Noisy Laptops... :(

[rt2726]

I tried bringing my laptop to record some of our practice session today and as soon as I plug the thing into a power supply I get a very noticable humming sound coming out of one of our amps. I ran into this at one of my friends house and I just thought it was because he was using the internal sound card coming in directly from the PA into the microphone jack. Soooo, I brought my own laptop today and hooked it up to an external USB device (MBOX) and I basically got the same results --not to mention the blue screen of death towards the end... darn PC's!!!! Any ideas how to get rid of the extra noise?

Oh well, I guess I'll continue my search for a reasonable 8-track portable digital recorder. If anyone has any ideas on that please feel free to respond to my thread titled Hardware advice

Thanks!
-Rich

 

[whjr15]

not to mention the blue screen of death towards the end...

Hahahaha, and I thought I was the only one to call it the "blue screen of death."

I have no idea how to fix your problem though, although I'm sure someone here will.

Good luck!

 

[rt2726]

Hey Joe,
I checked out your myspace page... Keep up the good work! You sound great.

-Rich

 

[whjr15]

Hey thanks man. I'm surprised nobody has chimed in with an answer yet!

The only thing I could think of is that your amp is picking up interference from the computer's power cord. Don't let the cords from either piece of equipment touch, or run in close proximity of eachother... Maybe plug the amp in to an outlet father away from the pc, and make sure the guitar cable is away from the pc's power supply too.

I have no idea how to help with the blue screen of death though, sorry.

Now I could be wayyy off, but it's worth a try!

Let us know if that did anything for ya.

-Joe

 

[rayc]

bumpity bump

 

[ido1957]

Check out this thread - it seems to have a few solutions. I have the same noise problem with the power cord but none with battery on my laptop. I might pick up a direct box to see if that helps. Right now I mix down from tape to laptop so time/battery life is not an issue.

https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=139042&highlight=laptop+noise

 

[Erockrazor]

Try using shielded cables. I get a hum when I hook my speakers up with RCA cables but when I put 1/4" cables on theres no hum at all. That happens with my laptop as well. I get a bad hum when I hook up my Laptops Power Supply cable. But with RCA cables I get a bad hum. With 1/4" i get no hum whatsoever. Good luck.

 

[TripleJ]

Those plug packs can be killer for noise. How long does the battery last? It might be wise to pick up a second battery. Most laptops *should* last a few hours off one charge.

So when you're recording you can pull out the cord then if you need to mix fiddle for any length of time you can just put the cable back in.

 

[danny.guitar]

because he was using the internal sound card coming in directly from the PA into the microphone jack.

Ding ding ding

The microphone inputs on built-in soundcards are noisy and shitty. Use the line in jack.
The microphone jack uses the preamp on the sound card. This preamp is something you want to stay far away from...

Also, if you can, get a recording sound card/interface...for a laptop you may want to consider FireWire.

I don't know shit about PA systems so if that's the cause then I have no idea.

I've never heard a laptop noisy enough to ruin recordings. But I know the preamps on those mic-in jacks are noisy and shitty.

At the very least, use the line in jack.

 

[whjr15]

Ding ding ding

The microphone inputs on built-in soundcards are noisy and shitty. Use the line in jack.
The microphone jack uses the preamp on the sound card. This preamp is something you want to stay far away from...

Also, if you can, get a recording sound card/interface...for a laptop you may want to consider FireWire.

I don't know shit about PA systems so if that's the cause then I have no idea.

I've never heard a laptop noisy enough to ruin recordings. But I know the preamps on those mic-in jacks are noisy and shitty.

At the very least, use the line in jack.

While that's true, he said he got the same results with a (usb) mbox.

 

[cusebassman]

I just set up my Yamaha desk and my DAT machines and yada yada in a different room to rearrange the space in my apartment, and I too use a laptop, at least for mixdown.

I had put the powerBook on standby by closing the lid while I went to record some vocal tests, and low and behold, it was noisy as Hell. I started unplugging things to see what it was, and sure enough, it was the power cable to the laptop. It wasn't plugged into my power conditioner, but was plugged into a power strip that runs to the same outlet as the conditioner that all the recording gear is running off of.

So, I just unplugged the thing while doing the recordings. Granted, I don't use the laptop for the actual recording process, so it wasn't as big a deal, but if you want to use your laptop, in that case, Id also say, deal with battery power during the actual recording process. Sucks, but often times there is no easy solution to this sort of thing... maybe buy that second battery if yours doesn't have a lot of life in it...

 

[RocknRollOver]

Try using a ground lift on your pc power supply cord (3 prong to 2 prong adapter).
All the laptops Iv'e used in music have this problem and this is the only thing I've ever had to do to resolve the issue.

 

[Nightfire]

Try using a ground lift on your pc power supply cord (3 prong to 2 prong adapter).
All the laptops Iv'e used in music have this problem and this is the only thing I've ever had to do to resolve the issue.

Bingo. I used to have that problem with my amp going into my comp. Using a ground lift solved it.


Mike

 

[MessianicDreams]

You've got a dirty earth. Try lifting the earth on your laptop's PS cable...

 

[rt2726]

Ground lift did the trick!!

Thanks guys!!!

-Rich

 

[boingoman]

Ground lift did the trick!!

Thanks guys!!!

-Rich

Congratulations on voiding your warranty. That is the worst solution there is. There is always a solution that doesn't involve lifting the safety ground.

Those things aren't supposed to be used as ground lifts, just so you know.

 

[whjr15]

Congratulations on voiding your warranty. That is the worst solution there is. There is always a solution that doesn't involve lifting the safety ground.

Those things aren't supposed to be used as ground lifts, just so you know.

What are you talking about?? Using 3 prong to 2 prong adapters voids warranties?? I think not.

 

[boingoman]

What are you talking about?? Using 3 prong to 2 prong adapters voids warranties?? I think not.

It usually will if you use it to lift the safety ground, which is there to protect your gear. It's usually spelled out in there somewhere, even if it doesn't mention it specifically. If something happens to the PS or laptop that the ground could have prevented, any warranty tech will be able to tell easily. Same with any gear.


Edit- OK, maybe voids is strong, it's still the wrong way to go about it.

 

[RocknRollOver]

Glad to help rt2726

I wouldn't worry about any warranty problems, any thing that would take out the electronics, would still take out the electronics with the ground attached.
The ground is there to protect YOU not the computer (don't lick the motherboard....)

Boingoman, not harpin on ya here but those "things" ARE supposed to be used as ground lifts, thats what they do.......just so you know

 

[boingoman]

I wouldn't worry about any warranty problems, any thing that would take out the electronics, would still take out the electronics with the ground attached.

Yup, the difference is that when you make your warranty claim, the guy who looks at it won't say "The safety ground was disconnected, sorry, no new stuff for you."

ground is there to protect YOU not the computer (don't lick the motherboard....)

The safety ground is mostly there to prevent fires by tripping a breaker if there is a problem. You and your equipment maybe surviving are just bonuses. Only GFI outlets are really designed with human safety in mind.

Standard outlets take anywhere from 3-10X overcurrent to trip "instantly", which really means "under 100ms". That's 45-150 amps for up to 100ms.

Basically, if you take your blender in the tub with you, it will blow up, and you will die. That is considered unfortunate, but OK. Your house or apartment building burning is considered not OK.

Boingoman, not harpin on ya here but those "things" ARE supposed to be used as ground lifts, thats what they do.......just so you know

No, they aren't. The little green metal ring on the top is meant to be put under the screw in the middle of a standard polarized 2 prong outlet. That screw is, or should be, attached to ground.

Those things are made so you can plug a 3 prong plug into a 2 prong outlet, and maintain the safety ground. Just so you know.