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Cricky

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 16, 2010
6
0
I'm getting very distorted audio via headphones on my 4th gen ipad. I've tried different headphones and tried resetting settings yet the problem persists. I'm think the cause of the problem was when I tried using the iRig with a synth plugged into it. I'm guessing the voltage has exceeded the input voltage threshold and fried something. That said, I didn't discover the problem until a while after this session, it may have occurred before this.

I'd assumed it was a hardware issue so I replaced the headphone jack flex cable but it was still there. The iPad is well out of warranty otherwise of have taken it to the local Genius Bar. I'm an electronics technician and was happy enough to work on it myself.

I can't record the audio at the minute to upload an example so I'll try to explain the problem.

When the earphones are in and music is playing, it sounds very distorted/overdriven. Even with the volume turned right down. As the volume is increased it gets louder and stays distorted until around 50% where the right ear cuts out and goes silent. The left stays as is until around 75/80% volume where it suddenly becomes clear and sounds as it should. As it's increased further, the left comes back loud and distorted and the right goes back to distorted sound again right up to 100% volume.

Could it be something on the logic board? Or could it even be a software issue? I'd really appreciate any help anyone can give me with this. Need to get proper sound out of my iPad again or I can no longer use any of the audio apps I bought it for.

Should also add, I did a restore earlier through iTunes too so that may rule out a software issue.

Thanks for any help!
 

thegreati

macrumors regular
Feb 22, 2012
215
0
If this distorting is ONLY happening with the Audio Jack and no the Loud Speaker as well, I would go forward with an Audio Jack repair. If you are having problems with all forms of audio output, I would look into getting a new device.

Cheers!
 

jdsmusic

macrumors newbie
Oct 5, 2014
1
0
Same Problem, Replacing Headphone Jack and PCB Did Not Fix

I have this exact same problem on iPad. Sound from speakers is fine but output via the headphone jack is totally unusable.
I took it to UbreakIfix where they replaced the headphone jack along with the PCB logic board. It DID NOT fix the problem. They told me it is likely the motherboard and thus would be too expensive to repair.

Did you ever find a solution?

I am going to pursue using a Bluetooth audio receiver to pay back my music, which is what I was using the headphone jack for.
 
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