Interference & Laptops?

[blipndub]

I've been recording my band practice on my pc laptop with an m-audio mobile pre. All is well, except when I use the direct out from my amp into the pre. I get all kinds of like radio frequency. It's very annoying and i end up not running the DI.

Has anyone else run into this kind of problem, any workarounds?

 

[Droog]

That is pretty strange. Are you sure its RF? Are you hearing broadcast, or wierd snaps and crap? This may seem obvious but you might try a different cable. It could be that the XLR you are using might have a bad solder somewhere, making it unbalanced and susceptible to RF junk.

I'd be interested to hear what is causing this. I would almost say that if it is indeed RF you have to have gone unbalanced somewhere in there.

 

[blipndub]

I hadn't thought about the cable, but now that I think back i did use the same cable both times with two different heads, so that would make some sense!

No practice this week, will have to try with a fresh cable next week. thanks for the suggestion!

 

[mnadelin]

Does your laptop, by chance, have a wireless card? If so, it could be that. If you put a bass right by one of those you can hear the frequencies through the amp. There are a lot of other frequencies being emitted, so that's quite likely the cause of what you're hearing. As far as solutions go, I don't really know. If it is indeed a wireless card/modem, you could just unplug those components.

 

[Droog]

Does your laptop, by chance, have a wireless card? If so, it could be that. If you put a bass right by one of those you can hear the frequencies through the amp. There are a lot of other frequencies being emitted, so that's quite likely the cause of what you're hearing. As far as solutions go, I don't really know. If it is indeed a wireless card/modem, you could just unplug those components.

Like when you stand next to speakers when you are on a cell phone. The only thing is, is if his amp was reacting to the wireless card he would probobly hear it coming through his cab too, right? There is definately a distinct difference between your standard run of the mill RF and the crap that wireless emits, at least in my experiance this true. I did not even think about "Wi-Fi" being the culprit.

 

[blipndub]

It does have a wireless card and there is a wireless network in the house where we play. Hadn't considered that either. I got the laptop in part to do portable recording, I guess I'm learning some of the limitations...

 

[Droog]

It does have a wireless card and there is a wireless network in the house where we play. Hadn't considered that either. I got the laptop in part to do portable recording, I guess I'm learning some of the limitations...

All the wireless stuff is kind of a bitch sometimes. I run into RF problems when I do field work. So much crap in the air waves these days, if its not HDtv its Wi-Fi in someones house. I'll stop before I start ranting. Obvously the easiest way to tell is to try your set up else where.