Vostro - Major Audio Interference on line out

Hey all,

Not long ago I got a new work laptop – a Dell Vostro 1520, and when I connect it to my sound system (ie into my mixing desk, which then runs to active audio monitors) from the headphone output, I get extremely terrible audio interference/distortion. At first, when reading on the net it appeared some of these units had issues with their sound cards or drivers, but after some experimenting I realised that as soon as I unplugged the power cable and let it run on battery, the sound is immediately crystal clear.

Does this confirm that it's a ground loop issue? And if so, what are my options? Would lifting the ground pin resolve this? Or more to the point, is that is SAFE to do that? (ie replace the 3 prong plug with a 2 prong plug). If that's not safe, are there any other ways I can resolve this? Any advice would be appreciated. Someone told me laptops usually DON'T have a ground pin. Why does this? Is there any solutions to this unusable audio problem? Has anyone else experienced this?

Cheers,
Manachi

 

See here http://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=50539&highlight=ground+loop might help

 

The notebook power supply ground and the external equipment ground are looping noise on the DC(-) of the audio out... I suspect. If you look around, you will see notebook power supplies that have no ground conductor. I called Dell about this issue with my E6400. They agreed... the ground is not required. I suggest you use a 3-conductor grounding plug adapter on the notebook power cord with the ground prong cutoff when ever you want to do the audio setup.

GK

 

Didn't the lack of the ground cause people to get electrocuted with some dells?