Unwanted noise/interference from laptop.
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Posted on Mar 19, 2007 12:37 pm
matchstruck
Member Since: Jan 12, 2007
I've recorded a few tracks lately on my Acer laptop. They sound fine except for this weird clicking/popping/grinding noise in the background. Sometimes it pops constantly, sometimes the noise doesn't show up. I'm using a Shure microphone with a Behringer Mic 200 preamp to record my acoustic guitar directly into the laptop with Adobe Audition 1.5. I thought maybe it was fan noise but I in no way have the money to get a quieter fan.
Any suggestions?
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pjkPrince CZAR-mingMember
Since: Apr 08, 2004
Mar 19, 2007 12:56 pm Fan noise would be pretty constant, I'd think.
snap crackle and pop very much could be the onboard sound, if you're using it.
That would be my first place to look.
If you're using a recording type device, then maybe there's a driver issue, or a interupt issue. Those can both introduce unwanted noise.
If it's grinding, than it could be the hard drive, or the cpu fan. Actually, it it's not always there, than it could be the CPU fan turning on every so often. I know my dell laptop does that, and it's kinda loud. Loud enough for me to hear it pretty easily.
If it is the same noise (cpu fan) then I'd look into some sort of guerrilla type cooling system. Maybe a low-speed fan pointed at the vents, so the CPU fan doesn't turn on. Or a shroud coming from the exhaust vent, sucking air out of the laptop. Something like that, so you don't have to spend any real $$$.
hth
Apr 11, 2007 02:45 pm So if I wanted to shut off the onboard sound do I just go to volume control and mute everything?
Or is it more complex than that?
Apr 11, 2007 03:06 pm Or just move the mic farther away from the machine.
pjkPrince CZAR-mingMember
Since: Apr 08, 2004
Apr 11, 2007 03:55 pm Laptops may be a little more complex, but on Desktops, usually there's a 'boot into bios' or PC setup type of thing.
This usually comes up first thing when the PC powers up. It may be visible, it may not. Sometimes hitting ESC or something will let you see the boot screen.
In the PC bios, there should be a section regarding peripherals, or something similar, where you can disable the onboard sound.
Hopefully this is somewhat simple, I've not tried this procedure on a laptop, only desktops, and usually homemade ones.
After rebooting, you can remove the drivers for the onboard sound. Also, you should be able to remove the device in device manager, if it still shows up.
One more step, that might be warranted: boot up into safe mode, and go into the device manager. The onboard sound may still be listed, even though windows can't see it anymore. Remove it from there, while in safe mode, will remove the device and it's associated drivers.
Or, the easy way, without going through all that, is to go into the device manager, and disable the soundcard. I believe putting the little red X next to it will disable it in windows. Then windows won't try to use it. This probably is just as good as the other method, but I feel safer doing it the thorough way.
