MBP 2020 13” higher end models, static sound issue?

[robertfrancis70]

I just picked up the $1,700 model (10th gen) from BestBuy here in Vancouver, and I like it a lot so far, but I may be noticing a static issue with the sound.

It’s not consistent, but I don’t think I’m imagining it. Three or four times, I’ve started a song in Music or in Spotify and heard a static-like sound in the background for a second or two before it goes away.

I’m hoping it’s a software rather than hardware glitch (a short in the speaker wiring?). Anyone else encountering this?

(I remember the 2016 15” had this issue — but more pronounced. It was well documented and never went away or got addressed by Apple.)

 

[garrel]

I heard something like that on the 16''. It occurred also while browsing web. I think is software related. But best to wait for other opinions.

 

[Fowl]

Does it happen with an external speaker/headphones?

 

[robertfrancis70]

Update...

Using the device for a full day and a half, I can say I'm not imagining it. I'm hearing a short spurt of static or distortion -- faintly -- almost every time I start a MP3 or a stream (but one that is quiet enough to enable me to hear it. Lot's of constant sound right off, guitars blaring, etc., you can't hear it).

(Fowl, I haven't tried it with headphones, but great idea. I'll try that later today and report back...)

This is pure speculation, but here's a thought [which may be wildly off base!!]: the short spurt of static is not a short in the speaker wiring or a software glitch, but the audible trace of the slight power surge on the part of the processor when it turbos up in frequency for a split second.

But whatever it is, I've now encountered it enough to be satisfied that it's not, by any means, a dealbreaker or a serious blemish. It's just a subtle glitch that I'm sure I'll forget about or learn to ignore.

The device is otherwise splendiferous.

 

[robertfrancis70]

Fowl, just tried it with my AirPod Pros and it doesn't happen.

 

[Fowl]

Perhaps that means it's not software, then. Do you have headphones/speakers that you can plug in, rather than Bluetooth ones?

 

[Logan Nolag]

I used to have similar problems with DIY Windows PCs around 10 - 15 years ago when I first started building them. It had something to do with electrical interference from other components on the motherboard interacting with the onboard sound card. The only solution back then was to add in a pci sound card. It hasn’t been a major problem in recent years since the motherboard manufacturers started to move the audio traces to their own layers of the PCB. I can’t imagine Apple would make a mistake like that so I would be very surprised if it was a hardware issue.

 

[Dhock_Holiday]

Is it coming from the speakers? Or are you hearing coil whine?