Hi. My laptop is linked to my (fairly old) Technics Amp via from the headphones socket of my laptop to the stereo input of my amp. While I do not experience any 'humming' sound, I get a periodical crackling sound which usually only comes through one of the channels (never both). Has anyone encountered this problem and how can I fix it? Should I buy a USB sound card? Your help would be much appreciated.
Harry
Harry
A USB soundcard would, in 99% of the cases fix your problem. Another that would is a USB DAC. Since this is a DIY site, I'm sort of inclined to encourage the second one more than the all ready solution. But hey, the decision is up to you 🙂
Sébastien
Sébastien
Hi,
I would be careful with some of the USB sound cards, a few can be a little temperamental with drivers, although many do have optical outs which would be ideal for a DAC project 🙂
My housemate has an M-Audio external USB soundcard, which on his laptop can be pretty bad for popping occasionally, but on my desktop it's fine and sounds a little better than my onboard sound, which itself is surprisingly good! So the popping may well just be down to the laptop. M-audio do seem to have quite a good reputation.
You could always build a cheap nForce based desktop. The nVidia MCP onboard sound chipset surprised us when comparing to a reasonable cd player, and also has the benefit of optical and coax digital outs. These can run up to 6 channels too if you decide to base a cinema system around a computer. You could always sell the laptop and spend £200 building a desktop like that, and spend the rest on audio stuff. But then you might need the portability of the laptop.
Is the crackling you talk about always through the SAME channel? or just one channel at a time?
Stevo
I would be careful with some of the USB sound cards, a few can be a little temperamental with drivers, although many do have optical outs which would be ideal for a DAC project 🙂
My housemate has an M-Audio external USB soundcard, which on his laptop can be pretty bad for popping occasionally, but on my desktop it's fine and sounds a little better than my onboard sound, which itself is surprisingly good! So the popping may well just be down to the laptop. M-audio do seem to have quite a good reputation.
You could always build a cheap nForce based desktop. The nVidia MCP onboard sound chipset surprised us when comparing to a reasonable cd player, and also has the benefit of optical and coax digital outs. These can run up to 6 channels too if you decide to base a cinema system around a computer. You could always sell the laptop and spend £200 building a desktop like that, and spend the rest on audio stuff. But then you might need the portability of the laptop.
Is the crackling you talk about always through the SAME channel? or just one channel at a time?
Stevo
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