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[marklwood]

Originally Posted by rkk1

Yes I use a laptop and yes I'm coming out of the headphones

For the time being, you can also turn the headphone volume on your computer down as low as possible. This is a powered out (it drives the headphone speakers) running to a line level input on your mixer. By turning down the volume as far as you can get away with, you will reduce the power (and noise) running to your mixer.

[billyo]

Originally Posted by marklwood

For the time being, you can also turn the headphone volume on your computer down as low as possible. This is a powered out (it drives the headphone speakers) running to a line level input on your mixer. By turning down the volume as far as you can get away with, you will reduce the power (and noise) running to your mixer.

i am having second thoughts about your suggestion, not that it wont work, nor i'm criticising it, my question is if you turned down the headphone volume, you then have to turn up your board and in my opinion that will make the board work harder to reach or make your speakers work to its peak ( harder ) , correct me if i'm wrong ,what i do was i have my laptop volume high which is connected to one of the boards line in channel,and my board main volume is up to the unity gain, my speakers ( powered ) are on 12'oclock, and i just turned the channels gain down where my laptop is connected , works for me i havent heard a hum/noise for a while now..

[rkk1]

do you use the external soundcard? I use a powermixer and I agree that turning the computer down would be hard on the board

[billyo]

Originally Posted by rkk1

do you use the external soundcard? I use a powermixer and I agree that turning the computer down would be hard on the board

i used to, i had a extigy soundblaster, which added more hum and noise,i even bought a 2 channel ebtech noise and hum elliminator which took out some of the noise & hums but that added more cables to my gears,i use a mackie board ( profx8 )and SRM450 powered mackie speakers i dont use any ext. soundcards now, in my opinion adding more ext. sound enhancement or adapters will create more noise. hums are usually created by lows and hizz/feedbacks are mostly created by highs, i just kinda use my eq's and do the necessary adjustments.

[Musicman51]

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Your hum problem comes from a lack of good ground for the building.

Dales right spot on with that advice for you. Been playing in bands, doing DJ, and now karaoke in every venue from dives with chicken wire, to nice country clubs. And bad grounding is going to follow you if you are going to do this much. Now, i can pass on a few things this hillbilly has been told. If you think that will help you. For instance, here is a short list.

Get yourself a power conditioner. I use Furman myself. With voltage, and current meters. But hey, a 40.00 one will do the trick, with or without lights, just get yourself one.

NEVER EVER EVER do a "ground lift" on any power amp or mixer you may ever own. promise us. We want to see you posting again here on the forum.

Get rid of every one of those power strips your wife was using to plug the lamps, TV, cable box, DVD player and whatever else through...

Plug adapters are ok, except guys forget to take them off for a building with a good ground. So there are other ways.

Thats are starter for you anyway. Now lets address your hum situation. Dale was right in his answer, but lets take it one step further. What your hum is most likely from is called a "Ground Loop". You are getting AC cycle back into your audio signal. Eq, or nothing else will help it.

You have to get on a good grounded building, then find your loop source. That is AC hum you are hearing. For starters get out of that headphone jack. Use a good USB interface, that's what they're for. I don't get hum out of mine, and i use a cheap one. Speaking of external sound shaping processors. I use an external key controller, BBE Sonic Maximizer, external eq for my monitors, a microphone preamplifier.All live for karaoke, and none of them give me any hum {whitenoise}.

Check your cables, Check your cables, Check your cables, Check your cables!!!! use those thin plastic junk with the red and white ends to tie your dog up with. Good cables don't mean expensive.

If everything is hooked up correctly in your system, and your ground is good, but you still have hum..99.999% of the time it's cables. I hope this helps you out a little. Combined with the great advice billyo and dale and others gave ya. You should be able to nip this problem in the bud. Good luck, if i can lend a hand..just give a yell....

[Musicman51]

oh and what sam just said..my advice is still get out of that headphone output......

[marklwood]

Originally Posted by billyo

i used to, i had a extigy soundblaster, which added more hum and noise,i even bought a 2 channel ebtech noise and hum elliminator which took out some of the noise & hums but that added more cables to my gears,i use a mackie board ( profx8 )and SRM450 powered mackie speakers i dont use any ext. soundcards now, in my opinion adding more ext. sound enhancement or adapters will create more noise. hums are usually created by lows and hizz/feedbacks are mostly created by highs, i just kinda use my eq's and do the necessary adjustments.

All I was suggesting was a temporary fix. The trick is to get away from a powered out to a line level in. By leaving the volume up and then turning the gain down, you are just temporarily fixing the problem 3ft down the line. (or however long that cord is) You wouldn't plug you 110v fan into a 220v line. Sure it'll run great for a little while, but will surely shorten it's life. The same goes for line voltage vs amplified voltage. At maximum output you can expect 2volts out of a line out. On the other hand, headphones typically run at 5volts.

[rkk1]

Thanks for all the ideas. I just ordered an external usb soundcard I'll see how that works. My board and cd players are already plugged into a power conditoner. By the way Musicman51, I am the wife. LOL

[billyo]

the best way to find out where the hum is coming from is to first look at the last gear you added to your system when you first noticed or heard the hum, then install or connect the noise suppressor to that gear,

[mindonstrike]

Originally Posted by billyo

i am having second thoughts about your suggestion, not that it wont work, nor i'm criticising it, my question is if you turned down the headphone volume, you then have to turn up your board and in my opinion that will make the board work harder to reach or make your speakers work to its peak ( harder ) , correct me if i'm wrong ,what i do was i have my laptop volume high which is connected to one of the boards line in channel,and my board main volume is up to the unity gain, my speakers ( powered ) are on 12'oclock, and i just turned the channels gain down where my laptop is connected , works for me i havent heard a hum/noise for a while now..

What Mark is saying is that the signal to the headphones is an amplified signal that your board is not designed to handle. Your input channels are designed to work best with a specific range of voltages and impedances that the headphone out is not giving. Lowering the amplification of the headphone out will get you closer to that ideal. The fact that you have to turn down the gain on the channel is evidence that the signal is too hot. The ideal signal from source to amplifier would be one that reqires no amplifying or trimming (unity) of the gains until you get to the amplifier itself, and still keep the boards faders within 5 or 10 decibals +/-. In the real world of course the ideal is impossible but the closer you can get the better your results.

IMHO
Sam