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

Showing 2 responses by noske

@guakus I deleted my post because what I do probably isn't wise for some people in some unusual circumstances where all bets would be off anyway.  I elevate my  lappie a bit to accommodate natural air flow...

@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.