Ground hum through desktop speakers - suggestions?

I'm getting 60Hz ground loop hum through the subwoofer of my 2.1 desktop speaker system connected to the analog audio out of my Mac Pro. I unplugged & disconnected every other electrical device in the office, including the cable modem. I thought the issue was a faulty subwoofer, but I just bought a second one, and it hums, too. Not an issue when plugged into my iPhone. The sub has a two-prong polarized AC plug. Both the Mac Pro and the sub are plugged into the same AC outlet via a shared extension cord. Tried plugging the sub directly into a different AC outlet, but no joy.
I'd rather track down and fix the problem than put a Band-Aid on it in the form of an isolator. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks for the advice. I'm not electrically handy and don't have any tools for checking my household wiring. All I've read on the topic indicates that ground loops are generally caused by having the two devices plugged into different outlets. I've got my Mac Pro and desktop speakers plugged into a 3-prong 3-into-1 adaptor at the end of a very heavy-duty 3-prong 25' extension cord that runs into a 3-prong AC outlet. The speaker's plug is 2-prong polarized. I've decided to try connecting the speakers to the Mac Pro via a USB-audio adaptor rather than the Mac Pro's built-in analog audio port. I'm awaiting arrival of the adaptor and will report the results here when it arrives.

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I was wondering if you could have one desktop audio playing through your speakers and the other one playing through your apple tv at the same time?

i was wondering if you could have one desktop audio playing through your speakers and the other one playing through your apple tv at the same time?

Problem here is you admit you cannot afford the service.
And you want to blame Verizon for losing a job because you have no cell phone.
If your job depends on that phone I would pay it on time every time if you need a job to pay your bill.
No other service is going to treat you any different. And if you cannot afford Verizon's monthly invoice how are you going to afford new devices, activation fees, possible security deposits on any other cellular carrier? You can't.
Also if you made an arraignment to pay and then decide you cannot do so, why should Verizon extend you service or credit, or why is it you want to use the service and data and not pay for it as agreed.
Get a prepay phone. Its evident the cost is too high for you to afford on post pay.
Good Luck

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How to eliminate ground hum?

I have recently tried recoding my Roland Juno synth into Logic but have discovered that there is a ground hum issue.
I have taken the Juno to a synth repairer and they have suggest that I remove the ground earth from the plug to cure the problem!!!
I understand that this is extremely dangerous and am not prepared to carry this out.
Can anyone suggest another way around this issue.
Some of my thoughts so far have been:
- Can I use a DI box with an earth lift switch?
-Could I record the Juno with ground hum to one audio track, and create another track with just the sound of the ground hum, and then invert the phase of the channel containing the hum?
- Use Logic's Noise Gate or Strip Silence?
- Is there a piece of kit I can buy that could remove the hum?
FYI, I am plugging the Juno into the mains outlet at the wall and not through a powerboard.
I look forward to any comments.
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I can sympathize. Ground hum can be very frustrating to diagnose and eliminate. The ideas that you have suggested are all worth trying. You can lift the ground from the keyboard with one of those little adapters. You can get them at any hardware store. That can be the quickest, easiest and cheapest fix. Don't alter your keyboard by removing the ground prong from the plug or anything like that. The 3-2 ground lift adapter will do the same thing and it's reversible. If that's what the repair shop was suggesting, I'd find a new repair shop. If that's their idea of a solution, chances are they might have missed something while diagnosing the problem. A power supply problem in the kbd. would be one of the first things to check out.
But, assuming the kbd. is OK, here are some other ideas.
Have you tried a different audio cable to connect the keyboard?
Have you checked the outlet(s)? Maybe you have a problem with your AC wiring that you didn't know about? You can buy a cheap outlet checker at the hardware store. Mine is a little plastic thing, about the size of a ground lift adapter, w/ 3 LEDs that light in different combinations to show wiring irregularities. Is the keyboard plugged into the same AC circuit as the rest of your gear? If not, try that.
You could try the DI ground lift, too.
It could be any piece of connected gear that is interacting w/ the kbd. to cause the buzz. My friend recently spent a few long days chasing down a similar problem only to discover - by accident - that it was his display monitor that was causing the problem. Ideally, you have to isolate the problem. The best way to do that is to completely disconnect (AC & audio cables) everything except the kbd, computer and interface and see of the problem is still there.
Recording the noise separately and inverting the phase of that track should work in theory but I think you would have to record the noise-by-itself track in perfect phase w/ the noise-plus-keys track in order to cancel is completely. In any case, it would be an interesting experiment to try. If you can afford it, Izotope RX is very effective for this type of problem http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/rx/
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Good suggestions
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This question was solved.
View Solution.

Hi there @SofaQueue
Welcome to the HP Support Forums! It is a great place to find the help you need, both from other users, HP experts and other support personnel.
I understand that you are having trouble with the audio balance on your notebook computer, and I am happy to help with this. First I would suggest reinstalling the audio driver.
Try this link which will automatically start the download of the driver to your notebook. You will then have to run the file to install it. Realtek High-Definition (HD) Audio Driver
If you are still having trouble, check through this page; there may be something within that could be useful.
No Sound from the Speakers (Windows 8)
Also you can look at these pages - from Microsoft's support website:
Poor sound quality after upgrading to windows 8.1
Automatically diagnose and fix Windows audio playback problems
Let me know if you are still having any problems, and post the details of what is happening.
Malygris1
I work on behalf of HP
Please click Accept as Solution if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.
Click Kudos Thumbs Up on the right to say “Thanks” for helping!

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Ground hum through desktop speakers - suggestions?

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