Fear the Weasel Posted September 18, 2005 Report Share Posted September 18, 2005 Hey guys, this isn't really to do with my Midibox I'm building at all but I thought that since a lot of you are very knowledgable about electronics someone might be able to help me out.  My current studio setup is based around a laptop but I have found that when the laptop is running off the power supply instead of battery it introduces a LOT of noise. Very obvious when plugged into a loud soundsystem. I don't really want to just run the laptop on battery during preformances as these can be quite long and very draining on the battery (lots of harddrive use). Also I'd have to charge it between souncheck & preformance etc. Surely there is a way around this, lots if people use laptops during preformances.....  Any suggestions would be very welcome!!PS. 'DIYing' a PSU is not an option. I will fry myself. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kokoon Posted September 18, 2005 Report Share Posted September 18, 2005 common ground? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pay_c Posted September 18, 2005 Report Share Posted September 18, 2005 It´s not the PSU in all cases. Higher chances are that it´s the shitty soundcard (I *bet* you´re using the built-in one, right?). That will also bring in noise when your HDD starts to work or even your LAN.I got a USB-Soundcard (M-Audio Transit) and since that point got no more problems anymore. You can get them for under 50 Euros, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fear the Weasel Posted September 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2005 Hi there. pay_c - My soundcard is an Edirol FA-101 Firewire so should expect any problems there like you would with a built in one. When the laptop runs off battery (everything else still plugged in) there is no noise at all. However when the power adaptor is plugged in, lots of noise.Kokoon - Not too sure what you mean by 'common ground'. Every thing is plugged into the same wall socket if that's what you mean.Thanks guys for the suggestions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Screaming_Rabbit Posted September 19, 2005 Report Share Posted September 19, 2005 ... what happens, when you change the distance from the powersupply to the audio interface? Any changes in the noise? Could be bad shielding of the units.Greets, Roger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pay_c Posted September 19, 2005 Report Share Posted September 19, 2005 pay_c - My soundcard is an Edirol FA-101 Firewire so should expect any problems there like you would with a built in one. :o And you got noise?!? Woah... I´m about to remember Edirol...Only idea then: Also try a shorter firewire cable (I had probs with a to long USB cable once). If the cable gets to long it will act like a antenna. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fear the Weasel Posted September 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2005 Cheers guys. Tried moving the soundcard power supply around, no change. I don't have another firewire cable so I can't try that at the moment but should get one soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Screaming_Rabbit Posted September 20, 2005 Report Share Posted September 20, 2005 Cheers guys. Tried moving the soundcard power supply around, no change. I don't have another firewire cable so I can't try that at the moment but should get one soon.... I actually meant the Laptop PSU... since you get the noise when this one is plugged in ;)Greets, Roger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian Posted October 10, 2005 Report Share Posted October 10, 2005 I know this problem too good...thisd weekend i played a live set and gad to lend a laptop there...same problem, as soon as the power supply was connected, immense noise occured.I remembered often you get ground loops with analog gear in the studio, and one way (though its a crappy solution) to avoid this noise, is to tape over the ground connectors of the power plug. It also works with the laptop noise I figured out this Weekend ;)Its not a good / safe solution. but maybe you should look if it works, and if so, maybe you can get a PSU plug without ground connectors for your laptop.best, julian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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