HISS-(Boo!)

Bobbin Beam · Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006, 17:20 (GMT) Post subject: HISS-(Boo!)

HELP!!!!! I do everything on my Dell Inspiron 1150 laptop because I travel quite a bit and love the mobility. It has 1 MB RAM, but 18 gig hard drive, but I have resorted to getting additional storage on a 160 gig external USB drive. I run ProTools LE, MBox, Behringer Zennyx mixer and SHURE KSM32 mic (which does require phantom power).
The fan on the laptop now runs all the time , at times at a higher, louder speed than others... adding noise to recordings so I work around it- I cover the laptop with a towel to muffle the fan noise when I record and work closer to the mike.... but what I am hearing in the phones is also possible RF ( a high pitched hum , possibly from the fan motor) and a discernable HISS, Mad

that is not the sound of the fan. Is this a grounding problem/ Do I need additional preamp power for the mic???? The processing is slowing down noticeably, as well. It's constraining sometimes to have to close all other prgrams by the afternoon, just to run ProTools! I am seriously considering a whole new desktop with a monster harddrive and 2 gigs RAM that I can encase with sound baffles or studio foam. Do you think this may resolve my "issues"? Any techno geeks or studio wizards comments are most welcome! Thanks, Bobbin Beam

Todd Ellis · Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006, 09:05 (GMT) Post subject:

You say you travel all the time --- you don't sit your laptop on a hotel bed, do you? Or the carpeted floor? Or the car seat next to you? The ventilation for a laptop is on the bottom - so if it's not on a hard surface where it can get some circulation it will heat up and fry. The fan is running because the computer is hot. The older a laptop gets - the more the fan tends to run. When I travel with my laptop I bring a simple device I made. A wire grid supported 1.5 inches off the table by blocks. This gives me great ventilation around my laptop no matter where I have to sit it.

Is it possible to get farther away from the computer when you record?

Whatever you do DO NOT encase a computer case in foam. Your shiny new processor will last about a day. There are some "quiet" cases and power supplies on the market, though. You could look toward one of them.

Your hum is probably not RF - might be a ground problem in a cable, though.

Good Luck - Todd