the macbook pro headphone out sucks

[Eisenhower]

I just bought a macbook pro and the headphone out is super noisy, Its picking up all sorts of internal noise, and it sounds almost like r2d2 in the backround.
Has anyone else noticed this? Maybe Im being a stickler, but I was expecting alot for the $2500 I spent.

[epaludo]

I've read good comments on the headphone output of the macbook pros. Never tried the pros, but the macbook headphone output seems good to me ...

[Eisenhower]

Originally Posted by epaludo

I've read good comments on the headphone output of the macbook pros. Never tried the pros, but the macbook headphone output seems good to me ...

It might sound okay with music, but without audio output there is a noticible amount of hiss and also weird blips/bleeps

I should be getting a FW audio interface soon anyways.

[koto-in]

Originally Posted by Eisenhower

I just bought a macbook pro and the headphone out is super noisy, Its picking up all sorts of internal noise, and it sounds almost like r2d2 in the backround.
Has anyone else noticed this? Maybe Im being a stickler, but I was expecting alot for the $2500 I spent.

Check your sound preferences. In sound effects, turn off "play user interface sound effects". In input, make sure you have "line in" selected and input volume at 0.

Also make sure the settings in the audio MIDI setup utility in the utilities folder are correct for your needs.

[cmirza]

All laptop audio is pretty bad. It's inherit in the design, laptops are a very noisy environment, with noisy power and alot of RF noise from various components. Now as far as laptops go, the Macbook and Macbook Pro are as good as there is since they have Intel HD Audio. For anyone considering using headphones with a laptop, a $30 Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro is a great investment to at least get rid of most of the laptop noise.

[Soundproof]

Originally Posted by Eisenhower

I just bought a macbook pro and the headphone out is super noisy, Its picking up all sorts of internal noise, and it sounds almost like r2d2 in the backround.
Has anyone else noticed this? Maybe Im being a stickler, but I was expecting alot for the $2500 I spent.

Something's wrong with your connection. I have several, no hisses, bleeps or anything.

Make sure you have system sounds turned off, or at least be aware there are some that can play during playback. I have mine off, so there are none when I listen to music.

Make certain that your sound settings are correct for the bit/sampling rates. Also be aware that the same minijack also delivers a TosLink Optical signal if you have a stand alone DAC or other that can receive that.

[MCC]

Make sure the mic and line in are muted. My Thinkpad z60t also has intel HD audio (don't know about the actual D/A chip though) and it's dead silent with ep-630s. It could just be that the magnesium frame is absorbing stray noise on the Thinkpad. With the entire Macbook pro being aluminum though I'd think that the same effect would apply.

[ozz]

Originally Posted by Eisenhower

I just bought a macbook pro and the headphone out is super noisy, Its picking up all sorts of internal noise, and it sounds almost like r2d2 in the backround.
Has anyone else noticed this? Maybe Im being a stickler, but I was expecting alot for the $2500 I spent.

i just ran my levels to max no noises i have a year old macbook pro i think
i would take it in just tried my senn px-100's ,580's and my sfipro5's dead
silence with no source and levels maxed.

[Listen2this1]

Own a Macbook and the audio out is not great but I have no signs of any unwanted noises. You need to check the setting or take it to a apple store and have them listen to it.

[Eisenhower]

Yeah, I think I got a must have gotten a defective model or something. The hiss will randomly go away if there is no audio input for a while, but it still comes back. It also disregards the volume level, if that means anything.


and on a different note, is it just me, or does the screen brightness fluctuate (and not in an organized manner...)

also the keyboard lights up randomly...

[Eisenhower]

Turns out this is a common problem:

http://www.macintouch.com/reviews/mbp15led/#issues

"Audio Noise

Noise from the headphone port (first identified by a MacInTouch reader) is a real problem, which has three components, we found in testing with sound-isolating headphones:
First, a very quiet hiss is present whenever the laptop is awake with headphones plugged in. It's on the same scale as the hiss we noted in the aluminum iPod Shuffle, so many people will never notice it.
A greater problem is a quiet but ubiquitous static. It is present only when the audio circuitry is working, and ceases within a second of pausing iTunes or QuickTime player. It is easily masked by music but shows itself during quiet passages.
The last component is an intermittent high-pitched noise. We've heard four distinct pitches, but never more than one at a time; it varies from a high tone to a faint whine. It goes away within five or six seconds of pausing iTunes; we believe this is when the audio circuitry turns off to save power. We cannot consistently cause the high pitched noise to happen, nor affect the pitch. We cannot trigger it with hard drive activity, spin-up or spin-down, display or keyboard brightness, or display activity. We assume it is caused by interference from other components within the machine.
These audio problems probably can't be solved without a hardware redesign, which is disappointing, given Apple's previous audio quality. If audio playback (or recording) is critical to your work, you'll probably need something like an external USB or FireWire audio interface. (We didn't test digital output from the headphone port.)
Other Issues"

I guess those of you who said your macbooks were quiet had different models.
I'm really pissed off right now. I can't believe apple would let such simple yet irritating problems plague their $2500 laptops. I guess its the whole aesthetics over functionality philosophy they've embraced.

[vulc4n]

I get a lot of background hiss on mine with low impedance phones, but other than that its not bad at all. One of the better outputs I've used as far as integrated audio goes. And, you still have the digital output there. Using that will eliminate all the noise.

BTW, I have a 15" 2.4GHz MBP.

EDIT: As far as screen brightness.... Its sensitive to ambient light. Theres an option to turn it off in the display settings. The keyboard is also sensitive to ambient light, but other than turning it off entirely theres no option to get rid of the automatic control.

[mercbuggy]

The same is true on my ibook G4. An Echo Audiofire 2 ended up being the perfect solution. . I am sure that most laptop suffer the same issues as they are inherently noisy irrespective of audio chipset. Just my experience imho.

[Eisenhower]

Originally Posted by vulc4n

I get a lot of background hiss on mine with low impedance phones, but other than that its not bad at all. One of the better outputs I've used as far as integrated audio goes.

Its really bad for me when using senn cx300's (IEMs), dare I say unusable...
I might look into the turtle beach usb thing as a solution. How could I make use of the digital out?

[vulc4n]

Originally Posted by Eisenhower

Its really bad for me when using senn cx300's (IEMs), dare I say unusable...
I might look into the turtle beach usb thing as a solution. How could I make use of the digital out?

It was near unusable with my Super.Fi 5 Pro as well. You need to use an in line attenuator to bring he impedance up, then you will be good.

To use the digital out you need a DAC.