[Silvermirage]

I have a dell e1705 and it's sound quality isn't horrible, but what I can't stand is the noise on the audio out. When I plug in my earphones, I hear a constant kshhhhh! It's annoying and I want to get rid of it. What are my options for getting rid of it? Is USB audio out to my PreSonus Firebox possible? What can I do and at what cost? Free would be best of course.

 

[JmRoq]

What headphones are you using with your laptop? The constant, loud hiss you're hearing is most likely due to the output of the laptop being too 'hot' for your headphones. The headphones are too sensitive for the output; I had the exact same issue. The fix for me was getting a volume attenuator to deaden the laptop's output and it took care of the hiss. I had this issue only with my most sensitive headphones. Ones with higher impedence wouldn't be affected as much.

 

[pds6]

JmRoq is probably correct. Do you have an external drive? If so, unplug it and see if the noise goes away. It might also be a fan.

 

[Silvermirage]

I've got shure e5c's. I put that volume control thing in and it works better. Thanks for the fix. That was easy and fast.

 

[The_Duke_Of_Eli]

An external soundcard would do the trick.

 

[pikasu321]

I used to have that notebook, and I agree that the noise from it is terrible. You can solve this problem by getting any of the echo indigo cardbus soundcards.

 

[pds6]

Silvermirage says:
Quote:

I've got shure e5c's.

They hiss like a snake when I plug them into my SR-71.

EDIT: I have a Mac (Works with Windows) and the echo indigo slot card. It works very well. All digital out to card so no noise!

The way to keep it silent is to keep it digital.

 

[WhatMACHI]

I currently use my laptop more for music at the moment since im home more often recently, but yeah i get a similar thing. I can hear every sound that is in effect in contact with the laptop. I can hear typing, i can hear really soft taps on the table etc etc. The only way i've dealt with this is putting the volume down on the hardware (some laptops have a little scroll wheel to turn down volume) and put the volume of the software player up more...well at least it worked for me

 

[EFN]

I am using Acer Aspire 502. Whenever I plugged in any headphone with impedance level below 32Ohms, they hissed annoyingly. The solution is to use Inline Resistor adapter which I DIYed myself. So now with 75Ohm the hiss is almost gone.

 

[milkpowder]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EFN I am using Acer Aspire 502. Whenever I plugged in any headphone with impedance level below 32Ohms, they hissed annoyingly. The solution is to use Inline Resistor adapter which I DIYed myself. So now with 75Ohm the hiss is almost gone.

The extra resistance sometimes does more harm than good to certain headphones. I can't stand the sound of the E500 with an additional 75 ohms.

It's slightly disappointing that the new generation of Dell laptops don't have the PCMCIA slot anymore. Otherwise, I would recommend the Echo Indigo IO/DJ for compact purposes.