Humming Annoyance

[GwenButler]

Hey Now!
I am determined to find an alternative to my Durabook which delayed my last gig by more than an hour due to a "grounding issue" (I believe) that was detected at the electrical source I was using, preventing my laptop from booting up.

While I know this is probably a feature that protects my LT from harm, after an hour of "jiggling" everything I could, (and stressing out), my laptop finally booted. (The club owner said she thought there was an issue w/the plug.)

I am now attempting to use a DELL LT I have as a back up. (Never, ever had the problem of getting any other LT to boot on start, wondering if the Durabook safety feature is "state of the art"--seems not.) If anyone has any suggested tips as far as that issue is concerned, THX! (It would certainly make my Durabook more reliable......)

My problem is that after plugging my sound system into the DELL headphone port, using the same input cable that I plug into my Durabook, that is, using:

Echo Indigo DJ 24/96 Laptop Sound Card, Dual Stereo Outputs

I hear a humming sound not present when using the Durabook.

Does anyone have any recommendations on how to get rid of this humming sound? I can't really hear the humming sound with music playing, but when there is dead silence, Yuck!

Is there a comparable Echo Indigo DJ device that I can interface my DELL to, using my headphone port?

Any and all help greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
The Karaoke Queen

[Roy Dennis]

This is normally caused by the power adapter for charging your computer.
A test you can do to determine whether the mains adapter is the problem, if the noise or hum is not noticeable when running on battery power and not connected to power unit then it is the power adapter.

one solution would be to use some Ground Loop Isolators, you would need 1 between the computer audio out and whatever that's connecting to and if you have a second audio card another between that and your audio systems line input, Some examples are this one as it has 3.5 jack input: http://www.amazon.com/PAC-Ground-Iso...+loop+isolator
This is more common but you may then need adaptors to hook up:
http://www.amazon.com/Philmore-Groun...r+for+a+laptop

Another more exspensive solution is Ebtech Hum X Voltage Hum Filter,
This combats the problem at it's source:
http://www.amazon.com/Ebtech-Hum-Vol...r+for+a+laptop

I personally have not used the hum eliminator but have heard good reports about it.

[GwenButler]

Roy,
Thanks a ton! You're a gem.
Best Regards,
Gwen (A.K.A. The Karaoke Queen)
P.S. Great price for Ebtech Hum X Voltage Hum Filter on:

Sam Ash.com.......$59.77 (free shipping)

THX Again!

http://www.samash.com/webapp/wcs/sto...ched=&x=21&y=6

[Karaoke Kiwi]

I have just had this problem now and I was switching cables and stuff and when I unplugged the power supply it went away. I always carry a spare power supply with me and when I plugged it in it worked fine.

Good Luck

[GwenButler]

Thanks.

The Ebtech Hum X Voltage Hum Filter I purchased resolved my issue.

By the way, I've also found that using my laptop with battery power can also cause a humming issue. Hard to debug this problem when power adapter is plugged in but nothing being feed. :O

I've learned to verify power supply first whenever I am troubleshooting humming issue.

Happy Trails!