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Skype Squeaking?

E

ejisfun

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 7, 2011
173
4
Hello,

I have a base macbook air 11.6". When I use skype on it, there is a high pitched squeaking noise that happens pretty much randomly. It drives my dog crazy (and the dog on the other end of the call, for that matter). I know this problem isn't with the other person since it doesn't occur if I call on my windows desktop. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Eric
 
E

ejisfun

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 7, 2011
173
4
No, it does not. If it is a feedback problem, then what do I do? Is it a hardware issue or is it fixable?
 
hfg

hfg

macrumors 68040
Dec 1, 2006
3,621
312
Cedar Rapids, IA. USA
The feedback is probably due to the new location for the microphone. In previous Mac laptops, the microphone has been at the top of the display, right next to the camera. In the Air, they moved it down to the left edge, the small perforated area right next to the earphone jack. Unfortunately, the speakers are just on the other side of this edge wall, with the sound exiting through the edge of the keyboard, very close to the mike. :(

I don't know how you can fix the problem without lowering the speaker volume, or using headphones. You might try putting your hand on the left edge of the keyboard to act as sort of a "baffle" and see if that is enough to stop the feedback. Perhaps Apple engineers will find a solution, possibly with a software fix to provide some type of noise canceling of speaker output being picked up by the adjacent mike.

-howard
 
E

ejisfun

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 7, 2011
173
4
I've tried blocking it with my hand, didn't seem to do anything. I guess all we can do is hope for a software update.
 
miles01110

miles01110

macrumors Core
Jul 24, 2006
19,260
36
The Ivory Tower (I'm not coming down)
It's unlikely a software update will do anything. Software cannot change the fact that sound is coming out of a speaker right next to the microphone. There's no good way that I'm aware of that would allow the microphone to distinguish between legitimate sound you want to go through (like your voice) and background sound coming from the speaker (like music).

So, your best bet is to use headphones.
 
hfg

hfg

macrumors 68040
Dec 1, 2006
3,621
312
Cedar Rapids, IA. USA
miles01110 said:
It's unlikely a software update will do anything. Software cannot change the fact that sound is coming out of a speaker right next to the microphone. There's no good way that I'm aware of that would allow the microphone to distinguish between legitimate sound you want to go through (like your voice) and background sound coming from the speaker (like music).

So, your best bet is to use headphones.
Click to expand...

Simplified::)
Just like the concept of noise canceling headphones, you sample the speaker output and invert the signal, then add it to the mike signal, where it cancels out the picked-up sounds originating from the speaker.
 
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