Why does my computer audio input and output get interference on a regular basis?

Asked by rabbitheart (785

) September 28th, 2009

I am the owner of a Macbook running OS 10.5.8. About half a year ago, the audio input and output jack for the laptop ceased working, and after a little research I discovered that I must have somehow accidentally bent the jacks out of shape. In order to remedy the situation, I did some more research and purchased a USB to Audio Adaptor. I converse with friends regularly on Skype, and it worked fine for a few months. Then, my friends started informing me that my voice starts to sound like a robot every 15–30 minutes, and the only way to fix it is for me to log out once, close and open the laptop, and log back into Skype. It’s definitely not my headset, and it doesn’t seem to be native to Skype (I’ve tested other applications) so I’m thinking that something is interfering with the USB soundcard– does anyone know what could be causing this?

Recently, the interference has also started happening when I am listening to other people’s voices as well, causing their voices to sound garbled. This only happens when it is a two-way audio conversation, and never when I am just listening to music, or watching a movie.

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7 Answers

I’ve also noticed this robot-ness when I’ve used Skype, and on a brand new macbook. It hasn’t happened in a little bit, but I seem to remember it only happening on one speaker.

Perhaps it’s a Skype bug that corrupts the audio systemwide—or maybe a bug in the underlying audio library that gets revealed by Skype.

andrew (16562

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@andrew That’s an interesting theory. I can’t seem to find any other instances of this happening to people though, and the company doesn’t provide drivers or anything of the sort. I should add that repairing permissions didn’t help.

Also, general Skype robot-ness seems to be related to a bad internet connection (my internet is working splendidly). So if it was only Skype being affected, I would blame it on that.

rabbitheart (785

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It’s a Mac.

cbloom8 (1723

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It is Skype, not your system – it only happens occasionally. I use Skype all the time, literally – no longer use a conventional landline, and it happens two or three times per week.

DarkScribe (15505

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@rabbitheart My suggestion is to see if removing Skype from the equation fixes your problem. Can you switch to, say, iChat or Google Video for a week?

andrew (16562

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@DarkScribe, @andrew – I’ll try uninstalling Skype for a bit and see what happens, thanks!

rabbitheart (785

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I had a similar problem after installing DVD copying software. I had to uninstall it to stop the problem.
I am glad I did. Copying DVD’s is wrong. Luckily, I didn’t copy anything but home movies.
(locks the door)

filmfann (52452

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