Edit: This is the first in a series of four articles on Battling iPhone’s GSM Buzz. A solution to this issue is described in the fourth installment. As you know, the iPhone is different. Syncing and charging require docking the thing, and so the GSM buzz in the speakers is a fact of life when I’m working at my desk. And it seems to occur more often than it did with my old phone (probably something to do with it being docked to a firewire cable, which could be a conduit for the radio signal). I got annoyed enough with the buzz-buzz-buzz of my Logitechs that I started to look into properly-shielded speakers. I’ve now learned that the shielding is mostly to guard your display from speaker interference, and has less to do with protecting the speakers from GSM buzz. Here are a few articles that I found helpful in explaining the situation: http://advice.cio.com/al_sacco/why_your_blackberry_causes_speakers_to_buzz http://www.smartdevicecentral.com/article/that+crazy+gsm+buzz/199379_1.aspx http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6249909 And many people claim to have solved the problem with artfully-placed tinfoil: http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20071231014727222 http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/how-to/aluminum-foil-stops-iphone-car-tape-adapter-buzz-285002.php I find this absurd. I didn’t spend $399 on an iPhone just to have to wrap it in tin foil. In the car, I’ve taken to just using my old iPod for audio, which seems like a good way for it to spend its retirement. But at home, I need a real fix. I decided that $100 would be a reasonable amount of money to spend on a solution. That gives you a clue about the level of annoyance that GSM buzz causes. The most probable culprit was the $15 pair of Logitech speakers I bought when my circa 1991 speakers, originally purchased for my first mini-CD player, finally died (RIP). I started reading about speakers in this range. I knew I wanted a 2.0 setup because I didn’t want the clutter of a subwoofer or satellite speakers in my office. I already have a 5.1 system in my living room. Narrowing it down, the choices appeared to be: • Bose Companion 2 Series II multimedia speaker system • Klipsch Groove PM20 2.0 Speaker System- Black Glorious, rich midtones. I never appreciated midtones in a speaker until I got these. I heard detail in the music I’ve never heard on headphones or my 5.1 system. The bass is clear and not muddy, but audiophiles will want a sub (they always do). I also noticed that the high-frequency sound did not appear as painfully loud as with headphones, possibly because they are so well-balanced with the midrange. I played a couple of whole albums in a row on itunes and various other single songs I was very familiar with, so I would know if I heard any interference, and I started calling my iPhone with my home phone. I called myself with the iPhone in the dock and directly on top of the speakers. No interference. I docked and undocked the iPhone several times. No interference. I used the iPhone to call my 5.8ghz cordless phone (also on the desk next to a speaker). No interference. Then I just did some work with itunes on and the iPhone docked. I enjoyed the sound and heard not a peep of interference. I was very pleased with myself. My next course of action will be to investigate the Ferrite beads supposedly available at Radioshack, and see if they help at all. I was able to find one product on their website that looks promising, though I’m not holding my breath: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103222 If anyone has a solution to this problem that does not involve tin foil, please post in the comments.
