Laptops Suck - Part 5
Well after a short breather from writing laptops suck articles, I found another conversation about laptops that sparked my creativity and gave me the next great idea of telling you why laptops suck (for DJing that is). This conversation, like way too many to count, talked about issues with the audio noise/interference coming from a laptop and ways to (cheaply) work around it. Of course these threads where someone complains about a laptop doing this or not doing this is far too often also followed by some form of statement where the laptop-sufferer is looking for a free or the cheapest way out of their laptop blues - but I digress…
The million dollar question was; “Do I need to use a USB sound card to get rid of noise from my laptop?” As I mentioned above, there were a few folks who chimed in, telling this hapless laptop devotee that an external sound card will indeed eliminate noise. The real answer is a resounding NO! Read on, I’ll explain.
The single best method for eliminating garbage in your audio if first and foremost to use quality equipment and cables. USB sound cards do not filter out any line noise or audio artifacts introduced to line level signal. Additionally, most USB sound cards will actually introduce a certain amount of line noise themselves, so be sure that you read before you buy! Last but far from least, using at least a good-quality power conditioner or a power regulator to plug all of your sensitive audio electronics into will in most cases eliminate all external sources of line noise such as blenders, weed eaters and other “noisy” electrical appliances and tools.
Another favorite for those livin’ la vida loca with their laptops is trying to eliminate a ground loop hum using a three-prong cheater to plug into the wall. This does nothing to elimate the source of the ground loop, which far too often is caused by cheap-azz power supplies courtesy your favorite laptop dope-dealers such as Dell, Gateway, HP/Compaq, etc. The correct method is to use a ground loop isolation transformer, which are availble for less than $50US at any quality audio or DJ gear supplier. Another great alternative is to simply use a Hum-X plug adapter which safely isolates the electrical ground.
Of course my first reaction was to simply say: Don’t use a laptop and you won’t have those kinds of problems to begin with!
Tags: audio, card, computer, cps, digital, dj, groundloop, hiss, hum, laptop, sound
