My headphone jack broke on my laptop, and I just bought this laptop
this month. Now when I plug in my receiver into the jack it makes a
buzzing noise. Any advice? The plastic covering of the headphone jack
broke off.

"Jonathan Wolfson" wrote in message
oups.com

My headphone jack broke on my laptop, and I just bought this laptop
this month. Now when I plug in my receiver into the jack it makes a
buzzing noise. Any advice? The plastic covering of the headphone jack
broke off.

Get a USB audio interface. For playback, the Griffin iMic is small, cheap,
and sonically OK for casual use. It sucks eggs for recording, but probably
so does the laptop.

In article .com writes:

My headphone jack broke on my laptop, and I just bought this laptop
this month. Now when I plug in my receiver into the jack it makes a
buzzing noise. Any advice? The plastic covering of the headphone jack
broke off.

You're out of luck, unless you can convince the computer manufacturer
to replace it under warranty. Assuming something inside the computer
is what's broken. Some people call a plug a jack, and a plug typically
has a plastic covering over it (and a jack doesn't - otherwise you
wouldn't have a hole into which to put the plug).

It's because of problems like this that I'm so vocal about not using
equipment with mini jacks anyplace where I really care that they work.
They're so fragile, and not all that reliable even when they're not
working. But you can't get a laptop with an alternate audio interface
built in.

Given that if this turns out to be an out-of-warranty computer repair,
it will be much simpler and less expensive for you to buy an external
audio interface that connects to the computer via Firewire or USB, and
simply ignore the internal sound card. The bonus is that you'll
substantially improve the audio quality of your computer.





--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

I think I'm gonna take Amy's advice. She suggested I get a USB audio
port, and there is one for 30 bux at J and R. You go, girl!

Mike Rivers wrote:
In article .com
writes:

My headphone jack broke on my laptop, and I just bought this laptop
this month. Now when I plug in my receiver into the jack it makes a
buzzing noise. Any advice? The plastic covering of the headphone
jack
broke off.

You're out of luck, unless you can convince the computer manufacturer
to replace it under warranty. Assuming something inside the computer
is what's broken. Some people call a plug a jack, and a plug
typically
has a plastic covering over it (and a jack doesn't - otherwise you
wouldn't have a hole into which to put the plug).

It's because of problems like this that I'm so vocal about not using
equipment with mini jacks anyplace where I really care that they
work.
They're so fragile, and not all that reliable even when they're not
working. But you can't get a laptop with an alternate audio interface
built in.

Given that if this turns out to be an out-of-warranty computer
repair,
it will be much simpler and less expensive for you to buy an external
audio interface that connects to the computer via Firewire or USB,
and
simply ignore the internal sound card. The bonus is that you'll
substantially improve the audio quality of your computer.





--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

Jonathan Wolfson wrote:
I think I'm gonna take Amy's advice. She suggested I get a USB audio
port, and there is one for 30 bux at J and R. You go, girl!


Better increase your font size on you newsreader.

"S O'Neill" wrote in message

Jonathan Wolfson wrote:
I think I'm gonna take Amy's advice. She suggested I get a USB audio
port, and there is one for 30 bux at J and R. You go, girl!


Better increase your font size on you newsreader.

;-)

Yes, then the difference between Amy and Arny will become more apparent.

I'rn so sorry, but thanks for the help. I bought the iMic and will
probably buy one for rny rnornrny.

Actually, I find I fixed it by taking my plug out and letting my laptop
(dell inspiron 5160) run on batteries. That is a good fix, I can return
the iMic. The iMic did not fix it.

In article . com,
Jonathan Wolfson wrote:
Actually, I find I fixed it by taking my plug out and letting my laptop
(dell inspiron 5160) run on batteries. That is a good fix, I can return
the iMic. The iMic did not fix it.

Oh, you have a noisy power supply, possibly combined with a ground loop.
That's common, but has nothing to do with your broken jack.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

"Jonathan Wolfson" wrote in message
ups.com
I'rn so sorry, but thanks for the help.

Don't be, it happens about once every month or two. I've been on Usenet for
about a decade so that means that maybe something like 100 people have
already made this mistake before you!

I bought the iMic and will probably buy one for rny rnornrny.

LOL!

"Jonathan Wolfson" wrote in message
ups.com

Actually, I find I fixed it by taking my plug out and letting my
laptop (dell inspiron 5160) run on batteries. That is a good fix, I
can return the iMic. The iMic did not fix it.

Oh, a ground loop and not a broken jack.

Here's some reading about ground loops:

http://www.smr-home-theatre.org/Ground-Loops/

http://www.epanorama.net/documents/g...oop/index.html

In article . com writes:

Actually, I find I fixed it by taking my plug out and letting my laptop
(dell inspiron 5160) run on batteries. That is a good fix, I can return
the iMic. The iMic did not fix it.

Wait a minute. I know that the battery charger on Dell laptops has
been known to cause extraneous noises with an audion interface, but
what does this have to do with a broken headphone jack?

Or are you someone else who hijacked this thread?

--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

I originally thought the noise was due to a broken headphone jack,
attempted to fix it with a USB audio interface, but this did not fix
it. Then I happened to unplug it, and the noise was gone.

In article .com writes:

I originally thought the noise was due to a broken headphone jack,
attempted to fix it with a USB audio interface, but this did not fix
it. Then I happened to unplug it, and the noise was gone.

I guess I still don't understand what you're saying. Around here, a
"broken jack" is one that doesn't secure the plug and contact is bad.
It sounds like you're describing a problem with something inside the
computer (hardware or software), not the external jack.



--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo