dudes who use laptops for location recording...

[nwright]

Do you ever get weird noise through your laptop DAW setup? It's not a hum per se, more like "computer noise", little blurps and white noise and stuff, especially when the hard drive is working.

I really only notice it when I DI certain things that have a lot of gain, like the preamp out of my 6505+, etc. It's never a problem when recording, but the noise is noticeable enough through a high gain preamp out on the amp to make me wonder what it is.

I've read about it before and most people point to the adapter/battery as the cause. Sure enough, when I unplug the laptop from the adapter, the sound stops, but running on the battery lowers my cpu abilities.

Has anyone tried any way to get rid of that noise? I've read about people using Ebtech Hum Eliminators to get rid of it...But it was on a home theater forum, where a guy was using a laptop as his HTPC...before I plunk down 70 bucks for the hum eliminator, I wanted to see if you guys had any recommendations.

 

[LosingReality]

I get some spanish radio channel...lol

 

[xFkx]

Do you ever get weird noise through your laptop DAW setup? It's not a hum per se, more like "computer noise", little blurps and white noise and stuff, especially when the hard drive is working.

Yeah, when i crank the gain on everything i hear it, sounds like alien spiecies comunicating.

If you find out how to get rid of it give me a call

 

[nwright]

Yeah, when i crank the gain on everything i hear it, sounds like alien spiecies comunicating.

If you find out how to get rid of it give me a call

Haha, yep, that's exactly what I hear, too!

Aliens!

Like I said, this Ebtech gizmo has been mentioned more than once. I wonder how much it'd help.

I've ran the laptop adapter through power conditioners to no avail, I'm inclined to think that the noise comes from the adapter itself, so using anything at the outlet would not work...

 

[Metaltastic]

Well are you thinking of the Hum Eliminator or the Hum X, Nate? (the X is the one that goes at the end of a power cable) Cuz I have the Hum X, and it completely banished the awful ground loop I had when re-amping, so it was money well spent! (and the ground loop is why you're hearing all the HDD noises and stuff, just less severe than the full-blown 60 cycle WHIRR)

 

[nwright]

Well are you thinking of the Hum Eliminator or the Hum X, Nate? (the X is the one that goes at the end of a power cable) Cuz I have the Hum X, and it completely banished the awful ground loop I had when re-amping, so it was money well spent! (and the ground loop is why you're hearing all the HDD noises and stuff, just less severe than the full-blown 60 cycle WHIRR)

I think it's the Hum X. 70 bucks at MF.

I did some Google searches and some laptop people speak of the same thing, and they point towards the power supplies themselves as being the culprit. They say for larger screened laptop that are more full featured, the smaller power supplies may struggle to do it all and introduce some noise. Some dude with a Gateway had these problems and said a 180W laptop power supply fixed it.

My HP has a 90 watt power supply, so I wonder if going up to 180 would help.

If that doesn't work, the Hum X may be the next thing on my list. I just have a hard time spending 70 bucks on something that pretty much looks like those 2 dollar ground lifts you can buy at the hardware store!


*Yes, I know the Hum X does a bit more, but man, it seems to inconsequential!

 

[Metaltastic]

Well the thing is it doesn't lift the ground; I dunno how it works, but it works!

 

[xFkx]

Well, i'll chime in again.

When you analyze the noise a bit closer, it really isn't typical white noise and dc hum. I'm almost sure i can hear the HDD mechanics working for example. I don't know if a Hum eliminator can get rid of that stuff.

 

[nwright]

Well, i'll chime in again.

When you analyze the noise a bit closer, it really isn't typical white noise and dc hum. I'm almost sure i can hear the HDD mechanics working for example. I don't know if a Hum eliminator can get rid of that stuff.

Yep, I agree.

I've read on other forums that the Hum X can work. I guess I could see it from keeping the noise from entering the circuit, but I'm inclined to think a more robust PS wouldn't hurt, either.

 

[RiF]

I heard my harddrive throught my monitors... I heard strange noises while dragging windows around... I heard foreign radio programs... (OK, these can be stopped by using quality cables). I stopped thinking/complaining about it, because my cerebral capability is not pronounced enough to really think about this weirdness.

 

[prowlergrig]

When you analyze the noise a bit closer, it really isn't typical white noise and dc hum. I'm almost sure i can hear the HDD mechanics working for example. I don't know if a Hum eliminator can get rid of that stuff.

take out the plug and see if the hdd noise is still there while running on battery... if it is, then eliminating the ground loop won't fix it

 

[beyond dead]

Sure enough, when I unplug the laptop from the adapter, the sound stops, but running on the battery lowers my cpu abilities.

there you have it. the hum x should do the trick!

 

[Sloan]

I think this is common, but it doesn't actually track the computer sounds.

 

[nwright]

I think this is common, but it doesn't actually track the computer sounds.

The only time I hear it is running DI's from my amp heads, which have a lot of gain running, so the noise is amplified.

I used a regular 3 to 2 prong adapter (lifting the ground), and it worked...

 

[LydonB]

At school I had to do a ton of location recordings. Some of them with laptops, some without. I only ever had a problem with noise once and it was just going through a Mackie Onyx mixer into an Alesis Masterlink. One of the mic cables we were using was all sorts of f'd up and would occasionally pick up a local radio station. I think it turned out to be so low in volume that we were able to get rid of it afterwards. Still annoying though.