Static through speakers when sound activates (MBP early 2008)

[walrusaur]

So I guess several people have already asked this question based on a search for this topic in the forum, but none of them got a response. Hope maybe somebody can give some advice on it.

Problem: Anytime the MBP activates the sound by either an audio cue from a program, music or even simply using the Volume Up/Volume Down controls, the usual audio cues will come through along with some kind of electrical static/hissing sound, almost like the static of a tv but on a smaller scale. After some seconds once the MBP detects no more audio cues and deactivates the sound, it goes away.

At first I thought it was a speaker issue, and was just about ready to get some cheap speaker replacements and perform some surgery on the MBP. But, I realized that when headphones are plugged in, the static follows the headphones and is not heard from the MBP speakers anymore. So, I guess this is probably an issue with the logic board?

Is there anything that can be tried to eliminate the issue? Or is it now a matter of replacing the logic board? What's the likelihood that a replacement board may pop up with the same issue, due to the same audio component that could be causing this in the first place? I've tried resetting the PRAM to no success...

 

[Vermifuge]

Is there anything that can be tried to eliminate the issue? Or is it now a matter of replacing the logic board? What's the likelihood that a replacement board may pop up with the same issue, due to the same audio component that could be causing this in the first place? I've tried resetting the PRAM to no success...

For what its worth I was having a similar issue. If my Mac (Macbook Pro 15" 2011) would go to sleep or just be quiet for an extended period of time the sound would "pop" back to life. using the volume up and down buttons would cause this (harsh) popping static sound until I would launch something like iTunes or play a video. It would clear up after a bit of activity.

It was fixed when my logic board was replaced for a failing GPU.

 

[MBHockey]

Didn't those models have their speakers go to 'sleep' after a certain amount of time if no sound was played?

Although I don't know what yours sounds like I remember having an application running that would play a silent sound every 30 seconds or so to prevent the 'pop' sound that would occur if the speakers were silent for a while.

 

[walrusaur]

Vermifuge- your situation sounds maybe slightly different from mine. I don't have much of a problem with the sound "popping" back to life, but when the sound is active, it will emit a constant static/electrical whining sound along with whatever sound/music is playing through the speakers.

MBHockey- Yea the model MBP that I have has speakers that apparently go to "sleep" after maybe about 10-15 seconds of no activity. But, as I mentioned above, I think even if I had the app that keeps the sound constantly alive and active, the static/electrical whining would still be there...

I'm looking into replacing the Logic Board myself, but I think I'll need to start a new thread to ask some more questions about it... :\