Laptop noise on external amplifier

Well, I found the solution!!! The power adapter of your laptop should not be grounded, as normally intended.
For this, you need either an adapter bought commercially (?) that allows you to connect your 3-pin plug to a standard socket
without the ground being connected. Or, the simplest thing is to make your own connector with a male plug, a female plug, a piece of wire, and only connect the live and neutral points, leaving the ground unconnected.
It works!!! Yay!!!
See you!

Hello everyone...

I was hanging out on the forum and I saw your post. The problem of audio noise from a laptop is indeed related to grounding, but there are two much less risky solutions than removing the ground.

If you're working with a small sound system connected directly to your amplifier in the living room, the "McGyver" technique should do the trick. Now, if you need to send your sound to a larger sound system with a mixing desk and heavy amplification (show, party, wedding, etc...) your best friend will become the [LIFT].

This process involves eliminating the grounding, but in a targeted way on the audio signal and not on the device. The obvious advantage of this system is that you run no risk with electricity since it only affects the audio signal, which is ridiculously low both in voltage and intensity.

To benefit from the [LIFT], you have two options:

1) You have a mixing desk designed for "live in the field"... Let me explain. Some mixing desks have a small switch at the back that allows you to remove the ground from the audio signals. It can switch from [GROUND] or [GND] or the small ground symbol to [LIFT]. Set this gizmo to [LIFT] and voila... no more buzz.

2) If your desk doesn't have the [LIFT] option, you'll need to pass your audio signal through a pair of DI boxes. DI box means Direct Input Box. The primary use of these boxes is to solve various issues posed by connecting an electric guitar or bass to a mixing desk. But it turns out that the [LIFT] option is included in all DI boxes...

There you go, I know that this solution may require a financial investment for some... But when you often need to send sound with your laptop to various sound systems that aren't yours, it's the professional and secure solution.

To those who understand...

Cheers.

Dj Zapata aka Alex

Try sending sound from your PC without the external power supply and you normally won't have any interference...
I have the same problem with an external sound card, and I no longer have interference when I unplug the power supply
from the laptop... the issue is that if your mix/live lasts a long time, it's hard to go without the power supply!
By the way, if anyone has a solution to eliminate interference at the audio output while using the external power supply,
it would be greatly appreciated!!!

You might get a shock if a wire touches the casing of your PC and if your case is metallic... The risk is that if there are two wires touching your casing (internally, there is probably some metal), you'll create a short circuit (you might end up sending 230 Volts to your hard drive, for example: no more hard drive ^^)
Occasionally plug your computer into a regular outlet (with ground), if your circuit breaker trips, that's a bad sign...
Otherwise, no risk :)

Hello

Be careful with your mixing tables and scrap metal...
Know that on a laptop, it's okay to skip grounding.
But a mixing table with a metal chassis, if there’s an electrical issue and the live wire somehow touches the casing, the potential difference won’t be properly grounded as it should... In other words, if you touch the console, you might get shocked, and it could even be fatal...
You shouldn’t bypass grounding recklessly. Instead, aim to make it as clean as possible so it doesn’t interfere with your equipment.

So, be cautious! :)

Simon

Hello to you, after extensive research regarding these parasite problems, as I have a Sony laptop connected to an external sound card + mixing desk + arranger keyboard, I finally have the solution!!!!

THE SOLUTION: Plug a SURGE PROTECTOR into the laptop's power outlet. It works wonderfully at my place, no more noise!!

I hope it will be the same for you.

1,000 Thank you Duk!

Here's a simple solution I've been waiting for for 4 years.
Long live the ground wire :-(

Thanks again... AWESOME!

euh.. I have a two-prong outlet and I have the same problem.. a two-prong outlet normally doesn't have ground as far as I know?

Hi
unfortunately not being an electricity specialist, my help might be limited...
after solving the issue with interference when using a laptop, I've encountered a new one
with 2 laptops: plugged into the same outlet without grounding, the audio outputs of both computers
connected to separate channels on a mixer, I get a buzz when I raise one of the
2 channels, and no buzz when I raise both channels at the same time.
At first glance, the interference cancels out when the two signals are mixed, but there's a buzz on each
channel when I cut one of the two, while with a single laptop plugged into the ungrounded outlet, it doesn't generate buzz.
????
The adventure continues, I'm working on it.
As for Dj Toots and Ophyte, I don't see what could be causing the buzz since indeed there is no
ground on the wall sockets without a pin!
To eliminate every possibility, try plugging into someone else's setup with recent electrical work,
don't connect the ground, and see if the problem persists.
Ophyte, try connecting your computer to the same power strip as your 2.1, without connecting the ground from your computer's transformer... ?
Your two-prong wall socket may not be on the same circuit as the one where you plugged in your power strip...

To be continued...
Happy new year without interference ;-)))

See you
Duk

I'm having the same issue with my Acer laptop and my new Samsung SyncMaster 961BW screen!

Has anyone found a solution?

For your information: I tested it by connecting it to an old DELL laptop that's at least 6 years old, and there are no interferences!
It may depend on the quality of the laptop's electrical circuit? Maybe the video output of certain laptops is simply interfered with??

Same problem with PC connected to amp
resolved with adapter without ground

Thank you

The unstoppable solution exists: to eliminate all those background noises, you need to buy a gold connector isolation transformer called RCQ FGA-40 for the price of €15.49 delivered in 8 days on the site: conceptaudio.com
These transformers are mainly used for automobiles, but they work just fine as well.
Connect it between the computer and the amplifier and between the amplifier and the mixing table; in this latter case, you need two transformers. And there will be no noise, I assure you!.....

Hello,

I had the same problem when connecting my laptop to a mixing desk that was itself connected to a hi-fi system, all plugged into the same power outlet.

I was getting really annoying background noise (especially since I make music with my laptop).

I noticed that when I unplugged my laptop's power supply, the phenomenon disappeared.

I bought an adapter without a ground pin and there "oh miracle" no more noise in my speakers.

In short, at €2 for the adapter at Carrefour, I highly recommend trying this solution!

Cheers!

It is clear that this is due to the external power supply... It seems that the provided power supply is not powerful enough!!! I have no solution other than to buy a proper power supply.

Bravo Duk, I had connected a new mixing table and studio monitor speakers, and all I got was noise and crackling. It was frustrating not to be able to use such equipment. We removed the ground and everything works. A thousand thanks.

I have a similar problem: I plug my laptop into a wall outlet that only has 2 holes (so no little grounding pin if I’m not mistaken :-p) but my old 2.1 kit (don’t laugh) is connected (via a simple 2-pin socket) to a power strip that is itself plugged into a grounded outlet.

My question is therefore the following: what can I do to eliminate the unwanted noise?

Well, I connected the 2.1 kit and the laptop to the same power strip (with a little trigger) plugged into the wall socket grounded, and it seems to work :-)

Thanks Duk ;-)
@+

Hello, I have a new laptop and I'm experiencing interference. I know I need to remove the ground to get rid of the interference, but I would like to know what happens if I remove the ground and whether it could damage my laptop or not?

Configuration: Acer Aspire 5315
Vista Premium
1.73GHz
2GB RAM

Here’s what it looks like

in the photo I just took, you can see that the outlet that includes the ground has been converted into a standard phase-neutral outlet, thereby eliminating the ground.

You can find this in stores, and without risking doing anything yourself. Especially if you’re not too familiar with it, don’t risk making anything yourself.
DIY stores will sell you this kind of outlet without any problem, but so will hypermarkets.

See you!
Simon

Here’s the link to the image:

https://imageshack.com/

In this case, since the power supply is ruled out, we can be sure it’s not the source of the problem.
If you have any doubts, post a photo, but there’s no reason to suspect it.

It’s possible your power supply is “filtered,” I’m not going to get into pure electronics. (often related to cheap equipment)
If you can, test another one, taking care to use a power supply identical in voltage and amperage (typical example from mine: output line = 19V 4.74A) these values are important.

The issue might not necessarily come from the power supply, but possibly from the sound driver of your PC. And the Realtek controllers are also rather mediocre... (like alc883 for example... it crackles. it's terrible...)
One interesting option is to find an external sound card. Creative makes some great USB ones. Around €40, including digital outputs.

What’s your PC?

A+