That six feet under sound

The other day I opened up iTunes on my MacBook Pro and started to play some track or other. My ears were assaulted by a terrible noise reminiscent of a poor transistor radio I owned in my youth. It sounded muffled and distorted. as though the machine were wrapped in blankets and six feet under water.

The built-in speakers on the machine aren’t fabulous — I commonly play tracks through external speakers — but this was far beyond the normal slightly tinny sound. Clearly a fault had developed since I’d played something the day before.

On closer investigation I discovered that it’s only the right-hand speaker. If I slide the Balance control all the way to the left sound is as normal. The moment it heads to the right, the muffling sets in.

Now the right-hand speaker makes a ‘static’, hissing noise, even if the speakers are muted. This is obviously a physical fault.

The MacBook Pro is now booked in for tomorrow with a technician. I’m assuming my 3 year Applecare warranty will take care of this problem.