Electrical Buzzing noise coming from Studio Display

[D3F3ND3R16]

so, maybe an update form my side, it drives me absolutely insane. sometimes its louder then my music...
one time it was so loud that I went instantly into the kitchen (room next to the room where my Mac is) because I heard such an load buzzing, I thought my induction oven is about to explode.. this sometimes make also an buzzing sound when I activate boosting. but I was so wrong, It was coming from the Display again, but somehow reflecting form the wall or whatever, I thought its coming from the other room.
Today I escalated it to Apple and this was pretty interesting...
i had contact with 3 people via chat and one via phone.
The Chat guy was pretty friendly and just asked 3 short questions, firmware, connections, an electric car charger in the same house, stuff like that. 2min later he told me to make an short check, now listen:

he said: unplug the USB-C going from the display to the Mac Studio on the Mac Side, wait and see if it disappears, reconnect and tell me what's happening.

AND!!! The buzzing was fading away in about 1 second after pulling the plug, it was silent as ****. I plugged it in again and the buzzing was slowly building up again within 1-2 seconds. Like someone turns the volume up.

he said then the reason is that the ASP is getting power from the Mac and from the Power Plug. there seems to be some kind of problem that needs to be solved.

he told me then that I will receive an call from the next level. said and ring ring.. I got the call.
This guy then told me to send him a video with the sound and he will escalade it to Cupertino tomorrow. he will add this to his personal cases now. He gave me personal contact line directly to him and his working times in the following weeks in details.

but still there is no solution offered yet. I will update here as soon as I know more. Stay tuned.
and if possible try that thing too, does the display alone also buzz? mine doesn't buzz if I pull the USB-C from the Mac.

 

[Indominus]

so, maybe an update form my side, it drives me absolutely insane. sometimes its louder then my music...
one time it was so loud that I went instantly into the kitchen (room next to the room where my Mac is) because I heard such an load buzzing, I thought my induction oven is about to explode.. this sometimes make also an buzzing sound when I activate boosting. but I was so wrong, It was coming from the Display again, but somehow reflecting form the wall or whatever, I thought its coming from the other room.
Today I escalated it to Apple and this was pretty interesting...
i had contact with 3 people via chat and one via phone.
The Chat guy was pretty friendly and just asked 3 short questions, firmware, connections, an electric car charger in the same house, stuff like that. 2min later he told me to make an short check, now listen:

he said: unplug the USB-C going from the display to the Mac Studio on the Mac Side, wait and see if it disappears, reconnect and tell me what's happening.

AND!!! The buzzing was fading away in about 1 second after pulling the plug, it was silent as ****. I plugged it in again and the buzzing was slowly building up again within 1-2 seconds. Like someone turns the volume up.

he said then the reason is that the ASP is getting power from the Mac and from the Power Plug. there seems to be some kind of problem that needs to be solved.

he told me then that I will receive an call from the next level. said and ring ring.. I got the call.
This guy then told me to send him a video with the sound and he will escalade it to Cupertino tomorrow. he will add this to his personal cases now. He gave me personal contact line directly to him and his working times in the following weeks in details.

but still there is no solution offered yet. I will update here as soon as I know more. Stay tuned.
and if possible try that thing too, does the display alone also buzz? mine doesn't buzz if I pull the USB-C from the Mac.

not to be that guy, but isn't it obvious that the buzzing goes away when you unplug the display?

when you unplug the display the screen turns off and the load of the display is next to zero, especially with the display running on the A13 bionic which is a mobile chip so its standby power draw is as low as it can possibly be.

this buzzing issue is because of the power supply design. when you unplug it, the power supply has 0 load hence no buzzing.

the buzzing noise amplitude and frequency changes when you change the brightness. changing the brightness is changing the load the power supply sees. when the load changes the buzzing noise that we hear changes. unplugging makes the buzzing goes away because there is no load.

this buzzing issue isn't going to get fixed imo until the power supply design changes on new production models. i honestly dont see this happening because i doubt apple would accept this flaw in their design. i wouldn't be surprised if this buzzing issue is fixed in the hypotheical Studio Display 2 when they fix their flawed power supply.

Also i dont understand what that chat guy was trying to say about the Mac Studio supplying power to the ASD. in what instance would that ever happen? the ASD is plugged in to the mains, why would it pull power from the source?

i've tested this buzzing issue by plugging the ASD to an iPad Pro, same buzzing issue. the iPro Pro is 100% not supplying power to the ASD, the buzzing happens with the iPad Pro as well because the screen is turned on and displaying something, hence load on the power supply

 

[Donga120]

Udpate: I finally got the ferrite bead and unfortunately they do not work for my ASD. It was still worth a try.

How did you get on? Do you live with it?

 

[JVNPhoto]

How did you get on? Do you live with it?

My problem never got solved but I did find the cause. In the apartment building we have chargers for EV's. These are on a totally separate circuit. But one of the cars, a Renault ZOE, is creating RF interference because of the transformer that's in this vehicle. I was able to verify out that the buzzing in my screen is coming from that interference. There's no solution for it aside from buying a very expensive filter.

What I thought was really interesting is that the interference is coming from a circuit that is in no way connected to the circuit of our home. It's in the same building but it's on separate circuit boards. Once I found out that this Renault ZOE was the cause, I was able to find numerous other people who complain about this interference. In some cases it's a lot more extreme such as other appliances making very loud buzzing sounds. In other words, if you live in a house, it could be coming from your neighbours house. I know this sounds strange but again, I was able to verify the connection.

Example: https://www.speakev.com/threads/charging-noise-weird-one.5994/page-2

 

[xraydoc]

My problem never got solved but I did find the cause. In the apartment building we have chargers for EV's. These are on a totally separate circuit. But one of the cars, a Renault ZOE, is creating RF interference because of the transformer that's in this vehicle. I was able to verify out that the buzzing in my screen is coming from that interference. There's no solution for it aside from buying a very expensive filter.

What I thought was really interesting is that the interference is coming from a circuit that is in no way connected to the circuit of our home. It's in the same building but it's on separate circuit boards. Once I found out that this Renault ZOE was the cause, I was able to find numerous other people who complain about this interference. In some cases it's a lot more extreme such as other appliances making very loud buzzing sounds. In other words, if you live in a house, it could be coming from your neighbours house. I know this sounds strange but again, I was able to verify the connection.

Example: https://www.speakev.com/threads/charging-noise-weird-one.5994/page-2

Interesting. A couple other people also mentioned EV chargers as a potential cause of their interference.

I drive an EV as well, but fortunately it's never caused this kind of interference for me. Or if it has, it happens at night when I'm not using my ASD (my EV is set to charge at night and usually doesn't start until like 2am or something).

 

[JVNPhoto]

Interesting. A couple other people also mentioned EV chargers as a potential cause of their interference.

I drive an EV as well, but fortunately it's never caused this kind of interference for me. Or if it has, it happens at night when I'm not using my ASD (my EV is set to charge at night and usually doesn't start until like 2am or something).

I think what struck me the most was that the EV in question is not even on the same circuit, or near the circuit board of our home. I meant to write the Renault ZOE's inverter, not transformer. This tiny car has a very "loud" inverter. You can actually hear it when that car is charging.

On a side note: I talked to a technician of the company who installed all the EV chargers in our building and he mentioned he has seen issues with Renault ZOE in this capacity several times before. In some cases it was such a car in a neighbouring house.

 

[ZMacintosh]

I have a few of ASD's and a Mac Studio and I havent encountered buzzing from the displays but noticed when I have all ASD's powered on my integrated amplifier has a slight buzz (its noticeable when you're really close to it)

 

[Indominus]

My problem never got solved but I did find the cause. In the apartment building we have chargers for EV's. These are on a totally separate circuit. But one of the cars, a Renault ZOE, is creating RF interference because of the transformer that's in this vehicle. I was able to verify out that the buzzing in my screen is coming from that interference. There's no solution for it aside from buying a very expensive filter.

What I thought was really interesting is that the interference is coming from a circuit that is in no way connected to the circuit of our home. It's in the same building but it's on separate circuit boards. Once I found out that this Renault ZOE was the cause, I was able to find numerous other people who complain about this interference. In some cases it's a lot more extreme such as other appliances making very loud buzzing sounds. In other words, if you live in a house, it could be coming from your neighbours house. I know this sounds strange but again, I was able to verify the connection.

Example: https://www.speakev.com/threads/charging-noise-weird-one.5994/page-2

wow lol. im curious as to how you were able to narrow it down and verify that the Renault ZOE was the culprit?

 

[MajorFubar]

This is a brilliant example of how Apple's multibillion dollar design team in their no-expense-spared 'labs' have been blindsided by the imperfections of what the rest of us call reality. They probably didn't try using it on anything but an immaculately-clean and filtered mains supply. Meanwhile in the real world, it's likely going to be plugged into the same supply powering a dozen or more things that can contaminate the mains with noise, not least, as it turns out, allegedly, Renault Zoes on charge.

EDIT: A mains-conditioner or probably more likely a mains-regenerator would sort this issue, not that anyone should have to do that, and decent mains-regenerators aren't cheap either.

 

[Franz777]

How did you get on? Do you live with it?

Yes, the buzzing sounds are still there. As others have mentioned now, it's also most likely due to the charging station for electric cars in our house.

By now, my ears have gotten used to it .... or I just have tinitus ... 😵

 

[andonemorething]

I really wish Apple could just own up to their ****ups than making us go crazy like Monica.

FWIW, I got used to it now.

 

[fifteenforty]

This has been driving me bonkers.

It seems to only occur when I have the air conditioner/heat pump running, which is all the time in Melbourne (Australia) winter. I'm going to try to ferrite beads on the AC cord and see how I go. High current draw from the display (running my 16 inch MacBook Pro at high load) causes the noise to get much louder. Line voltage is about 250V AC.

 

[TECK]

It took a long time for me to find an APC C2 filter and get it delivered.

I live in an old house and own an XDR, but I had a similar issue with my musical instruments picking up a buzz sound. Other equipment would not have issues. The only way I fixed permanently the issue was with a Furman M-8X2 conditioner. No other product fixed the crazy generated noise from electrical outlets.

I would pick one from Amazon and try it. Worst, you can refund it. Unless the Lutron switch produces some sort of electromagnetic waves that interact directly with the speakers? In this case, the Furman conditioner would not do anything.

I would definitely try Furman, let us know. In my case the sinewave UPS I had connected did not do anything to fix the issue.

 

[fifteenforty]

This has been driving me bonkers.

It seems to only occur when I have the air conditioner/heat pump running, which is all the time in Melbourne (Australia) winter. I'm going to try to ferrite beads on the AC cord and see how I go. High current draw from the display (running my 16 inch MacBook Pro at high load) causes the noise to get much louder. Line voltage is about 250V AC.

Multiple ferrite beads didn't work :-(

I also tried connecting the Studio Display to my OWC Thunderbolt 4 Dock so that the internal PSU couldn't power the MacBook Pro. Also didn't fix it.

 

[Alakiha]

I wonder how wide spread is this issue!
Since I bought a unit 3 months ago and returned it because of the same issue! Now I have changed house! I wonder should I give it another try?!

 

[xraydoc]

I wonder how wide spread is this issue!
Since I bought a unit 3 months ago and returned it because of the same issue! Now I have changed house! I wonder should I give it another try?!

From everything I've read, it seems much more likely that it's a design sensitivity to certain kinds of noise on the AC line. The evidence is that people who've exchanged their units report the same problem. But those same units in another location produce no noise.

So, since you're now in a different location, it might be worth another try if you're still interested in the ASD.

 

[TECK]

From everything I've read, it seems much more likely that it's a design sensitivity to certain kinds of noise on the AC line.

That's good to know, it means the Furman M-8X2 conditioner might fix the issue, like it did for my musical instruments. I'm wondering if anyone is willing to try it and and report back? I personally use a Pro Display XDR, so it does not applies to my setup, and is also plugged into Furman conditioner.

 

[zoga]

Hi there. Anyone with a buzzing ASD ... did you return the unit or kept it in spite of everything?

 

[jabbr]

I had one and returned because of the buzzing. Also wasn't too thrilled about the mediocre contrast, but the buzzing was unacceptable.

 

[zoga]

I had one and returned because of the buzzing. Also wasn't too thrilled about the mediocre contrast, but the buzzing was unacceptable.

Thanks a bunch for your response. That's exactly how I feel. Once I got over the price tag thing and made the splurge I thought I will at least get a wonderful display that would last me for years. However, what did you end up doing? A standard 4K 27" panel instead of an ASD?

 

[jabbr]

I've just been rocking the 14" solo, getting by pretty much fine. I do miss having an actual desktop setup with a monitor though. Lately I've been considering grabbing one of those old 24" 4K LGs that go for around 400 bucks.

It would be nice to have something decent as a holdover until apple releases a modern 5K screen, ideally with proper electrical shielding, too! Silly design defects like that lead me to believe it was a rushed product.

 

[zoga]

I've just been rocking the 14" solo, getting by pretty much fine. I do miss having an actual desktop setup with a monitor though. Lately I've been considering grabbing one of those old 24" 4K LGs that go for around 400 bucks.

It would be nice to have something decent as a holdover until apple releases a modern 5K screen, ideally with proper electrical shielding, too! Silly design defects like that lead me to believe it was a rushed product.

That's great to hear. I'm still deciding whether I should return the ASD or not. I probably will be doing this. Such a shame because I really do enjoy using it (the nano-texture version). Definitely agree on the rush status of the product itself.

 

[jabbr]

Yeah I hear ya, quite a bummer. The ASD does have a lot going for it. I loved the resolution, color accuracy, brightness, aesthetics and reflection handling (even on the glossy one)

I suppose you might have luck with a power conditioner. That's something I wanted to try but didn't get around to it. Something like this Furman might potentially squash line interference.

 

[RyanRoberts]

My problem never got solved but I did find the cause. In the apartment building we have chargers for EV's. These are on a totally separate circuit. But one of the cars, a Renault ZOE, is creating RF interference because of the transformer that's in this vehicle. I was able to verify out that the buzzing in my screen is coming from that interference. There's no solution for it aside from buying a very expensive filter.

What I thought was really interesting is that the interference is coming from a circuit that is in no way connected to the circuit of our home. It's in the same building but it's on separate circuit boards. Once I found out that this Renault ZOE was the cause, I was able to find numerous other people who complain about this interference. In some cases it's a lot more extreme such as other appliances making very loud buzzing sounds. In other words, if you live in a house, it could be coming from your neighbours house. I know this sounds strange but again, I was able to verify the connection.

Example: https://www.speakev.com/threads/charging-noise-weird-one.5994/page-2

I'm a bit late here but I can confirm the Renault Zoe causes this issue, because I have a Zoe 😆 In my case it actually makes the problem worse rather than being the sole cause. During the day there's a buzzing noise I've managed to get used to, but after roughly 7pm it get's considerably worse. Or when I plug in the Zoe to charge it becomes excruciatingly bad.

 

[zoga]

Yeah I hear ya, quite a bummer. The ASD does have a lot going for it. I loved the resolution, color accuracy, brightness, aesthetics and reflection handling (even on the glossy one)

I suppose you might have luck with a power conditioner. That's something I wanted to try but didn't get around to it. Something like this Furman might potentially squash line interference.

Thanks! However, I've already tried with such a solution but had no success with it.

The state of affairs in my case is as follows. ASD is going back to the retailer and they will try to repair it – don't ask me how. I hope things will sort out eventually. Fingers crossed.🤞🏻

P.S. Oh, man! The nano-texture is growing on me. Big time!