I didn't say it was. All I said is the Pro is no longer louder than the Air. But speaking about quality, the quality of the Air's speakers is pretty damn good for a device this small.
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M1 Air vs Pro- AUDIO comparison
- Thread starter Moosebear
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Well Wrsni, we understand that you are not inclined to sing into your new pro to demo the mic for us.
But what if it wasn’t really singing at all, but more a rousing rendition of a Monty python song, like perhaps “the philosopher’s song” or “always look on the bright side of life”?
Then you wouldn’t be singing at all really, but paying tribute to those greats. And in the process demoing the mic, AND bringing fresh dignity to the British Empire.
But what if it wasn’t really singing at all, but more a rousing rendition of a Monty python song, like perhaps “the philosopher’s song” or “always look on the bright side of life”?
Then you wouldn’t be singing at all really, but paying tribute to those greats. And in the process demoing the mic, AND bringing fresh dignity to the British Empire.
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This was the ONLY thing that made me consider getting the Pro over the Air. But then I realized that the majority of the time, I am using headphones or my AirPods Pro when on a video call or listening to audio or watching a movie. So, I ended up going with the Air.
That's not a reason. In Mac Audio settings you can select output to your Airpods and select which Mic you want to use (external > Mac > Airpods imo)
Right. But I typically use AirPods as the mic to minimize ambient noise that the built-in Mac mic would pick up.
Oh, sure, if you just mean capturing the odd bit of vocal when there's nothing else to hand, then I guess the best mic is the one you have with you, and those on the MBP are certainly better than… other laptop mics. Point taken.
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Respectfully, my singing (even loosely defined) wouldn't bring dignity to anything!
No, I mean to determine if the quality of the M1 Pro is close to as good as the one used in that video linked above, recorded beautifully into a 16" MBP, by a skilled professional singer/producer. Because that would create a whole new world of options for me, if the mic is that good. I don't mean just catching stuff on the fly.
That is why I created this thread, and we don't yet have an answer to that specific question. Does it sound as good as the mic in the 16"? As someone pointed out above, it does seem to have different specs. So we don't know yet how good it is.
This is how Apple describes the mic in the M1 Pro "Three mic array. Studio quality. Without the studio. An improved signal‑to‑noise ratio rivals that of professional‑grade microphones."
So maybe it's hype, or maybe not. Someone will test it soon enough, stay tuned.
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Just an update.
Still no singing but purely from a voice recording point of view the new mics are indeed excellent and could be classed as 'studio quality'.
Still no singing but purely from a voice recording point of view the new mics are indeed excellent and could be classed as 'studio quality'.
Interesting to see many saying M1 Pro speakers are better? I see they are "better" based on marketing material and maybe some reviews with subjective rating but the only review where I have seen actual measurement to back up the rating shows that MBA M1 speakers are better than MBP M1 (MBA M1 got 95% score while MBP M1 only 90%).
See for yourself here:
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Apple...o-gets-the-M1-performance-boost.510883.0.html
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Apple...le-M1-CPU-humbles-Intel-and-AMD.508057.0.html
I haven't heard MBP M1 at home but I had MBP 13" 2019 (1.4GHz base) before and I got MBA M1 which has much better speaker quality. I also had MBA 2018 briefly before I got my MBP 2019 and even then Air had much better sounding speakers. I'm not talking about louder speaker but actual audio quality. For some reason Air has some audible bass and natural sound while MBP had almost no bass and it sounded tinny due to that.
Not sure if MBP M1 is different from 2019 version but I doubt it is not based on iFixit teardown where both MBA and MBP seem to have the same speakers in M1 versions as they had previously in Intel versions.
Just curious why some who have tested these for themselves say MBP M1 has better speakers and some say MBA M1 has better? I mainly use my MBA M1 with Airpods anyway but I can't say speakers are worse than my MBP had.
See for yourself here:
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Apple...o-gets-the-M1-performance-boost.510883.0.html
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Apple...le-M1-CPU-humbles-Intel-and-AMD.508057.0.html
I haven't heard MBP M1 at home but I had MBP 13" 2019 (1.4GHz base) before and I got MBA M1 which has much better speaker quality. I also had MBA 2018 briefly before I got my MBP 2019 and even then Air had much better sounding speakers. I'm not talking about louder speaker but actual audio quality. For some reason Air has some audible bass and natural sound while MBP had almost no bass and it sounded tinny due to that.
Not sure if MBP M1 is different from 2019 version but I doubt it is not based on iFixit teardown where both MBA and MBP seem to have the same speakers in M1 versions as they had previously in Intel versions.
Just curious why some who have tested these for themselves say MBP M1 has better speakers and some say MBA M1 has better? I mainly use my MBA M1 with Airpods anyway but I can't say speakers are worse than my MBP had.
From the reviews I have seen the difference is minimal. However the common theme is that the M1 MBA speakers are louder, but the Pro has a richer sound (more pronounced bass). This may explain why some prefer one against the other, but as I said the difference is not that small, and generally much better than most windows laptops at a similar price point.
I see this comment saying MBP has more bass but from what I have compared it is other way around!
My MBP 13" 2019 was tinny without bass at all and both MBA 2018 and MBA M1 are rich in bass and natural sounding.
That is still confirmed in Notebookcheck reviews of both MBP M1 and MBA M1 where MBP scored only 90% but MBA 95% for speakers. They have actual measurements to back that up, so not just subjective rating, so I'm wondering this what you said.
The audio recorded on my new Air is surprisingly clear. I suppose that the "no noise design" makes a lot of difference alone, compared to any other laptop. Whatever engineering they had to put inside the Intel Pro to circumvent the fan noise probably stayed in the machine, but is not so important anymore? Just a wild guess. I am excited that I can actually record audio on my Mac now!
@Moosebear: did you figure it out and/or buy one of them? I'm standing in front of the exact same question...
Hey Martin, I went for the Pro for several reasons, the supposed mic/speaker upgrade being one of them. Although I've tried recording vocals with the built-in, I didn't get great results, however I don't know if I optimized it correctly, or sang at the proper distance. So I've been using an external mic, however once I'm back on the road (once the pandemic is over) I'll use the built-in mic to regularly capture ideas, I'll be able to properly evaluate it.
As has been said elsewhere, I don't think you can go wrong with the Air or the Pro, each have advantages.
As has been said elsewhere, I don't think you can go wrong with the Air or the Pro, each have advantages.
I have owned both the M1 Air and the latest Pro so I can give a definitive answer.
The speakers and mic are WAY better on the Pro. Hands down.
The speaker on the Pro is so good it's easily mistaken for external speakers, whereas the speaker on the Air is tinny and distorts the sound. The old Air (with the internal speakers below the keyboard) had better sound.
The mic on the Pro records in much better quality. The videos I record on my air have embarrassingly low quality voice quality.
What many people don't understand is that the most important difference between the Pro and Air are the quality of components. Screen, speakers, mic, etc etc, it's all just higher quality, either spec wise, or production wise (in ways not immediately apparent) on the Pro.
The speakers and mic are WAY better on the Pro. Hands down.
The speaker on the Pro is so good it's easily mistaken for external speakers, whereas the speaker on the Air is tinny and distorts the sound. The old Air (with the internal speakers below the keyboard) had better sound.
The mic on the Pro records in much better quality. The videos I record on my air have embarrassingly low quality voice quality.
What many people don't understand is that the most important difference between the Pro and Air are the quality of components. Screen, speakers, mic, etc etc, it's all just higher quality, either spec wise, or production wise (in ways not immediately apparent) on the Pro.
Measurements of speakers do not seem to support that. Maybe you had some audio settings different between the two? Also it is very much possible mic is better in Pro but just comparing speakers do not seem so.
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Apple...le-M1-CPU-humbles-Intel-and-AMD.508057.0.html
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Apple...o-gets-the-M1-performance-boost.510883.0.html
In these tests made with actual measurement show AIR scoring 86 points (95%) for audio while PRO was only 82 points (90%)!
I haven't tried M1 Pro at home myself to compare but I had MBP 13.3" 2019 model side by side with Air M1 and in that test Air sounded much more fuller and less tinny. I also had briefly Air 2018 model and my findings were exactly the same. As it can be seen in teardown photos of internal parts both models seem to have same looking speakers modules as their Intel counterparts did, so likely no change in those.
Eh.. I have both right here, and there isn't any significant difference between the two!
I'm basically crossposting this to what I already dumped on Reddit as well. Sue me. I thought it might be useful here too.
I just spent the last three hours comparing the sound on the M1 Air, M1 Pro (13-inch), and M1 Pro (13-inch, four port) from 2016, and wrote up a piece on it which I'll eventually post somewhere. Here's the short (!) version.
No one of these computers is the obvious winner; it sort of depends on what you're looking for.
The MacBook Pro 13-inch 2016 can go the loudest, while still keeping a good sound balance of high, mid, and low frequencies. It's probably the "best" overall (apart from being an Intel Mac, of course) in terms of being loud and providing a decent range of sound. With that said, while I've been very happy with this machine for the last five years, I was surprised to discover I like the M1 Pro's sound better.
I really don't like the sound of the MacBook Air M1. It can't go quite as loud as the 2016, but more importantly, it doesn't do low frequencies very well, so it sounds tinnier; kick drums sound like clicks, bass lines get lost, and the overall sound is just hollow and sometimes harsh. Mids and highs are very spacious and clear, however. I could perhaps eventually get used to how this machine sounds, but as of now, coming from the Pro 2016, I find the M1 Air's sound quality irritating. If I were to stay with it, I'd probably try to use a tool like Audio Hijack to EQ things to sound more pleasant.
The MacBook Pro M1 is much quieter than both, which is annoying, but you can actually hear bass notes, and I think it has the best overall sound balance of the three. However, once you get to the 90%-100% volume range, which is still not very loud, the mid and high frequencies overwhelm the lower ones, bringing its overall sound more in line with the 2016 model (and still better, but not as obviously, than the M1 Air). If the max volume is insufficient, the commercial app Audio Hijack provides an easy, if not cheap, means of cranking it up a bit more.
I actually like the Pro M1 13-inch best -- for me, being able to hear the low notes clearly is more important than being able to turn it up louder. But I can certainly see people preferring the Air if they care more about volume and less about hearing the lower frequencies.
I just spent the last three hours comparing the sound on the M1 Air, M1 Pro (13-inch), and M1 Pro (13-inch, four port) from 2016, and wrote up a piece on it which I'll eventually post somewhere. Here's the short (!) version.
No one of these computers is the obvious winner; it sort of depends on what you're looking for.
The MacBook Pro 13-inch 2016 can go the loudest, while still keeping a good sound balance of high, mid, and low frequencies. It's probably the "best" overall (apart from being an Intel Mac, of course) in terms of being loud and providing a decent range of sound. With that said, while I've been very happy with this machine for the last five years, I was surprised to discover I like the M1 Pro's sound better.
I really don't like the sound of the MacBook Air M1. It can't go quite as loud as the 2016, but more importantly, it doesn't do low frequencies very well, so it sounds tinnier; kick drums sound like clicks, bass lines get lost, and the overall sound is just hollow and sometimes harsh. Mids and highs are very spacious and clear, however. I could perhaps eventually get used to how this machine sounds, but as of now, coming from the Pro 2016, I find the M1 Air's sound quality irritating. If I were to stay with it, I'd probably try to use a tool like Audio Hijack to EQ things to sound more pleasant.
The MacBook Pro M1 is much quieter than both, which is annoying, but you can actually hear bass notes, and I think it has the best overall sound balance of the three. However, once you get to the 90%-100% volume range, which is still not very loud, the mid and high frequencies overwhelm the lower ones, bringing its overall sound more in line with the 2016 model (and still better, but not as obviously, than the M1 Air). If the max volume is insufficient, the commercial app Audio Hijack provides an easy, if not cheap, means of cranking it up a bit more.
I actually like the Pro M1 13-inch best -- for me, being able to hear the low notes clearly is more important than being able to turn it up louder. But I can certainly see people preferring the Air if they care more about volume and less about hearing the lower frequencies.