Karaoke Forums

Go into settings under control panel, sounds, you can adjust volume or just turn them all off.

The first thing I have to say about this, is that you can't get a quality sound card for $40 installed. That being said, I don't see how this is a real comparison. So, your laptop sounds better than a cheap desktop sound card?

I have tested a few high end laptops, and there are plenty of tests on the web, and none of them have decent sound cards. There are issues with space in a laptop, and the first thing they leave out are the filters needed to reduce the noise that is inherent in having a bunch of hot electronic parts and a number of whiring mechanical devices within inches of each other packed into that tiny space. Add to that the issue of ground loops, and it is a disaster waiting to happen.

If you take the time to compare your laptop sound to a desktop with a quality sound card, you will find that your laptop is lacking. Not only are laptop sound cards lacking in design, but they do not have pre-amps, clean flat frequency response, and on and on. They are the bare bones budget uglies of sound.

To some this may be totally subjective, and granted if you have bad hearing, are tone deaf or haven't heard a system with a quality sound card and quality sound system, then certainly, a laptop internal sound card is just fine.

But, consider that you are overdriving your sound system (which in turn increases the chance of noise), and maybe with a decent sound card you could get that extra bass punch and little bit more power at the end of the night, without having to buy a new amp and speakers.

Seriously, get a decent sound card. You will be surprised at the difference.

Of course, you must be right, Dennis.  I have no idea how my laptop sounds.  I best rely upon the opinion of someone who has never heard my system to let me know what it must be lacking?

The one thing I do know, the sound my rig produces does not change as I switch back and forth during my show between my deck (Dvd, MP3, CDG, etc player) and my laptop.  I guess there's something wrong with by deck, as well?

As to my $40 sound card; it isn't a sound card that retails for $40!  In order to placate my disappointment with their work, the geeks sold me the card and installed it for $40.  They quoted the retail value of the card at much more than that.  But, so what?

I bought a soundblaster external sound card for my laptop. I got the sound to go through it fine and aparently with no problem but when combined with compuhost and an external hard drive the USB ports were apparently being overtaxed.

The net result was that the sound ended up a bit slower, and by the end of a 5 minute song the words were out of sync with the beat of the music by about half a second.

Sure it was not much but enough to annoy the singers. I switched to not using a sound card, and sure it may be worse sound but I cant tell the difference.

That is the major point with  a lot of musical information and equipment quality. It may be "worse" than another way but if the difference is too small for a person to detect why bother to fuss about it.

That said I think the sound card on my laptop is better than some others especially on older laptops.

Your laptop grounding problem will not be fixed by a 2 prong adapter.    A home theater installer suggested i do that when i was setting up a bar he wired for sound and video.  I had a hum.  He told me to lift the ground on the amplifier.  Wrong answer.  That made it real bad.    Being a good KJ that plans for everything, i have a bag of tricks i carry around.    

The fix to your problem is a video isolator.  You have an audio one from Radio Shack.  That just isolates the music.  Now isolate the video.

Does it make a difference to know that the hum occurs without any programs being opened?  In other words, as soon as the laptop is turned on, it hums!

Although it is a little pricey this item will get rid of the laptop hum and still protect your laptop (by maintaining the ground)

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... sku=150452

_________________
Music speaks to the heart in ways words cannot express.

Why are you seeking opinions, when you already have made up your mind?

If you do a little research, you may find that what I have told you is correct.

There are other factors that enter into this, the most important of which is the actual sound system you are playing through.

Since your happy, that's all that really matters.

Good luck.

Dennis,

I don't recall asking for any opinions regarding my rig.  I made a posting that stated, in effect, how lucky I feel I was having ended up with my rig, while not having had all of the specs necessary to make the best decision.

RLS,

By golly, I think you've got it!?!?  I'm gonna give it a try; $59 isn't that steep if it really works.  I wonder if I should connect the gadget directly to the PC or will it work at the receptacle end of the power, as well?  Anyone know?

I just plug the laptop power into it and then it into the power strip with everything else.  Lonman is the person who directed me to this item, I too was using the 3 prong to 2 prong adapter, which did get rid of the hum, but I wanted to maintain the grounding for my laptop so I opted for this item.

_________________
Music speaks to the heart in ways words cannot express.

Does it hum with the TVs hooked up and the amplifier on?

Hm... it seems that this 2 prong adapter can reduce or eliminate the "humm" in the speakers - but you may pay for this with a high price, which is your life.

There is a good reason why you have three pins. If any electrical part in your system is blank and you touch a metal part (e.g. on your laptop), the power is going through your body instead the ground pin.

At least here in Europe, using such an adapter would be strictly forbidden - with all consequences you may have to face if there is a problem.

Wolfgang

Exactly, that was a sound engineers sidestep trick for years for a TEMPORARY fix, but you do no want to permanantly have the ground lifted & the Ebtech is the solution to any ground loop (hum) without doing any dangerous ground eliminating.

_________________
LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Video Ground Loop Isolator


MCM Part #: 33-6926  

This thing is 2.5-3 inches long.   RCA ends.

I just hooked up at a brand new bar.  New building and all, 6 months old.   All new HDTVs that need a special adapter box to change the signal to HDTV.  And i had to put in the audio and video isolators to STOP all the hum.   I will just leave them permanently hooked into my system and i won't have to worry anymore about any place.

It also stopped the ghost video interference on the TVS that kept rolling from top to bottom on the screen.

I still seeking advice on where along the line it is best to plug that ($59) doohickey in?

I'd prefer, if possible, to plug it in at the receptacle and then plug the power strip into the filter?  Will that work?

You could try that, but first I would plug your laptops power supply into the filter and then plug the filter into your power strip. Turn on laptop (of course with the system fired up) and see if the hum is gone--it should be.

_________________
Music speaks to the heart in ways words cannot express.

I would not mess with lifting the ground on a computer.  Isolate the video & audio signal.   It has no effect on the ground.   What are you going to do if the computer takes a surge?   Or there is a bar electrical circuit problem?    You will have removed any last little bit of protection without the ground.

Do you even know what we are talking about here? Read the thread.

_________________
Music speaks to the heart in ways words cannot express.

, eric here is the link to the ebtech products.  The first one is the ground lifter!  SAFE to use on any piece of gear.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigation?q=ebtech

_________________
LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!