Ground loops - Audio noise

[superfastkyle]

I recently just bought a used Creative Labs Extigy (usb) thinking that would solve my ground loop problems with my notebook connected to a home receiver with a headphone/rca adapter. I use a external usb hard drive that makes a ground loop on both my laptop audio and the extigy too which really surprised me. I assumed the usb circuits and audio circuits would have been seperated... woops. Well anyways I have two ideas to fix my problem....

1. Buy an external usb enclosure that has a external dc supply (mine is internal)... but I guess that would be a try and hope it works? any experiences?

2 This is just a guess... My drive obviously doesn't need the usb power, right? it turns on without being plugged in usb... So could I cut up a usb cord and put a resistor of some kind on the power wires? would windows still detect the drive? is it worth trying cutting up a cord... I dont think I could risk any damage to laptop if I use a resistor the right size could I?

If all else fails I guess I can use digital inputs but the dac on my receiver is HORRIBLE... the only thing it seems to sound better than is my ps2 analog and thats not saying much. and I dont think you can get a decent dac for a good price even ebay

 

[superfastkyle]

Well putting the hard drive on a longer cable helps a little... another thing I thought of what are these 'ground loop isolators' I see at walmart and such... Do they just mute certain frequencies or do they actually work?

 

[pe3046]

With my home theatre pc's I always used the monster power conditioners (hts-1000 or up) for video and vans evers for the audio side, that was the only thing that could remove the gound loop from my cable (this could be the cause of it if your cable is grounded at a different location then your fuse box..if you have cable connected to your tv and your tv connected to your receiver). I tried a lot of the cheater sytle and even the mondial loop breaker but that did not work, only the monster.

 

[TitanDiddly]

It might help to put some capacitors in line, but that's a last-ditch thing, or if you're really a dork and willing to take a risk.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Are all your components plugged into the same outlet or same circuit?

 

[superfastkyle]

thanks alot for your help... I finally got rid of my ground loop and it was WAY simpler than I thought. Last reply got me thinking a little simpler. I looked at my receiver plugged in, looked at my hard drive plugged in. My hard drive had a 3 prong plug with ground my receiver a 2 prong plug. Opened up hard drive removed ground wire to third prong, Tada! no more noise.

oh and anybody who is having trouble getting usb audio to work without skips and pops. I know I was. Not all usb cables appear to be equal so use the one that came with it. Don't use extensions or hubs. And keep the usb cable away from ALL other wires. It may also like one specific usb port on your computer. Spent hours trying to get my extigy to work well and also tried a turtle beach card too. They both behaved the same way.

My setup sounds great now and I'm real happy!