Here is an interesting one for you thinkers out there

[mgben]

I own a Vaio VGN-AR61M, it's a fantastic machine. It has enough power to cope with video editing software, and all of Adobe creative master suite, and I really cannot fault it. The only problems I have had are with windows vista. But I have stumbled upon quite an annoying little problem with the vaio itself.

I create media to be played in conferences and youth events, I use my vaio for this, (and now here is the problem) I mostly need to connect my laptop to a pa system and a projector. Now, this is fine, apart from that, I can hear my laptop thinking over the speakers. Strange I know. And this only happens when I laptop is plugged in. when It is un plugged, It's all cool.

I am guessing that its something to do with the power supply being so closely situated to the earphone jack.

Anyone else have this problem? or maybe a solution?

(please ignore spelling mistakes)

Ben.

[Blencogo]

Hi Ben,

We have had this problem mentioned before so I don't think you are a 'one-off'. It is almost certainly a 'shielding' issue. If I recall correctly the following have been suggested: -

1. Get better shielded cables to the Headphone jack.

2. If this doesn't solve it, contact Sony Support as it would appear to be an internal shielding issue.

3. Buy a PCMCIA or a USB external soundcard.

[william17]

Hello Ben.

As far as I know about sound, I also think there's a "ground" related problem. It's probably like barely perceptible with headphones, but otherwise on a bigger sound system you understand faster the fact that the left and the right signals both share the same ground (neutral conductor), consequently you expose yourself to a lot of sound related risks with interferences.

The best and easier thing that could have been done here is to connect through optic fiber, but since the HDMI is found on your system you don't have this opportunity anymore. So I suggest trying to hook a balanced interface through firewire, or USB. There are plenty of digital solutions out there for basically every budgets. It's a little delicate to suggest products by now since I don't know about your exact needs, but if you need hints on this one I would help you as far as I can.

Good luck mate

Will

[mgben]

Thanks for your replies.

Tell me more about this shielding, I'm not going to pretend to understand lol. I know a little about computers, but none of that is hardware related.

---

Will, I have an optical audio output on my laptop. could you give me a little more info on what you could suggest?

All help is greatly appreciated.

[Blencogo]

Hi Ben,

Shielding is a way of preventing interference by surrounding a wire with a protective metal sheath to prevent electrical interference. You may find a better quality audio lead between the Vaio and the Projector will help.

You should have an 'OPTICAL OUT' SPDIF Port on your Vaio - it will be the plug to the left of the headphones and microphone jacks (back left-hand corner) and will have a red light shining from it. If your projector supports an optical input, you could try this - you will need to buy a tosslink optical cable.

Will is correct about the common 'grounding' problem with the headphone socket. For some users, Sony have replaced the Power Supply with one having an independent earth lead (three wires input L,N &Earth instead of two L & N).

If you are looking for a permanent solution, you will need to speak to Sony.

I use one of these in my AR31S to produce 5:1 and 7:1 surround sound. It fits neatly inside the PCMCIA slot and provides THX certified output. This fixes the problem but is an expensive way to do it if you do not need surround sound!

Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS

[mgben]

Thanks for your help. I will try a new cable to connect my vaio to the PA. If this doesnt work then I will speak with sony about getting themto fix it.

I dont really want to send my laptop away again. It had to go back just after I bought it for a power fault. (It just didn't want to start up one day).