days.
I still have an Altec Lansing sub and satellite speakers from a mid-1990s Dell XPS desktop that I'm going to see if I can hook up one of these days.
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Yes, I use mine in my (music/recording) studio and sometimes I can't be bothered to turn on my converters and speakers etc if I know I'm going to just be watching some YouTube videos, listening to podcasts and doing any kind of admin work.
Bizarrely, I quite like it!
Probably won't cut if it's your only speaker source. I just like being able to have a computer and monitor on and nothing else...
Bizarrely, I quite like it!
Probably won't cut if it's your only speaker source. I just like being able to have a computer and monitor on and nothing else...
I send system bleeps and beeps through it, that's all. Virtually no effort was put into making its sound decent, because the Studio (and the Mini) are not marketed as a complete package, unlike every other Mac. You are expected to use these computers connected to another device with better speakers. In Apple's ecosystem that other device would be the Studio Display, which to be fair, sounds pretty good for what it is. But still, and on the other hand, the mediocrity of the Studio built-in speaker is shocking in 2023 for a >=2K computer.
I don't think it's any better or worse than any other computer with a built in speaker. I've just picked up a little Dell because sadly I need a Windows PC and the built in speaker is utterly awful.
As you say, no effort has been put into it because no bugger is going to use it for anything serious
Of course, one could argue that if any effort had been put into it and it sounded decent then people would use it.
I have a mix of PCs and Macs. My old (~2012) Dell all-in-one has the best audio quality of any machine I've ever owned, including iMac. It has a DVD drive, and it's great for watching movies partly because the sound is so good.
I have a little Anker bluetooth speaker connected to my Studio. It was cheap and does a decent job. The internal speaker is only good enough for hearing booting tones.
Firstly, it depends on your definition of high quality. It's probably the best sounding monitor ever made but it is destroyed by a good pair of $100 active speakers, such as Presonus Eris 3.5. And understandably and explainably so, because physics exists. Secondly, that wasn't the question: this thread is about the Studio computer, not the Studio display.