my old JVC amp humms how do I get rid of that

[Shadowmeph]

I have had this older JVC receiver for a long time I have my pc sound card out put plugged into it also my TV but I am getting this hum from the thing I know that it is a ground problem is there something I can do to lose that hum, you can only here it when the volume is turned down, but I use myt head phones most of the time and I really don't like that hum

[grinder]

there are three things i would suggest.

1) is your PC and Receiver powered from the same phase? I.E. either through the same circuit breaker or through a circuit breaker on the same side of your power panel? This is huge if your devices (receiver and PC) are connected using analogue audio cables.

2) ground the two units together. believe it or not, most receivers have a grounding screw on the back of their cases. You can string a simple insulated wire from your PC to your receiver to help stop the humming. I know crazed perfectionist audiophiles who ground all of their sound equipment together through a cookie sheet. It's proven on an oscilloscope to eliminate any unwanted noise entering their sound systems because of power issues. Trust me, this guy was my electronics professor.

3) i have a hunch you are using an analogue connection between your PC and Receiver. If your PC and receiver are digital capable (either Optical or PCM) GO DIGITAL DUDE!!! If you can connect the two digitally it will fix the problem and you can ignore points 1 and 2 entirely.

[enaberif]

Originally Posted by grinder

there are three things i would suggest.

1) is your PC and Receiver powered from the same phase? I.E. either through the same circuit breaker or through a circuit breaker on the same side of your power panel? This is huge if your devices (receiver and PC) are connected using analogue audio cables.

2) ground the two units together. believe it or not, most receivers have a grounding screw on the back of their cases. You can string a simple insulated wire from your PC to your receiver to help stop the humming. I know crazed perfectionist audiophiles who ground all of their sound equipment together through a cookie sheet. It's proven on an oscilloscope to eliminate any unwanted noise entering their sound systems because of power issues. Trust me, this guy was my electronics professor.

3) i have a hunch you are using an analogue connection between your PC and Receiver. If your PC and receiver are digital capable (either Optical or PCM) GO DIGITAL DUDE!!! If you can connect the two digitally it will fix the problem and you can ignore points 1 and 2 entirely.

I would only go digital if the receiver is more than a few years old otherwise the dac on the soundcard could very well be better than that of the receiver.

[Eagle Eye]

You might consider a UPS with some form of a line conditioner to improve the qaulity of power coming into the unit.

BTW what is it thats causing the problem?

EE

[Dr_BenD_over]

I had that problem. In my case it was actually the surge protector I was using. I removed it and the hum was gone.

[BrainEater]

+1 on grinders suggestion to physically ground the two units together.

---

This may or may not completely eliminate the problem.

If it doesnt , goto a car audio store and buy a 'ground loop isolator' , they are about 25$......

I had to do both myself , 100% hum free now.



edit @ EE :

The problem is 'ground loops'.....While the concept of 'ground' suggests they are all at the same potential , they rarely are.....with sound equipment , the 'chassis ground' and the 'signal ground' are often different.....the hum is the result of these different potentials.

More info :

Ground loop problems and how to get rid of them

[Shadowmeph]

Originally Posted by BrainEater

+1 on grinders suggestion to physically ground the two units together.

---

This may or may not completely eliminate the problem.

If it doesnt , goto a car audio store and buy a 'ground loop isolator' , they are about 25$......

I had to do both myself , 100% hum free now.



edit @ EE :

The problem is 'ground loops'.....While the concept of 'ground' suggests they are all at the same potential , they rarely are.....with sound equipment , the 'chassis ground' and the 'signal ground' are often different.....the hum is the result of these different potentials.

More info :

Ground loop problems and how to get rid of them

that is what I used to do for all my vehicals is take a coil of copper and connect have the ground go through the copper coil I wasn't sure if that would work here but I will try all of the ideas thanks people.
could I just run a nice thick wire from the ground of the reciever into the ground of the powerbar, ground of the power bar meaning the third hole not one of the two side by side holes.

also a UPS are not they expensive?

[grinder]

it would be best to link the two directly Shadowmeph; to improve the signal's reference point.

line conditioners are good, but i dont know about a UPS. The variable load of the amplifiers could lay waste to the UPS, they really can draw a lot of current.

[Shadowmeph]

Originally Posted by grinder

it would be best to link the two directly Shadowmeph; to improve the signal's reference point.

line conditioners are good, but i dont know about a UPS. The variable load of the amplifiers could lay waste to the UPS, they really can draw a lot of current.

I am not sure what a line conditioner is .
oh I forgot to mention that the sound out from my PC goes to my tv then from the tv to my AMp ( receiver) so would it be better to take the ground from my receiver( amp) and run it to my TV?

[grinder]

it is better to run the audio from the PC to the AMP then to the TV, and run the common ground cable between the PC and AMP.