Isolation Feet for Laptop


It seems fairly common knowledge that vibration is a form of distortion in many electric components, not just for turntables and speakers. Isolation feet seem to work well in most applications.

I searched around and I didn't find any information to suggest that folks are using isolation feet on laptops or desktops, despite increased streaming usage. In a great many cases, there are indeed heavy vibrations coming from within the computer.  Whether it is the fan for the CPU or even GPU to the all the various chips/transformers, etc or even power supplies and batteries. If adding isolation feet to a streamer, DAC or power supply makes sense, then wouldn't it also make sense to apply isolation feet to your laptop; if you use it for music?

Well, I am going to find out. :)

I ordered some IsoAcoustics Orea Series Audio Equipment Isolators with a max weight of 16 pounds. The laptop weighs about 6.7 pounds, so it shouldn't be that much strain, even with all the cables creating some measure of down force as they dangle over the edge.

My expectation is that the DAC will be able to perform slightly better due to reduced vibration across the USB port and power filter. The DAC is a USB stick (Dragonfly Cobalt) so it has a very rigid hard connection to the laptop; so vibration is very easily transferred.

Has anyone else tried this?

128x128guakus

“ heatshrink the body ( of the DAC ) and also the FMJ Jitterbug, it’s a resonance thing ..not emi… although any good dac or processor have a faraday cage around the  digital bits ..and you are stuck w laptop, which is a negative Faraday cage. Think creatively about getting around the rental panel problem… but looking at tge breakers..is easy and free….

i would do surgery on the laptop power supply cord / connector for sure…. or better yet Teddy Pardo make an excellent server / accessory power cable and linear power supply…

@ghdprentice After nearly twenty years of experimenting with digital streaming I concluded the only way to good sound is through a purpose built streamer........If you are seriously looking for better sound, buy a dedicated streamer. 

I thank you for sharing this experience and your findings.  You could probably write a book about the subject.

However I trust that you graciously understand that many folk who are seeking a sound you describe ("good", "better") have some very viable alternatives which are preferred.  I can think of a whole bunch of reasons.