Hi Scott, Max's idea of using ballanced inputs may work if your mixer has them, but I doubt that it does, that's usually limited to commercial audio gear.
What you probably need to do is "break" the ground to one or other of the computers, probably the laptop. Now, of course, just breaking the ground won't work because you'd loose signal. What you need is transformer isolation. There are setups intended to connect audiofrom ham radios to computers that perform this trick, but they aren't cheap and may require a deal of fiddling around to adapt to your setup. I wonder if somebody makes a transformer isolated stereo cable? I'll look around and see if i find anything. I'm pretty sure radio shlock makes small audio transformers having a 1 to 1 turns ratio which is what you need, but I assume you're not into doing much soldering up of cables your self. With all the similar hookups people are doing these days an isolated cable should be a product whose time has come. As for understanding ground loops, read what max's site has to say, and know that you need a degree in magnetics and that may not even help. Basically when you have lots of stuff with common "grounds" which of course have nothing at all to do with real "earth" ground, runnig through lots of wires, noise energy couples between and amongst them and things end up at different potentials in relationship to each other thus generating unexpected current flow where you don't want it--- hum. Everybody nuts yet? If not, why not, i tried! <GRIN> Tom
