iChat Video Resulting in Mic Feedback..HELP!

davekarn said:

Hey guys, my wife and I each have MBA's and use the video chat often because we are in the Army and geographically separated quite a bit. Although it worked out fine initially, we are starting to hear what seems to be a loud screeching noise, like microphone feedback, whenever we chat. Has anyone else experienced this and rectified it? I would call AppleCare but they are closed right now. Thanks in advance for any input, I appreciate it!

~Dave

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I just turn my volume down on both ends; at one time I used a headset and that worked with higher volumes too

seems to be something with the air... cause anytime I chat to anyone on my imac I don't have this issue, and then when chatting to the same people on my Air, I get this same result... the only I've rectified is either with headphones, really low volume, or muting my mic when I'm not talking.

davekarn said:

Yeah I called AppleCare yesterday and determined that it was actually the microphone in the air. Whenever I muted my microphone in the chat with my wife, I could hear the screeching stop on her end. As a test to make sure it wasn't her speakers or something, I did the same with my iMac, and that horrible screeching noise was coming out of my iMac. The AppleCare Rep said that evidently my mic is too sensitive and needs to be repaired . Oh well...

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I experienced the exact same symptoms on my Air. Ultimately I ended up returning it yesterday after 2 months of ownership (working with my local Apple Store) and will continue using and older MBP until these and other issues I experienced (High heat, core failures, poor performance)are worked out.

I also experienced repeated performance issues with ichat after about 5 - 10 minutes of use. Just wondering if you have experienced similar performance issues in ichat?

Did you try using a headset? It would seem like this would be the best solution, although it will tie you to the computer.

This might sound strange to you, but I am in a similar situation, and when I chat with my wife, we use a phone for audio, and turn off the microphone on the chat. The quality is much better that way. With unlimited long distance on her phone, we can iChat all day.

I'm not sure if cell phones would work in your location(s), but we use ours with iChat every day...