Connected Mini to stereo, have a humming noise

tilttilt
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
Hi



I connected my stereo to my Mac Mini from the headphone jack. I can hear the music now through my stereo, but it is at a very low volume and there is a very loud hum that is very irritating. The hum disappears when I disconnect the cable from the Mini to the stereo.



Any ideas what could be causing this and how I can get rid of it please?



Thank you and cheers

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 14
    audiopollutionaudiopollution Posts: 3,226member
    The cable you have may not be seated correctly in the mini, or it needs replacing.



    Try wiggling the cable where it's plugged into the mini ... if that doesn't help, try getting a new cable.
  • Reply 2 of 14
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Two things it could be:



    1) 60Hz hum - make sure that every component is plugged into a three-prong grounded outlet.



    2) Reverse the speaker wires, if they are the single red/black pair. Most speakers prefer one 'right' way of connecting them up, but some are really persnickety, and you can get a low volume and hum.
  • Reply 3 of 14
    tilttilt Posts: 396member
    Audiopollution and Kickaha, thanks for the prompt responses.



    Audiopollution, the cable is seated properly, I tried hooking it both to the headphone socket on the Mini and also to the USB thing, either way the hum is there.



    Kickaha, everything has a 3-prong plug and plugged into a properly grounded outlet, and the speaker wires are a red and black pair, they are connected to the red and black receptacles. I do not have the hum if I use the stereo in the normal way, to play CDs or tapes or listen to the radio etc., the hum is only there when I try to listen to the computer.



    Thanks again to you two. Anything else I can try?



    Cheers
  • Reply 4 of 14
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Weird... I wonder if the outlet itself isn't grounded properly? I've seen that before... 3 prong outlet, no actual grounding. It sure sounds like a bad ground to me. \ Maybe grab an outlet tester?



    I got nuthin', sorry.
  • Reply 5 of 14
    tilttilt Posts: 396member
    No problem Kickaha, thanks for trying



    Cheers
  • Reply 6 of 14
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    You can pick up a ground loop isolator at Radio shack for like $20.



    I also have a ground problem but re-wired my system to minimize it. Pain in the arse though.



    EDIT: Wrong word!
  • Reply 7 of 14
    vox barbaravox barbara Posts: 2,021member
    Maybe a silly question, but what about the tunes on

    your Mac mini itself? How did they come into the computer

    and are they all, say, neatly recorded/streamed/ripped

    into the computer? Listen to the tunes via earphones,

    do you hear humming noise?

    Maybe there was always this hum and you just wasn't

    aware of it, because you was listen through some inferior

    speakers. Maybe...
  • Reply 8 of 14
    newnew Posts: 3,244member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by tilt

    Audiopollution and Kickaha, thanks for the prompt responses.



    Audiopollution, the cable is seated properly, I tried hooking it both to the headphone socket on the Mini and also to the USB thing, either way the hum is there.



    Kickaha, everything has a 3-prong plug and plugged into a properly grounded outlet, and the speaker wires are a red and black pair, they are connected to the red and black receptacles. I do not have the hum if I use the stereo in the normal way, to play CDs or tapes or listen to the radio etc., the hum is only there when I try to listen to the computer.



    Thanks again to you two. Anything else I can try?



    Cheers



    How far do you have the volume turend up on the mini?
  • Reply 9 of 14
    vox barbaravox barbara Posts: 2,021member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by New

    How far do you have the volume turned up on the mini?



    Yes another question.
  • Reply 10 of 14
    tilttilt Posts: 396member
    Ebby, New and Vox, thank you all for your responses and sorry for the dely in my response, I was away.



    Vox, the tunes on my Mac are good quality, no hum, no clicks, no nothing. I ripped my CDs at 192 kbps and I do not have any problems when i listen to them through my headphones (studio-quality monitors actually, so no cheap stuff here ) I only had the problem using my stereo as my external speakers.



    New, it did not matyter what the volume on my Mac was, even if it was at zero or maximum, the hum stayed and never changed volume.



    Anyway, oddly enough, the hum is no longer there. It mysteriously disappeared, I have no idea why. I changed nothing. It just disappeared. Weird!



    I do thank you all for your assistance. I hope someday to be of assistance to some novice like me



    Cheers
  • Reply 11 of 14
    vox barbaravox barbara Posts: 2,021member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by tilt

    Ebby, New and Vox, thank you all for your responses and sorry for the dely in my response, I was away.



    Vox, the tunes on my Mac are good quality, no hum, no clicks, no nothing. I ripped my CDs at 192 kbps and I do not have any problems when i listen to them through my headphones (studio-quality monitors actually, so no cheap stuff here ) I only had the problem using my stereo as my external speakers.



    New, it did not matyter what the volume on my Mac was, even if it was at zero or maximum, the hum stayed and never changed volume.



    Anyway, oddly enough, the hum is no longer there. It mysteriously disappeared, I have no idea why. I changed nothing. It just disappeared. Weird!



    I do thank you all for your assistance. I hope someday to be of assistance to some novice like me



    Cheers



    Well, maybe the disappearance of the hum is somewhat related

    to our replies? Good carma anyways.
  • Reply 12 of 14
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    Just curious: How long is the cable run between your mini and the stereo? Anything over 15 feet or so could be problematic.
  • Reply 13 of 14
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by CosmoNut

    Just curious: How long is the cable run between your mini and the stereo? Anything over 15 feet or so could be problematic.



    Ahh, but not with a grounding problem. THAT MUCH interference would be caused by some MAJOR power consumption.



    In my case, the length of the wire has no effect on the hum. The most effective way to minimize it is to rearrange the power distribution.
  • Reply 14 of 14
    tilttilt Posts: 396member
    CosmoNut, my cable is around 15 feet, but this is a cable that I had used before for the same purpose with the same stereo and I never had problems. and like I said, somehow the problem has resolved itself, I don't know how



    Cheers
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