<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; ">It occurred to me that I'm not actually USING the coax OUTPUT from my cable box; I use the composite instead, for Myth. So in other words, I have:<DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>cable box -> composite -> mythbox AND</DIV><DIV>cable box -> coax/RF -> TV</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>This way I could change inputs on my TV and bypass Myth if I wanted to. The main reason I did, though, was to get rid of the damn hum. When I unplug the coax from the TV, it's gone! I guess that's a good enough solution for me, for now.</DIV><DIV><BR><DIV> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">--</FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><A href="mailto:owen@nerdnetworks.org">owen@nerdnetworks.org</A> (Owen B. Mehegan)</FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">'There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,</FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.'</FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN>--William Shakespeare</FONT></P> </DIV><BR><DIV><DIV>On Jul 6, 2006, at 7:24 PM, Owen Mehegan wrote:</DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite">OK so I bought a ground loop isolator at Fry's. It has two pairs of RCA plugs, one male, one female, and a pair of wires with bare ends. The diagram on the back is not very clear. Am I supposed to connect the bare wires to something grounded? Any suggestions as to what?<DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Incidentally, it never occurred to me to unplug the coax to my cable box and see if that cured my hum problem. Instead I had cut power to the cable box, and unplugged all my connections from it to the computer... none of that helped, but sure enough as soon as I popped the coax out, the hum went away. I thought maybe my coax splitter, used to connect my cable modem and cable box to one coax feed, was the culprit, but even with that removed I get hum. So I guess my cable loop isn't grounded right? How can I fix that?</DIV><DIV><BR><DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">--</FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><A href="mailto:owen@nerdnetworks.org">owen@nerdnetworks.org</A> (Owen B. Mehegan)</FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">'But that I am forbid</FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">To tell the secrets of my prison-house,</FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">I could a tale unfold whose lightest word</FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood,</FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Make thy two eyes like stars start from their spheres,</FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Thy knotted and combined locks to part,</FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">And each particular hair to stand on end,</FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Like quills upon the fearful porpentine.'</FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN>--William Shakespeare</FONT></DIV> </DIV><BR><DIV><DIV>On Jul 5, 2006, at 8:24 PM, Owen Mehegan wrote:</DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite">I have a new Myth system that I've just built. I'm using an MSI PM8M-V motherboard, with its on-board audio (Via VT8233/A/8235/8237 AC97) for everything. The system is connected to a Sony 34" CRT TV using DVI/HDMI cable. Audio is routed as follows:<DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>cable box -> myth box -> tv -> Sony home theater receiver/speakers</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>All of that is done via basic RCA cables. My problem is that I have an intermittent 60hz hum in the audio. I hear it whether I'm watching TV or just in the Myth interface. Playing with various mixer volumes doesn't make it go away, in the sense that I can't null it out without having the whole system's volume down too low to hear anything. I have everything plugged into one power strip/wall outlet, and the outlet has three prongs; whether it's really properly grounded or not is anyone's guess. I tried unplugging various unrelated components (Xbox, cable box, cable modem/router) and got no change.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>So, any suggestions on what I should do to clean up this audio? Maybe buy a better sound card? (And use spdif out while I'm at it? My receiver can handle it, though it's a pain in the ass from a "management of the available inputs" perspective.) What if I bought a UPS and plugged everything into that? I've seen suggestions of "home theater" magical grounding thingys... if you think one of those would help, a link to a specific product would be sweet. Thanks!</DIV><DIV><BR><DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">--</FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><A href="mailto:owen@nerdnetworks.org">owen@nerdnetworks.org</A> (Owen B. Mehegan)</FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">'Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit,</FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes,</FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">I will be brief.'</FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN>--William Shakespeare</FONT></DIV> </DIV><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">_______________________________________________</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">mythtv-users mailing list</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><A href="mailto:mythtv-users@mythtv.org">mythtv-users@mythtv.org</A></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><A href="http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users">http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users</A></DIV> </BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">_______________________________________________</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">mythtv-users mailing list</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><A href="mailto:mythtv-users@mythtv.org">mythtv-users@mythtv.org</A></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><A href="http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users">http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users</A></DIV> </BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR></DIV></BODY></HTML>