On Fri, Jun 05, 2015 at 12:30:16PM -0500, Michael Hennebry wrote:> On Fri, 5 Jun 2015, Frank Cox wrote: > > >On Fri, 5 Jun 2015 12:05:43 -0500 (CDT) > >Michael Hennebry wrote: > > > >>whether a microphone will introduce humming? > > > >Is it a 60 cycle hum? If so, it's probably induced by poor grounding. > > I suspect so. > Is that something I can fix?that depends on where the grounding problem is... I dont' remember if this is a desktop/deskside machine, or a laptop... if it's a laptop, and if the power cord is a polarized 3-prong plug, I don't think there's much to be done about it UNLESS the outlet you're using is wired wrong, or there's a more widespread grounding/wiring issue in your building. if it's a desktop, I'll assume it's already a 3-prong polarized plug (unless someone has used a 2-3 prong adaptor, or the building is mis-wired. All the above kind of assumes a US-like outlet. I don't recall where the OP resides/works, so that may be all wrong. You can get cheap devices that plug into a 3-prong outlet and have little LED lights that indicate whether the wiring is correct, as regards ground and neutral, or not. Also, it's possible that you've got a cheap headset/mic combo that does not have the shielded audio cable wired correctly. It's also possible that it's a cheap-a** rig that doesn't even use shielded cable from the plug to the mic/phones. I've got one such headset here that injects hum into the microphone feed on either my desktop or my netbook. however, when using the netbook, if I disconnect the AC power, the hum goes away. Go figure. Reversing the (2-prong) plug in the outlet doesn't make any difference in this case. So, if I need to record something, I'll borrow my wife's USB headset which, as of last usage, worked fine. -- ---- Fred Smith -- fredex at fcshome.stoneham.ma.us ----------------------------- But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ------------------------------- Romans 5:8 (niv) ------------------------------
On Fri, 5 Jun 2015, Fred Smith wrote:> if it's a desktop, I'll assume it's already a 3-prong polarized plug > (unless someone has used a 2-3 prong adaptor, or the building is > mis-wired. > > All the above kind of assumes a US-like outlet. I don't recall where > the OP resides/works, so that may be all wrong.Correct. North Dakota. It's a desktop in an old house. The outlets have ground-fault protection, but the third prong is ungrounded.> You can get cheap devices that plug into a 3-prong outlet and have little > LED lights that indicate whether the wiring is correct, as regards ground > and neutral, or not. > > Also, it's possible that you've got a cheap headset/mic combo that does > not have the shielded audio cable wired correctly. It's also possible > that it's a cheap-a** rig that doesn't even use shielded cable from the > plug to the mic/phones.It's an Insignia NS-PAH5101 It does not have a separate power source, just plugs for the pink and green sockets. The cables are pretty thin. If the problem is shielding, is there something I could do to shield the cables? -- Michael hennebry at web.cs.ndsu.NoDak.edu "SCSI is NOT magic. There are *fundamental technical reasons* why it is necessary to sacrifice a young goat to your SCSI chain now and then." -- John Woods
On 6/5/2015 1:33 PM, Michael Hennebry wrote:> It's a desktop in an old house. > The outlets have ground-fault protection, > but the third prong is ungrounded. >not sure how GFI would function at all without a valid ground, unless the GFI is wired to neutral, which is dangerous on its own. you might get a 3-prong-to-2-prong adapter and plug the PC into that, leaving the ground wire floating, and see if that works. As most desktops have the AC ground pin wired to the chassis, floating the chassis might well eliminate the hum. also, things like fluorescent lamps can greatly contribute to hum, although that often sounds like a buzz. lamp dimmers too, try switching any dimmers in the general area to either 100% on or totally off.> It's an Insignia NS-PAH5101 > It does not have a separate power source, > just plugs for the pink and green sockets. > The cables are pretty thin. > If the problem is shielding, > is there something I could do to shield the cables?not really, the wire itself has to be shielded coaxial wire. if its actually the headset itself, I'd suggest getting another one. I've had better luck with USB headsets of late instead of analog ones plugged into on-board audio, as the onboard audio microphone inputs are generally of very poor quality. -- john r pierce, recycling bits in santa cruz
On 06/05/2015 03:33 PM, Michael Hennebry wrote: <<>>> It's an Insignia NS-PAH5101http://www.insigniaproducts.com/products/computer-speakers-accessories/NS-PAH5101.html> It does not have a separate power source, > just plugs for the pink and green sockets. > The cables are pretty thin.$9.95 is a good reason why.> If the problem is shielding, > is there something I could do to shield the cables?for what it would take to do so, you are better off getting buying better quality at a little more cost. a head set such as what you bought is not intended for any sort of quality fidelity. it is intended for telephone use which is not much. -- peace out. If Bill Gates got a dime for every time Windows crashes... ...oh, wait. He does. THAT explains it! in a world with out fences, who needs gates. CentOS GNU/Linux 6.6 tc,hago. g .