Freesound Forums

Hi there,
Wondering if any one can help me with this. When I connect my MD player to the Line In on my PC I get a nasty hum type noise. It's a Sony MZ-N1 so I am unable to transfer tracks to the PC via USB, so stuck with the Line Out/In solution i'm afraid

It's also there when the MD is in the USB cradle. As soon as I remove the lead, the noise is gone. I assume it's a grounding issue, but how to get round it with out damaging anything I am not sure.

Any tips/help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks!

One idea, ensure your MD is running off batteries only and is not itself connected to the mains electricity.

Mike

Hi there,
I already tried that, but still happens. When I use the headphones its perfectly quiet, so I wonder if it might be the potential difference between PC and MD??? I will have to experiment over the next few days and see what happens.

thanks!

And another dumb suggestion. Make sure you're going into Line-in and not Mic-in (some PC's don't have Line-in - especially laptops).

Have you tried connecting anything else to the computer's audio in, to compare if noise still occurs?

Also, is the hum out of one channel or on both?

Mike

acclivity
And another dumb suggestion. Make sure you're going into Line-in and not Mic-in (some PC's don't have Line-in - especially laptops).

I'm sure I heard some where that there are no dumb questions, only dumb answers! :lol:

I appreciate any suggestions so no problem! I have tried my iPod but noise is still there, and the connection is going to my line in for sure (i have an Audigy in my PC).

Oops, also the sound is out of both channels

Just found this on t'interweb http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/GLI1-X1.html a ground loop isolator, could be worth a look

Thanks

Hi there,
As my wife was in Brum shopping this afternoon, I got her to pop into Maplin and get me one of these; http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=33172&criteria=ground%20loop%20isolator&doy=20m8

It works!!!

And it sounds great on the cradle too - YAY!!!

Dave

mr_rolfi
It works!!!

Hi there!,
My pleasure, I cant agree more I would be surprised if I were the only one (albeit newbie) with this problem, so thought I should share it. So, if it helps a couple of people in the future, YAY! I'll be pleased with that :wink:

Thanks,

Dave