Laptops Live Problems...

[bouldersoundguy]

If you're going into live music with the attitude that everything will go wrong, then that is where your problems lay. Nothing changes, unless you were doing something different in the first place. That is the whole meaning of the word "exactly". There is no difference. No matter what. Your point is invalid by thinking otherwise.

Duplicating the situation "exactly" would include stuff like power sag and spikes, power and signal grounding patterns, RF environment, humidity of the air, vibration from a big PA etc. It's impossible to "exactly" duplicate a live environment at home.

 

[somegeezer]

Duplicating the situation "exactly" would include stuff like power sag and spikes, power and signal grounding patterns, RF environment, humidity of the air, vibration from a big PA etc. It's impossible to "exactly" duplicate a live environment at home.

That's my point. It could be any of those things that you are missing. Without testing for absolutely everything, there is no way to know what will go wrong.

 

[somegeezer]

I've been playing music live for over 20 years on countless different kinds of setups. Please don't talk to me like a noob.

Its a well known phenomenon that if something is going to go wrong, it will go wrong live. Doing things exactly the same doesn't have anything to do with it.

If you're so awesome at knowing this, then why come to a forum to ask for help with it? You're wanting to know how to fix it and I'm trying to tell you at least one way you can. By trying EVERYTHING. It's the only way to be sure what is going to make it go wrong. Boulder mentioned some good ones that could happen anywhere at random and you wouldn't really be able to do anything about things like those.

 

[VomitHatSteve]

Duplicating the situation "exactly" would include stuff like power sag and spikes, power and signal grounding patterns, RF environment, humidity of the air, vibration from a big PA etc. It's impossible to "exactly" duplicate a live environment at home.

This ^

There's nothing magic about playing live that makes things more likely to go wrong. It's just that you're usually dealing with unfamiliar people and equipment in a high-stress context where it's difficult to smoothly address problems.
You can exactly duplicate a/ live environment at home, but you can't duplicate every live environment.

Here are some issues I've had with my laptop that have varied from venue to venue:
Cold weather makes some of the metal adapters change size, so the connections are bad. (find a way to warm it up)
Bad grounds create buzz. (run stuff on pattery whenever possible)
A lack of outlets (or bad wiring) forces you to daisy chain your entire rig into one power strip. (turn off as much of it as you can)
Radio interference. (don't let wires cross, especially power and guitar cables.)
No/bad monitors. (bring your own)

etc. etc.

 

[somegeezer]

This ^

There's nothing magic about playing live that makes things more likely to go wrong. It's just that you're usually dealing with unfamiliar people and equipment in a high-stress context where it's difficult to smoothly address problems.
You can exactly duplicate a/ live environment at home, but you can't duplicate every live environment.

Here are some issues I've had with my laptop that have varied from venue to venue:
Cold weather makes some of the metal adapters change size, so the connections are bad. (find a way to warm it up)
Bad grounds create buzz. (run stuff on pattery whenever possible)
A lack of outlets (or bad wiring) forces you to daisy chain your entire rig into one power strip. (turn off as much of it as you can)
Radio interference. (don't let wires cross, especially power and guitar cables.)
No/bad monitors. (bring your own)

etc. etc.

If they HAVE to cross, I've heard it's best that they are perpendicular, rather than parallel. Not sure if there is truth in it, but that's certainly something that can be tested if you really care about it. =P

 

[bouldersoundguy]

If they HAVE to cross, I've heard it's best that they are perpendicular, rather than parallel. Not sure if there is truth in it, but that's certainly something that can be tested if you really care about it. =P

It's true, but I think that's more for EMI than RFI.