Skype Squeaking?

[ejisfun]

Hello,

I have a base macbook air 11.6". When I use skype on it, there is a high pitched squeaking noise that happens pretty much randomly. It drives my dog crazy (and the dog on the other end of the call, for that matter). I know this problem isn't with the other person since it doesn't occur if I call on my windows desktop. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Eric

 

[miles01110]

Probably some sort of feedback between the microphone and speakers. Does it happen when you have headphones plugged in?

 

[ejisfun]

No, it does not. If it is a feedback problem, then what do I do? Is it a hardware issue or is it fixable?

 

[hfg]

The feedback is probably due to the new location for the microphone. In previous Mac laptops, the microphone has been at the top of the display, right next to the camera. In the Air, they moved it down to the left edge, the small perforated area right next to the earphone jack. Unfortunately, the speakers are just on the other side of this edge wall, with the sound exiting through the edge of the keyboard, very close to the mike.

I don't know how you can fix the problem without lowering the speaker volume, or using headphones. You might try putting your hand on the left edge of the keyboard to act as sort of a "baffle" and see if that is enough to stop the feedback. Perhaps Apple engineers will find a solution, possibly with a software fix to provide some type of noise canceling of speaker output being picked up by the adjacent mike.

-howard

 

[ejisfun]

I've tried blocking it with my hand, didn't seem to do anything. I guess all we can do is hope for a software update.

 

[miles01110]

It's unlikely a software update will do anything. Software cannot change the fact that sound is coming out of a speaker right next to the microphone. There's no good way that I'm aware of that would allow the microphone to distinguish between legitimate sound you want to go through (like your voice) and background sound coming from the speaker (like music).

So, your best bet is to use headphones.

 

[hfg]

It's unlikely a software update will do anything. Software cannot change the fact that sound is coming out of a speaker right next to the microphone. There's no good way that I'm aware of that would allow the microphone to distinguish between legitimate sound you want to go through (like your voice) and background sound coming from the speaker (like music).

So, your best bet is to use headphones.

Simplified:
Just like the concept of noise canceling headphones, you sample the speaker output and invert the signal, then add it to the mike signal, where it cancels out the picked-up sounds originating from the speaker.