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Speaker Interference?

N

NvrDi

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 29, 2007
2
0
When I have my iPhone docked on my desk or even sitting next to my clock radio randomly I get a weird sounding interference through my speakers. Ive heard this before in the car with other cell phones but with my iPhone its alot louder and more frequent.
Anyone else experience this?
 
Same thing happens to me at home with my iPhone docked, although my TV is so close it creates very bad interference with that AND my speakers.
 
This is pretty common when using GSM-enabled phones. It's likely more frequent because the iPhone is periodically connecting to update various data.
 
THis happens with most newer cell phones. It was actually worse with my Razr than my iPhone. It's caused by electromagnetic radiation from the phone, which can create an electric signal in audio amplifiers/speakers.

EM radiation drops off significantly with distance, so best thing is to move the phone away a bit. Not all stereo's are affected similarly either, depends on how much shielding they have. My computer speakers/car stereo are affected, for instance, but not my home stereo (I don't exactly sit my phone on my stereo receiver anyway, tho...).
 
Me, I just figured it was aliens using my phone to signal each other on when to start the attack.

:p
 
This happens a lot more with EDGE, than GPRS (here in the UK, and other countries). My home area recently got upgraded to EDGE by O2, and since then my phone makes a lot of noises.
 
Most speakers have problems with GSM interference. I've worked in a lot of recording studios etc., with speakers ranging from £500 Tannoys, to £10,000 Genelecs, and way above, and they all suffer, mostly quite badly. My £1,000 Genelecs at home certainly do, although not as bad as some.

Just live with it. Until manufacturers figure out how to reduce/eliminate it (if there is a way?), that's just the way it is unfortunately.
 
MarkW19 said:
Most speakers have problems with GSM interference. I've worked in a lot of recording studios etc., with speakers ranging from £500 Tannoys, to £10,000 Genelecs, and way above, and they all suffer, mostly quite badly. My £1,000 Genelecs at home certainly do, although not as bad as some.

Just live with it. Until manufacturers figure out how to reduce/eliminate it (if there is a way?), that's just the way it is unfortunately.
Click to expand...

I suggest working in better studios! There should be NO outside interference in a recording studio! :D

Heck, my Klipsch speakers at home, about $300, have never suffered GSM interference. Neither did the set before. The one I have now is a 5.1, so wires all over. The prior 2.1.

Really odd that a studio would pick it up, that equipment is designed to be shielded from all that.

The real solution is shielded cables, thats step one.
 
Ive also worked on stage at various venues and the sound system (mainly monitors) sometimes pick it up.

As you probably know, Genelec are regarded as some of the best nearfield monitors in the world, so I guess its just that different speakers are made differently. Of course, they're all magnetically shielded, but if my £1,000 (~$2,000) respected speakers have some GSM buzz, its certainly not because I need 'better speakers'. I also use high quality shielded and balanced XLR cables and connections for everything.

On the flipside, the £350 harman kardon system in my car has 0 GSM buzz :|

It is annoying, I agree! But it seems that speakers are just made differently, rather than being 'bad'! :)
 
I've just bought a pair of Yamaha MSP-5 Studio monitors and get terrible noise from my iPhone coming through the speakers. The details for these speakers says that they wont effect and wont be affected by other electronic equipment. They certainly pick up loud noises from the iPhone, whereas my previous speakers, the Harman Kardon Soundsticks II, did not.
 
Simple Answer

unity said:
Get better speakers.
Click to expand...

ok if you want the buzz to go away just turn on airplane mode while docked and you wont get any interference or buzz. it doesnt have anything to do with the quality of the speakers. trust me im an EE major lol ;). but yea obviously this will hinder your ability to recieve calls while docked but you can just get the syncing out of the way then charge it with your outlet right? :)
 
Magnetic shielding isn't the issue. This is a RF problem. The amplifier is picking up the GSM frequency.

Some speakers have been specifically designed to suppress the noise. It sounds like the high-priced guys just don't get used often enough near phones to have bothered fixing the problem.

Just try to find a clock radio with iPhone dock and you'll find out how few companies address this correctly (a few put the phone in Airplane mode, which is cheating.)
 
You could go into airplane mode, but you won't be able to use data, send/receive SMS, or make/receive calls...
 
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