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    Hiss from headphone port on T61

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by kkSlider, Mar 4, 2009.

  1. kkSlider

    kkSlider Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hello all,

    I have a 14.1" T61, and whenever I hook up earphones to it I always hear a hiss in the background. I'm using Shure e3c earphones, which are noise-canceling in-ear buds, so I can listen comfortably at a volume level of 2/50 on my ThinkPad. However, whenever I play music, or just do nothing, I can clearly hear a hiss. For example, when I'm not listening to music and I scroll with the middle scroll button on my mouse, I can hear little jumps in hiss as a result.

    Does anybody know why this is? It's very frustrating.
     
    kkSlider, Mar 4, 2009
    #1
  2. jonlumpkin

    jonlumpkin NBR Transmogrifier

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    It's probably interference in the output port. It is exacerbated because you have really good headphones (dirt cheap headphones wouldn't pick it up). When I hook them up to my desktop PC I can hear all sorts of feedback, especially when I actively am doing something (e.g. moving the mouse).

    I use Etymotic Er-6i (very similar to your Shure e3c) headphones, and I get feedback from lots of low quality headphone jacks (although not my x200 Tablet).

    To my knowledge there is no real fix for it. You can try adjusting the volume levels to see if it gets better, but the only real solution would be to buy a high quality external soundcard (e.g. an Audigy ZS) or use CHEAPER headphones.
     
    jonlumpkin, Mar 4, 2009
    #2
  3. mechrock

    mechrock Notebook Evangelist

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    Could be your sound driver, Headphones or sound card. Have you tried different headphones? Tried the Shures with something different?
    And has this just started or has it always happened?
     
    mechrock, Mar 4, 2009
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