Intel iMac sound artifacting

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jonejone
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Anyone with an Intel iMac, can you confirm something? Stick your headphones into the heaphone port of the imac and listen for interference. I am getting some kind of annoying feedback. And when the volume is turned up and down, other artifacting can be heard.



Edit: discovered unplugging the mighty mouse fixed the first problem, but I still get weird "after-noises" when adjusting the volume (or just pausing a song) on headphones. Sometimes I tend to get a crackle from normal audio use as well, like with GarageBand, whereas the old iMac didn't do this. I hope this isn't a result of moving to Intel and their integrated audio solution or anything like that, and can be fixed via an update.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    ionyzionyz Posts: 491member
    Sounds like my onboard PC audio, Realtek AC97. It skips in-game and during iTunes occasionally and has tons of interference. But that is probably do to some group loop or something I don't know haha. Disturbing though, none of my PowerPC Macs have this problem.
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  • Reply 2 of 6
    jonejone Posts: 102member
    Man, there's always gotta be something, every frickin time. I long for the day when I can drop several thousand into a computer and actually be completely satisfied for once. Maybe I'll invest in an external audio solution if an update doesn't resolve this crap.
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  • Reply 3 of 6
    ionyzionyz Posts: 491member
    I hear ya man. The last time I dropped that much into a computer was back in early 2001 on a Dual Processor Power Mac, first of its kind. Was pretty psyched about it and--except for an OS with horrible stability--it was money well spent. Today I just dropped more money on a processor upgrade (the third one)



    Maybe it can be fixed with an update, but I know there is no update to make my crappy onboard PC audio better. Just have to use external gear
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  • Reply 4 of 6
    spinnettispinnetti Posts: 20member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by IonYz

    Sounds like my onboard PC audio, Realtek AC97. It skips in-game and during iTunes occasionally and has tons of interference. But that is probably do to some group loop or something I don't know haha. Disturbing though, none of my PowerPC Macs have this problem.





    I haven't tried headphones, but I've been getting audio skips when streaming to my stereo across airport express. Never happened on my G5 iMac
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  • Reply 5 of 6
    robin hoodrobin hood Posts: 513member
    Generally speaking, PowerPC Mac's have had very good onboard sound cards. For example, the onboard sound on my PowerBook G4 is simply exceptionally good, with no interference of any kind (at least none that is audible, even when amplified).



    In contrast, PC's tend to suck at this. And now, Apple is using an Intel-designed solution, which might not be as good as their in-house design before? Not sure.
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  • Reply 6 of 6
    pbpb Posts: 4,255member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Robin Hood



    In contrast, PC's tend to suck at this. And now, Apple is using an Intel-designed solution, which might not be as good as their in-house design before? Not sure.



    People say that Apple uses Intel's high definition audio. This could be at the origin of the issue.
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