Dear Jay,<br><br>To add to Andrew's points (that I agree with); you won't need a DI if you would get a soundcard that supports balanced output. The main task of a DI box is to convert a unbalanced signal to a balanced on. Another factor is that laptop build in soundcards are made to be cheap and small. They do a decent job with system beeps and playing mp3's on the build in speakers but they aren't meant for presenting your detailed, lovingly crafted sounds and music over a multi Kilowatt PA system toa attentive audience, and how could they?<br>
<br>If you have a budget I'd go with a soundcard from a reputable brand featuring balanced outputs, preferably one that can use it's own power suply. If you do that humm will be a thing of the past (unless something, somewhere goes very wrong). In that case you'll likely have multiple outputs that you could mix on a hardware mixer; some people find that more direct and convenient and it will give you a chance to cut the sound in the envent of a system crash.<br>
<br>If there is no budget use a pair of DI boxes over a "Y" cable to the build in card and lift the ground of your laptop adapter (if it has one, some brands like Apple don't). Ground-lifting plugs cost less than a burger and more profesional clubs should have DI boxes. It won't sound as good but at least that strategy should make sure there is no humm either.<br>
<br>Hope that helps,<br>Kas.<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">2009/4/14 Andrew C. Smith <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:acsmith@willamette.edu">acsmith@willamette.edu</a>></span><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
I just did a couple of laptop performances, and having two DI boxes on<br>
hand is extremely helpful. You can either use a Firewire interface or<br>
a Y-plug from your headphone jack, but the DI box is important because<br>
the snake that runs to the front of the stage is usually balanced XLR<br>
only. I carry my own two DI boxes, because I want them to be<br>
identical and sometimes the venue only has one box.<br>
<br></blockquote></div><br>