IMac :: High-pitched Frequency With External Speakers / Connected Via Firewire Audio Interface
Apr 14, 2004
I hope I'm not double posting. Have any of the other new iMac owners experienced weird frequencies coming from external speakers that are connected to their iMacs?
For example: I have a set of studio monitors that are hooked up to my iMac using a firewire audio interface. Whenever I'm copying data I get an extremely high-pitched frequency coming from my speakers that sounds like my hard drive spinning. Also, whenever I'm scrolling or moving the magic mouse I get a loud buzzing coming from the speakers (especially when scrolling). None of this stuff happened with my previous 20" iMac C2D. I have experienced this issue with all three of the 27" iMacs that I have gone through thus far (due to the yellow tint issue). Does this sound like something I'm just going to have to live with. All of these high pitched frequencies are driving me batty!
I searched the archives and I can't believe no one has mentioned this yet! This is a huge problem on both my Rev A and my new Rev B. When you connect an external monitor and external speakers using the headphone output, there is a high frequency ringing sound coming out of the speakers. I've managed to live with it by turning the treble to minimum and keeping the volume low enough but at the expense of sound quality. The strange part is, if you disconnect the monitor, the ringing sound stops. The problem only occurs if you have speakers and monitor plugged in at the same time. I've tried this on my Samsung monitor, my SONY TV, and my Panasonic audio receiver. The problem occurs with both Rev A and Rev B while my white MacBook and 2007 MacBook Pro all sound fine.
just got happy about the fix for the audio / performance problem of the 09 mac pro's. Why should it be different, the next problem knocks at my door, hallelujah...
When I connect my external audio interface (apogee ensemble) to my mac pro, the mac begins to whistle...
As soon as I turn off my interface again, the whistle is away immediately . The sound is definitively coming from my mac pro and I couldn't locate the problem to a fan. I think it's maybe the firewire controller chip? When I connect my external lacie HD I have no problems at all. I have tried it on both ports on the back side with no success.
The whistle is not constantly on the same noise level. Sometimes it's away for a few seconds, it's high pitched and really annoying though. It does not matter if I playback audio or not. Nothing worked though. I experienced the whistle in the past few months sometimes but it was mostly just for a few minutes or so. But in the past few days it was constantly and it never really stopped. This drives me crazy when I have no audio playing and my room is silent !!
I have no other firewire cable (400 to 800) around to test it. Could this be the culprit also?
I have a 24" aluminum iMac G5. I have never had a problem with sound before, and feel like this problem is isolated to a certain DVD but the DVD works on EVERY other player I own. Everything pretty much plays DVDs, so that's many!
So here's my problem: There's parts of this movie that have very high pitched sounds, like electronic sounds that are just sound effects in the movie. Whenever I get to those parts in this movie (maybe even other movies for all I know, I don't play many) and the sound goes quiet, like the speakers can't handle that high pitched sound.
I feel there must be something I can do about it, right? I just use the regular default DVD player application that pops up when I put a DVD in. I tried playing with that equalizer but nothing changed.
Today I connected my Mackie Onyx Satellite Firewire audio interface to my 2.4 Ghz 13" Macbook Pro for the first time. After it had been running for a while, I looked at iStat Pro, and it reported a CPU temperature of 67C, which is about 15 to 25 degrees hotter than this machine usually idles. Now I've looked around a little bit and found that it's a known issue and associated with the Agere Firewire chipsets. Is there any solution for this? Does it make a difference if you use a daisy chain setup with an external hard drive in between the computer and the audio interface, or a repeater cable, or anything of that nature?
When I connect to an HD TV using the Mini DisplayPort (via a Monoprice Mini DP-DVI dongle and a Monoprice DVI-HDMI cable) and to a Hi-Fi system using the headphone out, the Hi-Fi speakers emit a loud and persistent high-pitched whine.The whine disappears when I disconnect the Mini DP dongle, and also when I disconnect the audio cable so that the sound is playing through the internal speakers. There's no whine when I connect earphones to the MBA instead of the Hi-Fi. I don't have another external display with which to test the issue, so I'm not sure if this sound exists when the computer's connected to, say, an ACD.I'm surprised that this problem doesn't seem to have been mentioned on this board, but it's well documented on the Apple boards (1, 2, 3, 4). The consensus over there is that it's a fundamental design flaw in the MBA and that the only solution is to get a ground loop isolator. Has anyone here had the problem and been successful in getting it fixed by Apple?
did anyone ever got a chance to work with Saffire LE on XP using bootcamp? I searched all over the place, found some patches and solutions, but nothing works Just ridiculous.
I have a 24" aluminum iMac G5. I have never had a problem with sound before, and feel like this problem is isolated to a certain DVD but the DVD works on EVERY other player I own. Everything pretty much plays DVDs, so that's many!
So here's my problem: There's parts of this movie that have very high pitched sounds, like electronic sounds that are just sound effects in the movie. Whenever I get to those parts in this movie (maybe even other movies for all I know, I don't play many) and the sound goes quiet, like the speakers can't handle that high pitched sound.
I feel there must be something I can do about it, right? I just use the regular default DVD player application that pops up when I put a DVD in. I tried playing with that equalizer but nothing changed. Any ideas...?
I just got a 21.5 in. iMac and it's not recognizing my firewire audio interface. I have a 400 to 800 cable from the interface to the iMac and it's simply not picking it up.
I have, since a couple of years ago, used a nice little gadget called Kanex XD. It is simply an HDMI to Mini Display port, which allows me to play Xbox 360 on my iMac 27 ". It has always been clear as a bell!
When I decided to buy the thing, I was not sure if it would work with my current sound system. But it did! I run all the audio from my mac through a firewire audio interface called Focusrite LS 56 (from the audio interface I have Yamaha HS80M, info for geeks like me).
The audio has functioned really well through my Focusrite. But when I updated to the latest OSX (10.7.4), the audio from my Xbox only plays through my internal speakers. Otherwise, the sound works as usual. It's only when I play my Xbox through my Kanex XD, the audio goes through the internal speakers.
I guess it's something that happened in the new update that makes it impossible to play the sound from my Xbox through my audio interface. I contacted the Kanex XD support. They said that there's nothing they can do and that it probably have something to do with the update.
I'm wondering if I somehow have a bad firewire chip in my MBP. It hasn't been able to work with firewire audio interfaces.
- I tried a Metric Halo ULN 2 which loses sync with it's audio. It will be fine for a few minutes with itunes but then becomes distorted and ringy as if it's lost it's audio sync. - Random kernel panics while using Logic 9, Garageband 11 with an Apogee Duet - all software fully updated. One time it froze while not doing anything - logic was simply open and sitting there. Using iTunes through the Duet seems fine. - Pops and crackles using Presonus Firestudio.
I've tried wiping my software and reinstalling everything. I'm using a MBP 5,3 2.8Ghz Core 2 Duo 4GB RAM, Snow Leopard (10.6.5) with the latest updates. I'm going to try an Apogee One which is USB, but I'd really like to use a firewire interface. If there's something wrong with my firewire port, I'd like it taken care of. My machine is under applecare 3 year warranty. I don't think this is an easy thing to prove though.
I successfully installed XP via Bootcamp and my XP audio software Sampitude. I did also install the MOTU traveler using newest drivers. However, it does not comply perfectly. I was installed alright, but when using it, it doesn't work properly. MME seems to work, but doesn't. ASIO doesn't work at all. Basically it crashes the program, but if you just unplug it, everything works fine again, using the internal audio.
iMac CD 1.8 here. W/e using my iMacs internal Mic I get a really high pitched noise on the recording. I'm assuming its from the computer. Is it normal or should I get it fixed?
I have a 1.8ghz G5 iMac with ambient light sensor. When it is on there is a noticeable high pitched whine that is quite loud. It gets even louder if the fan runs more.
If I replaced the fan would this solve the problem or could it be the power supply?
I just bought and received a new 21.5'' iMac and love it but the screen is making a high pitched noise, similar to a dog whistle. It's that sound that isn't loud but pierces through your brain. And the brighter the backlight is, the louder is gets. I love this machine but I don't think it should be doing this and it bothers the heck out of me. I called Apple and all they said was to bring it to the Genius Bar.
I am using iTunes with a Tascam US-122L audio interface. It worked perfectly fine until yesterday evening, and now iTunes absolutely refuses to play any music when the Tascam is connected. I click a song title and the diamond slider does not move, the song stays at 0:00, and the "play" button doesn't change to the "pause" button. It seemed to have started doing this after I exported a song into iTunes from Audio Hijack, which I downloaded to capture some audio from Logic Pro.
I've tried everything, from restarting my computer, to reinstalling the Tascam drivers to reinstalling iTunes.
iTunes works just fine except for the "playing songs" part, which is it's major selling point. It works perfectly fine when the Tascam isn't connected.
I've heard of a lot of people with similar problems but none of the solutions I've seen have worked. Anyone got any ideas?
Just got my new i7 in the mail today after waiting for the refresh for 5 months and it has that stupid high pitched noise that you get when you adjust the brightness. I returned four of these things at the beginning of the year (2 HD failures, 1 power source failure, 1 DOA), one that had the hd failure also had this same high pitched noise.
I love these computers (minus the complete lack of quality control), so I don't want to switch back to PC, but I am at my wits end here. Apple already gave me $150 off this computer for me trouble, but I just don't know if its worth the hassle anymore. I am returning it for sure, but would you ask for more compensation, maybe a ram upgrade or something? I don't like to be the guy who asks for free crap, but the way I see it, they can give me another hundred $, or I can go back to pc and they lose a customer for life.
If you're having this problem, try adjusting your brightness. I was experiencing this issue today, and depending on where my brightness slider was... it got worse, better, to non-existant.
I have the Mac Pro and I have an external hard drive that I connect via the front FireWire panel on the Mac Pro. When the drive is off and the FireWire cable is connected to the computer, I get a "buzz" in the speakers. When I turn on the drive or disconnect the cable, the buzzing is gone? Any ideas?
Just got my 15 LED SR Macbook Pro. When I plug my bose speakers in at my desk and listen to itunes, I am getting a static pop sound. Should I take it back or is it fixable? By the way, LG panel and no yellow 1/3 of screen. Initially thought it was yellow, but I calibrated it, and now it only looks yellow if viewed from the side. Head on, white. One thing I have noticed, when I watch movies on it in the dark with the brightness turned down (cause this thing is a torch), I am getting quick flashes when a screen has high contrast light and dark. I am very sensative to LCD flat panel TVs that use a colorwheel. Like a JVC dilila, I see rainbows! Is that normal for an led flat panel to see "quick white flashes of light"?
I'm a recent PC to iMac convert and have hooked up my iMac to my TV receiver (DVI to HDMI connector and a Toslink cable to the audio). The issue is as soon as I plug in the audio connector the iMac speakers stop working. I'd like to leave the connector plugged in and still be able to use the iMac speakers. Of course when I play a movie on the TV I'd just mute the iMac speakers.
Trying to figure out if something is up with mine and a buddies machine specifically or they are all buggered....
Please post if you have an audio pop or click type sound that is intermittent (every few minutes or couple hours) on your i5 or i7 machine while playing audio through external speakers.
If you have it, please describe your situation as it occurs so we can perhaps isolate it:
I.e. Plugged in / on battery, programs running, usb plugged in, etc.
Mine happens whether on battery or not, iTunes, games, movies, Locked in video card...
I'm looking for a good quality Audio Interface for my iMac, i work with MIDI only so i won't be needing tons of ins & outs for vocals, mics, live instruments etc, the only thing I'll be needing to connect is a Digital Piano (MIDI ports) and a pair of Monitor Speakers. what are the best AI brands out there for a iMac ?
Okay, So i have my Unibody Macbook Pro (late 2009) hooked up to external speakers (RCA Home Theater system with a standard audio cable). Everything works fine and there is no buzz or sound except for the music of course until I plug my printer in. I know the obvious solution is to unplug the printer when listening to music but the printer is shared and other people print off of it etc. and I was wondering if anyone knew why this happens.
I just bought a pair of the Rokit 5 external speakers. When I plug them into a Mac Pro (Tower) I get a high-pitched hum from the speakers each time I try to play a sound. So if I go into System Preferences/Audio, and I try to play a sound, the high-pitch is heard as the sound plays, and for a second or two after, then it goes away, and is heard again each time I try to play a sound. Same with when I play something thru iTunes or any of my audio apps.
If do the exact same thing playing from a Macbook, I do not have that problem at all, the sound is nice and clear with no high-pitch sound.
I have the speakers plugged in using 1/4 inch jacks to an external sound card (MBox), and this audio card is plugged USB into the Mac.
I have a Mac Pro 2x 2.66GHz Dual-Core (4 Cores) Xeon 5150 (Early 2006).The internal speaker chimes when I start up even though I have external speakers connected to the analog output on the back.
I have a 1.86ghz 128GB SSD Rev B Macbook Air. The first one I had made a high pitch whining noise when the processor was idling or under light load. It was a very very high frequency noise, and you could only really hear it when the room was totally quiet - or unless you put your head near the top left side of the keyboard (where the CPU is located). A bit of googling and it seemed that older Macbook Pros also seemed to have had this exact problem.
I took it to the Apple Store and a Genius there took it back and said he could hear it as well. He offered to go through the repair process but since that would have taken awhile, I got an exchange instead from where I bought it from. Unfortunately, this new MBA also makes the same noise but to a slightly lesser degree (though it's possible that the frequency range isn't as high so it's not as piercing... hard to tell though).
Since this is my second RevB Macbook Air with the problem. I realize most people have lower noise sensitivity than me, so you might not notice it unless you place your ear to the top left of the keyboard. (And just to be clear, this is not a fan noise or a noise from the SSD - which don't make noises anyways. I am 100% sure this high pitched noise is coming from the CPU or somewhere on the logic board.)
It's the 2008 model MacBook Pro with the 9600m gt 512 card.
So, I just noticed that when I have my MacBook Pro in High Performance mode it emits an high pitched noise when the fans are running around 6.2k RPM and the CPU and GPU is around 63c. The noise follows the speed of fans, and at idle the noise is gone.
I have uploaded a video of it on youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HioRgTNpNRA
