Speaker static

[askabob91]

I didn't know where else to put it, so please move if necessary.

I have a home-made surround sound system set up in my dorm, with a pair of speakers near my door and wire running under the carpet to a pair of speakers near my bed, where my macbook is. I have a splitter connected to the pair of speakers near my bed and so when I connect an audio cable to my laptop the music comes from both sides of the room, thus the surround sound effect (cheap).

But whenever there is nothing playing on my laptop, there is a buzz/static/hum coming from the speakers. But this is only when my laptop is plugged in. It is plugged in to the same surge protector that the speakers near my bed are plugged in to, and whenever I unplug the magsafe adapter the static goes away.

I researched a bit and I read about something called a ground loop problem? Is this my problem? Any advice please? Thanks for your help!

 

[Jethryn Freyman]

Some of the earlier Macbook Pros had poor quality audio circuitry, which caused occasional static and buzzing when external speakers were plugged in. Which model do you have?

 

[askabob91]

I have a 2.4 Penryn Macbook, it shouldn't it's one of the newer ones

 

[Jethryn Freyman]

I have the problem with the Santa Rosa model (the model before yours.)

It was either fixed in your model or the one after. Do you hear the static while music is playing?

 

[askabob91]

No, I only hear the static a few seconds after the music is done playing. It's perfectly fine when any type of music is playing though.

 

[Jethryn Freyman]

No, I only hear the static a few seconds after the music is done playing. It's perfectly fine when any type of music is playing though.

That's a fault in the audio hardware in your model. Must have been the next revision that fixed it.