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iPhone Interference Buzzing Sounds in Car Stereo?

MBHockey

MBHockey

macrumors 601
Original poster
Oct 4, 2003
4,063
314
Connecticut
I got the Belkin adaptor so I can hook my iPhone into the AUX port of my head unit in my 2001 VW Jetta, but i can here very audible interference noises coming through my stereo when i do this. Anyone else experiencing this?

The speakers are stock (Monsoon?), the head unit isn't (installed by Circuit City).

Hmm, maybe i'll try turning off WiFi and seeing if that helps. But i noticed GSM phones do this with any kind of speakers -- making the interference noise. My girlfriend's phone set down next to my computer speakers would always do it (my old phone was Verizon, so this never happend.)

Any tips?
 
Mine goes crazy on my computer speakers. Its really, really annoying.

My GSM Treo never did this.
 
GSM phones have a distinctive interference sound when an inbound or outbound call happens and they're close to computer speakers. My Moto PEBL used to exhibit the same kind of interference over my "Transpod" iPod FM adapter for the car. The iPhone works in the Transpod (although it's a sloppy fit), but every so often, there's a very loud GSM interference over the car speakers.

According to an Apple Store person, the iPhone makes connections all by itself for various reasons. He wasn't clear why. Thus the interference when no calls are apparently inbound or outbound.
 
blackberries do this all the time. After a while you just get used to the sound
 
I've noticed this buzzing as well. It'll occur anytime the ATT network is accessed: checking e-mail (on Edge), syncing time, etc. It's annoying, interferes with my sister's computer speakers (not a Mac) and my car stereo.
 
This will happen with almost any GSM phone. I've had two Sony Ericsson phones that do this and have heard countless other people's do this as well. It will occur anytime the phone talks to the network when the phone is within a certain range of any type of powered speaker (some are more sensitive than others). It doesn't surprise me that the iPhone does it as well. GSM must be near the same frequency range as most speaker electronics.
 
sunday888 said:
According to an Apple Store person, the iPhone makes connections all by itself for various reasons. He wasn't clear why. Thus the interference when no calls are apparently inbound or outbound.
Click to expand...

Without going into much detail .... the way GSM works is the phone checks in with the tower at a set interval to see if the tower has any calls waiting to be sent. This helps conserver battery power as the most power hungry device in the phone (the transmitter) isn't always powered on.

When the tower alerts the phone during one of these "check-ins" the phone connects and the call goes through.
 
Hey all, thanks for the responses -- very insightful. So I went out to my car just now, plugged in the iPod to the auxiliary port, and played some songs. I couldn't get the interference to come back. I turned off wifi, forcing it to use edge, and still no interference. I don't know!

Maybe it only happens when browsing sites in Safari. I used it for about 3 minutes on Wifi (iPod playing) and then another three minutes on EDGE (iPod playing again) and it wouldn't interfere. I tried moving it all around to see if there was a "sweet spot" but i came up empty. I'll be more aware next time it happens.
 
I think it might be bogus... Sometimes the interference is happening directly to the speakers and not just the audio output cable...

It seems to me, the only thing that will work to kill the interference is build a farraday cage around all of your speakers/connections (kinda ridiculous though).
 
this is not a bogus product, it's just not meant for GSM interference. it's for when there are ground problems or no ground at all in an audio system. I think people use them in cars a lot as well to eliminate buzz.
 
I'm used to this sound.

I had nextel 5 years ago or so and my phone did this - I called customer service and this was their response:

"Your phone is making that noise because it's so powerful"
 
There isn't much you can do other than buying speakers with more shielding (on the amp), or moving the phone further away from the speakers. Also, the position + rotation of the phone in relation to the speaker amp also makes a huge difference.
 
I used the iCarplay Wireless by Monster for my iPod mini, with no audio interference, and I assumed it'd work with my iPhone.

On friday, I plugged it in, and was prompted to turn it to airplane mode, I told the phone "no," and received NO interference, static, nothin. When I made a call, the phone auto-paused the music, just as it was supposed to. Emails and texts come through without issue as well.

Today was my third day of testing it on my way to work, all without issue.

It even charges the phone too. :D
 
Yeah, it causes the same noise with both my card (Ford) as well as my hubby's (Subaru). I'm good at ignoring it, my hubby not so much so when he's in the car, we use an old iPod for music :D.
 
I'm very close to a solution. Finally!

I've had this problem sense day one. I can't tell you how many products I've purchased, trying to find a way around this problem. I've noticed that the feedback would be it's strongest when I would use my fm transmitter. So bad with some that they were pretty much useless to me. A better alternative was using a modified tape deck adapter. But the problem with that was I had to put it in just the right place. I'm sure I amused many fellow motorist driving next to me wondering what the heck I was doing, slowly waving my iphone around in all directions, as if it were some kind of metal detector, just to find a good spot to set the phone down. I liked using the headphone jack output to connect to my car because it doubled as a nice hands free, when a call came in. I did find that when i used an ipod cigar lighter dock/charger I got no buzzing, But again was not able to talk hands free. So now, a year and change latter, I think i finally got it. I've been working on this film that acts like a sponge for this GSM feedback. It's a kind of alkaline earth salt resin fused into an adhesive polyurethane film. You simply stick it on the back of the phone and the buzz in gone. even with those touchy fm transmitters. As of this date the only problem I have experienced is a slight loss of signal, but I think it's just a matter of working out the right amount of resin to plastic film. If anyone is interested in doing some field testing for me I may be able to send a prototype. Any how, wish me luck.
 
I hate that interference too. Really drives me crazy when someone is talking on a wireless mic and it goes off or when someone leaves their phone next to speakers etc... One thing I have noticed though is that for me this interference hasn't been nearly as bad for the iPhone as some other GSM phones. I never get it in my car, I don't get it when the phone is next to my computer speakers. The only time I've gotten it is on my parents cordless phone. Our cordless phone doesn't seem to be affected.
 
I hate that too, i work with phone support everyday and everytime it happens the other person says "huh what, you there? wow we have a bad connection, is that me or is that you?" Seriously every single time.

I feel like saying "chillout you dope it's just a cell phone" :rolleyes:
 
Easy fix

don't use the ground loop isolator......put a "ferrite core choke" on the wire leading into your radio (furthest from the phone) - you can get clip-on one at radio shack for ~$5 (which is still a ripoff) - wrap the wire through it a few times and then snap it closed. I have my phone driving an FM transmitter in my car and was getting miserable static from the EDGE network - due to my cable situation, I had to use two of these, one on the left chanel and one on the right just in front of the transmitter....worked absolute wonders for me - haven't heard the interference since....if you have lots of dead electronics laying around, you often see these ferrites on power cords leading into the piece of equipment (bump on the power cord) - just cut the cord and pull it out and put your wire though instead - I haven't tried recycled ones, but it should work - good luck
 
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