[germankars]

I have an aluminum body macbook pro (pre-unibody) and i'm having some strange crackling coming from my optical out. It kinda sounds like the file being played is riding a buffer... just choppy. The described issue is random and has no pattern and does not happen with a analog 1/8th to 1/8th connection.

Setup:
Macbook pro- brand new toslink- Ibasso D10- gold 1/4 to 1/8th adapter- Grado 325is (new)

 

[sarathcpt]

I had something similar and in my case it was the optical fiber cable which was the problem. I noticed it used to happen if there is some tension near where the cable goes into the connector. Once I move the laptop to relax the cable, it solves the problem. My cable was only 1m, just a little short for my setup.