sound cutting out on my macbook!!! please help

telecasterjoey said:

Hey all the sound on my macbook has been cutting in and out i have no idea what could cause it. It happens with all audio garage band, itunes, you tube everything! i can hear it happening(even with nothing playing) if i have the speakers up loud i can hear the crackles. would it be my sound card? can they overheat? i really have no idea but i am a musician and depend greatly on my macbooks ability to produce sound so help would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks a lot

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I honestly have no idea. The crackling makes me think it could be a hardware problem, but it could be a software issue too. But to make it easier for someone to solve this problem...

What version of Mac OS X are you running?
Have you tried shutting down and restarting the computer?
Does it happen when you play through the computer's built-in speakers, the headphone jack, or both?
Do you have any audio devices (external audio interfaces, etc...) connected? And if so, have you tried disconnecting it then playing something?

telecasterjoey said:

im running leopard 10.5.3 but it has done it with 10.5.2
i have tried all the things you suggested. the thing is it happens randomly.
I think my sound card is overheating is that a possibility? yeah it happens with all audio devices. headphones, computer speakers. other speakers. I'm lost.

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Yeah, it probably would be a good idea to give Apple a call and see what they think.

Anyone else here have any ideas?

The crackles might just be interference from other things. Describe your setup and what exactly you're plugging into the MacBook.

IF it's completely cutting out for seemingly no reason, it might just be overheated or something. I couldn't reallly say.

However, when I plug in my headphones or speakers, I sometimes get popping or weird sounding noises when it's just sitting there or after I pause music in iTunes or pause a DVD. It's probably my cellphone *which sits next to the laptop most of the time* or my even something else. It could be dirty power with the poppping and crackling. A number of things could cause this problem.

RAM weirdness? It's worth a try, if you've upgraded it from what it came with. Have you?

(happening to me too)
This is problem that is somewhat known SPECIFIC for Core Duo Macbooks (maybe IMacs/Pro's during that same release) after Tiger 10.4.11 (airport update), and Leopard's 10.5.2 and 10.5.3 updates.

Newer models arent effected by the problem. You can check your console.log to see the problem in action. The only way i know for sure to fix the problem is to downgrade your OS, and manually upgrade to an older release.

General Symptoms:
1) Stuttering, freezing audio/computer
2) Internet connection drops briefly when happening
3) Occurs more when heavy load (every 2-5 minutes if something is realyl intensive; less so without).

I wish 10.5.3 fixed this problem but no such luck. How it slipped by apple in two releases i don't know... I'm out of applecare, but this is really unacceptable

I wish there was a way to really draw attention to this problem. Not as widely known because it only effects older models sporatically.

i had some issues like this (crackles) but i'm on a core duo and solved it by going from tiger to leopard - but to check, turn off the airport on your macbook to see if that eliminates the problem.

I don't know to much about my macbook but i just bought mine in November, its the white one i think its the one with an intel prosessor or something like that, i have OSx on it, i did not upgrade to leopard even though i had the option for 20 bucks.

recently i have been having the same problem i have been recording music with my keyboard in garageband and it has started crackling, and Youtube videos are not working, whell my you tube videos work but no one elses, weird eh?

is this the same problem you guys are having? Should i call apple about this?

same problem

I am currently having the audio problem as well. Mine just started yesterday after I interrupted a software update.

I have an intel MBP 2.4 ghz. 2gb ram. The audio "skips" and "crackles" constantly and I have no idea what the cause is. It does not matter what program is running, it still skips. I have also tried turning off Airport, but that does not fix it either.

I finished updating my computer all the way, and the problem still persists.

Any help is appreciated!

Dust In The Headphone Socket

--- I had the same prob - went to the sound setup in sys pref - noticed it was jumping between internal speakers and external... then I realised there must just be some dust in the headphone jack.... gave it a good blow and voila - no more cutting out...

Dust In The Headphone Socket Causing Sound to Cut in and Out

spinoza82 said:

--- I had the same prob - went to the sound setup in sys pref - noticed it was jumping between internal speakers and external... then I realised there must just be some dust in the headphone jack.... gave it a good blow and voila - no more cutting out...

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I think Spinoza82 is correct. I had the same problem on my MacBook, and it had nothing to do with any particular update or system or modem issue. I could see the sound icon which I display in the menu bar cutting in and out along with the sound. I also noticed a red LED light in the headphone jack blinking on and off at the same time.

I blew in it like good old spinoza suggested, and I could see that it was effecting the problem. When I inserted my headphone plug that seemed to effect it too. So it does look like dust or some kind of a short or looseness to do with the headphone jack or its connections is responsible.

Has anyone taken their computer in to an Apple store for this?
Let us know what happened...