High-pitched Whine from Firewire Port

[jtabije]

Hello!

I was wondering if anyone was experiencing (or knows anyone who has experienced) the problem that I'm currently having. When I connect my audio interface to my MBP via firewire, a high-pitched (though faint) whine is emitted from the firewire port (or at least, whenever the firewire port is active).

After scouring the internet, I've found other people with the same issue. Even Mac Pro users had the firewire whine, and Apple issued an audio update for them back in '09.

I've thought about bringing it to an Apple Store as I do still have Applecare, but I have no idea how I can recreate this problem on site.

Do you guys have any thoughts? Any would be appreciated.

With thanks,
Jtabije

 

[Intell]

Is the whine coming from the FireWire hardware in the Mac or via the speakers/microphone connected to the FireWire device?

 

[jtabije]

Is the whine coming from the FireWire hardware in the Mac or via the speakers/microphone connected to the FireWire device?

Definitely from the hardware in the Mac, no doubt.. and it's not coming from the speakers (in the Mac) either.

 

[Intell]

I'd say its a hardware based generated and cannot be fixed. Most Macs probably have this noise, but most people can't hear it. My guess is that its caused by the power distribution chips/parts within the Mac. They vibrate at a certain frequency and produce this noise.

 

[jtabije]

That's what I was afraid of. Not everyone out there have firewire interfaces, and even with that, not everyone are audiophiles and listen to every single sound coming from their computer.

I'm even a recent SSD-convert in order to eliminate the horrid whirling noises of HDDs.

So no luck? I guess habituation is the only solution. Gah.