iPhone near speakers/office phone makes WICKED crazy noise

[Patillac]

Ok, I'm sure you've all experienced setting your iPhone down near a speaker and hearing that annoying sound right before you get a text or call...it's like a buzzing/crackling/intermittent kind of sound (hope that was descriptive enough). I don't know what causes that, but whatever it is it has become increasingly louder and more frequent. I can have my iPhone (3G) 5-10 feet away from a speaker or raidio and every 5-10 seconds I hear the sound from hell.

Not to mention, if I'm at the office and get a call on the office phone, FORGET IT!! I have to stuff my iPhone behind a filing cabinet on the other side of my office or every 10 secs I'm going to get that sound and it completely ruins an important call.

So, my questions:
1) What is "the sound"? My thoughts it has to do with frequency or networks or something, but trust me, I'm no expert...

2) Is there any way to limit this or reduce it. Do I have a setting that is causing super strength interference?

I absolutely LOVE my iPhone, but this never happened when I had the BlackBerry (or if it did, it was VERY minimal). I realllllly don't want to switch back, but damn this is getting old!! Thanks!

 

[Killyp]

1) It's the phone's signal inducing a current into the wiring inside your speakers which will have a poorly shielded amplifier.

2) The solution really is to get better speakers. Anything with a (truly) metal casing (not just metal-finish) will shield the amplifier inside from external signals. The same goes for anything in the signal chain before the amplifier.

 

[Hutch1]

Or you can attach a choke on the speaker wires.

 

[Killyp]

Insulation on the cables wouldn't really do anything. The issue is with the internal wiring/boards in the amplifier section in the speakers, not the cables.

 

[Patillac]

These are the speakers: JBL Creature II

I didn't really think they were "bad" speakers when I bought them, but maybe looks, name, and price don't necessarily equal quality.

 

[Roy Hobbs]

These are the speakers: JBL Creature II

I didn't really think they were "bad" speakers when I bought them, but maybe looks, name, and price don't necessarily equal quality.

I have the same speakers and I get no interference from my iPhone

 

[Killyp]

Bear in mind there may be changes in the speakers themselves even if they externally look the same.

What are the JBLs connected to?

 

[Patillac]

Bear in mind there may be changes in the speakers themselves even if they externally look the same.

What are the JBLs connected to?

Connected to:
Power Source - power strip shared with ~4-5 other electronics
Music Source: iPod Nano

The JBL's were purchased in ~2003 or 2004, so maybe the "innards" have in fact changed.

 

[sammich]

I get this problem with Bose Companion 3 set. It's like a mobile phone radar, and picks up phone calls from a few meters away. It hasn't really been a problem until recently when I moved to a more rural area with less signal strength and the phone constantly drops in and out of signal and thus making the noise when it reconnects.

 

[Killyp]

Frankly not sure what to recommend other than trying some different speakers. I can't guarantee this would fix it though...

 

[Patillac]

I get this problem with Bose Companion 3 set. It's like a mobile phone radar, and picks up phone calls from a few meters away. It hasn't really been a problem until recently when I moved to a more rural area with less signal strength and the phone constantly drops in and out of signal and thus making the noise when it reconnects.

Interesting, I have had to call ATT about dropped calls. Apparently I live in an area that does not yet support 3G and as such have a 3G phone without being able to use 3G Even the 2G drops calls, but not nearly as bad.

Like I mentioned, I did not notice the sound as much when I had my BlackBerry, which is kinda confusing me...

And a Bose system (I would assume) would have top of the line internal features??

 

[Patillac]

Frankly not sure what to recommend other than trying some different speakers. I can't guarantee this would fix it though...

THanks for the thoughts, though.

What is a good quality speaker that is not as pricey as Bose, but will give me pretty good output? LogiTech? I've had the JBL's for quite a while now so I don't mind an upgrade, and although it may not fix the problem, it would be worth a try and not to mention get some better sounds!!

 

[easy-mac]

You could put one of those ferrite cylinders on the cables leading to the speakers. You know, the cylinder looking thing that is on a lot of power supplies, cables, etc. I read that this will kill the "GSM buzz" that comes when you place a cell phone near speakers, but I can't find the article. You should be able to buy these at Walmart, Bestbuy or most definitely radio shack, but I've never tried this so I have no idea if it really works or not.

Edit: Found the article. See here:
http://www.maclife.com/article/iphone_buzz_kill

Also, make sure you put one on the cables for the amplifier because if the buzz gets amplified the ferrite beads on the speakers wont do a bit of good.

 

[Patillac]

You could put one of those ferrite cylinders on the cables leading to the speakers. You know, the cylinder looking thing that is on a lot of power supplies, cables, etc. I read that this will kill the "GSM buzz" that comes when you place a cell phone near speakers, but I can't find the article. You should be able to buy these at Walmart, Bestbuy or most definitely radio shack, but I've never tried this so I have no idea if it really works or not.

Edit: Found the article. See here:
http://www.maclife.com/article/iphone_buzz_kill

Also, make sure you put one on the cables for the amplifier because if the buzz gets amplified the ferrite beads on the speakers wont do a bit of good.

Thanks!! I felt as if I was writing that article - seriously, the last few nights it has woken me up!!

I guess this is worth a shot before spending some $$ on new speakers!

 

[easy-mac]

Thanks!! I felt as if I was writing that article - seriously, the last few nights it has woken me up!!

I guess this is worth a shot before spending some $$ on new speakers!

No problem, as Hutch1 said earlier, these things are sometimes called chokes, so if you get blank looks when asking for ferrite beads ask for a cable choke. They should be $2-3, a whole lot better than a couple $100 on new speakers.

 

[Hutch1]

Insulation on the cables wouldn't really do anything. The issue is with the internal wiring/boards in the amplifier section in the speakers, not the cables.

Who said anything about insulating wires? I said put a choke on the wire, you do know what a choke is, no? It's the cheapest easiest place to start.

 

[Patillac]

No problem, as Hutch1 said earlier, these things are sometimes called chokes, so if you get blank looks when asking for ferrite beads ask for a cable choke. They should be $2-3, a whole lot better than a couple $100 on new speakers.

Ya, but the more I think about it, it's probably time for a new set up anyways. And when I checked on eBay I saw the black ones going for between $50-60, so maybe I'll throw them up there while they have some resell value and invest in some new ones. But until I make that decision, I'm going to get some ferrite beads.

Now what the heck do I do about the office phone. As soon as I'm on a call it starts buzzing. Wonder if the ferrite beads will work for it as well?? Or maybe I go with the static bag while at work??

 

[Patillac]

Who said anything about insulating wires? I said put a choke on the wire, you do know what a choke is, no? It's the cheapest easiest place to start.

What's a choke? Or are they as the other poster said...ferrite beads?

 

[easy-mac]

What's a choke? Or are they as the other poster said...ferrite beads?

No problem, as Hutch1 said earlier, these things are sometimes called chokes, so if you get blank looks when asking for ferrite beads ask for a cable choke. They should be $2-3, a whole lot better than a couple $100 on new speakers.

They're the same thing.

 

[Stiney]

To be honest there isn't that much that you can do about it. A choke could help, but it could also not work at all.

I work in the entertainment industry and when we start a show we all have to shut off our iPhones, blackberry's, etc. Otherwise that noise you hear will infect the whole intercom system. So someone on the other end of the system, 300'+ away will hear it as well. I have even had the problem with that noise getting into my in ears. Sometimes you can hear it on a cable news show when a guest forgets to turn off a phone. I think (and you should take this loosely) it has to do with the Data (edge/3g) coming into the phone.

A couple things that I have found that work to solve the issue is to one, shut the phone off. Or Two, move it away from the equipment.

So in the end I would say not to invest in new equipment. Just learn how to work with it.

 

[wonderboy]

Easy solution to this annoying problem

Take an anti-static bag and place your iphone on top of it. Voila. This really works. You can read about it at http://www.stopthebuzzin.com. If you dont have any anti-static bags they do there.

Ok, I'm sure you've all experienced setting your iPhone down near a speaker and hearing that annoying sound right before you get a text or call...it's like a buzzing/crackling/intermittent kind of sound (hope that was descriptive enough). I don't know what causes that, but whatever it is it has become increasingly louder and more frequent. I can have my iPhone (3G) 5-10 feet away from a speaker or raidio and every 5-10 seconds I hear the sound from hell.

Not to mention, if I'm at the office and get a call on the office phone, FORGET IT!! I have to stuff my iPhone behind a filing cabinet on the other side of my office or every 10 secs I'm going to get that sound and it completely ruins an important call.

So, my questions:
1) What is "the sound"? My thoughts it has to do with frequency or networks or something, but trust me, I'm no expert...

2) Is there any way to limit this or reduce it. Do I have a setting that is causing super strength interference?

I absolutely LOVE my iPhone, but this never happened when I had the BlackBerry (or if it did, it was VERY minimal). I realllllly don't want to switch back, but damn this is getting old!! Thanks!

 

[bzollinger]

Take an anti-static bag and place your iphone on top of it. Voila. This really works. You can read about it at http://www.stopthebuzzin.com. If you dont have any anti-static bags they do there.

I just tried this and it fully works! If I listen real close I can here just a little bit of interference but it's been reduced by 95%! Thanks guys!

Also it doesn't affect phone calls or data transmission.

BZ