Sound and A/V folks - Problem resolved!!

[Compudork]

..

 

[spidey07]

Try different power supply. Could be a groudning problem. Or try using the same circuit as the PA gear.

 

[unfalliblekrutch]

might be a bad way to do this, but if you turn the laptop volume up really high, then it will minimize the background interference relative to the sound signal you want.

Other than that, I'm not sure how to help you, it sounds like the wall might not be providing clean power to the laptop. Running sound equipment from my cheap power invertor in my car causes odd things to happen too.

 

[ViviTheMage]

sounds like a typically grounding problem.

 

[Kev]

Have you tried plugging it into a surge protector. Not sure if that would make a difference, because I have no idea what I'm talking about.

 

[Juddog]

I had a similar issue with my desktop computer. After weeks of messing around with it, ended up being that a floor lamp was causing the issue in another room. The cause is either faulty grounding or faulty circuitry plugged into one of the electrical outlets on that circuit.

Audiophiles run into this issue a lot - basically the cause is some other electrical device on the same line causing the interference. Unless you are willing to examine every electrical device in building to see what is causing this, it's a lost cause. Your best bet is to either run just off of battery or bring a UPS device with you if you need to power a P.A. or what-not.

 

[Juddog]

Originally posted by: Kev
Have you tried plugging it into a surge protector. Not sure if that would make a difference, because I have no idea what I'm talking about.

When I had this issue, plugging into a surge protector didn't make any difference. You would need a professional grade line filter to really make a difference.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Juddog
I had a similar issue with my desktop computer. After weeks of messing around with it, ended up being that a floor lamp was causing the issue in another room. The cause is either faulty grounding or faulty circuitry plugged into one of the electrical outlets on that circuit.

Audiophiles run into this issue a lot - basically the cause is some other electrical device on the same line causing the interference. Unless you are willing to examine every electrical device in building to see what is causing this, it's a lost cause. Your best bet is to either run just off of battery or bring a UPS device with you if you need to power a P.A. or what-not.

This is why there are no dimmer switches in my house and there never will be.

OP - try lifting the ground on the laptop power supply. Use a "cheater" plug. It's got three prong holes, but the ground plug isn't used. It's an adapter to let you plug three prong plugs into outlets that only have two prongs.

Is it a dell laptop by any chance?

 

[Kev]

Originally posted by: Juddog

Originally posted by: Kev
Have you tried plugging it into a surge protector. Not sure if that would make a difference, because I have no idea what I'm talking about.

When I had this issue, plugging into a surge protector didn't make any difference. You would need a professional grade line filter to really make a difference.

See, no clue what I'm talking about. Thanks!

 

[Compudork]

Originally posted by: Juddog

Originally posted by: Kev
Have you tried plugging it into a surge protector. Not sure if that would make a difference, because I have no idea what I'm talking about.

When I had this issue, plugging into a surge protector didn't make any difference. You would need a professional grade line filter to really make a difference.

I tried, and it didn't work. My father (who is a retired electrician) suggested using a high-grade UPS with filtering - I'm going to try to find one tonight.

Spidey: I have this problem on a 5-year old Dell and new Acer laptop.