That infernal hum!

[Larry Weil]

At 1:20 AM -0400 5/24/08, A. Joseph Ross wrote:

>I appreciate all the suggestions I got a few weeks ago when I asked
>for help getting rid of an AC hum when I connected my stereo to my
>desktop computer through a patch cord.  Since then, I've never
>managed to get the hum to go away for very long.  It keeps coming
>back.

Have you tried using a ground loop isolator.  These are available at 
Radio Shack or at Best Buy (in the car audio department), and cost 
around $15 I think.

>So I'm thinking of another strategy for recording records and tapes
>into computer files:  Use my laptop.  trouble is, my laptop doesn't
>have an auxiliary input jack, just a mike jack.  Anything that I play
>into that jack comes out loud and distorted.  Is there any kind of
>adapter that I can get that will make it possible to use the laptop
>for this purpose?  Or do I have to get another laptop?  That's not
>going to happen for awhile.

You can get a patch cord with a resistive pad that brings the level 
down to mic level, again at Radio Shack.  Keep in mind that the mic 
input is usually monaural only.

-- 
Larry Weil
Lake Wobegone, NH