This is sort of a "gee-whiz" question

I currently own a pretty decent Alesis Powertrip-8 1800 Watt capacity Power conditioner. I got it to ensure little if any line noise hum when I do music recording (or even speaker hiss when performing). For that purpose, I have seen a fair amount of quality increase. (I'm sure it could be even better with a more expensive unit, but for now this suits my needs.)

My question is this: will running my power to my computer through this unit effect effeciency/noise/cooling/stability/anything? I know what it's effect is on amps and audio lines, but I have heard nothing about it's effects on computer performance.

Thanks!

(P.S. I don't know if this is the best place to put this. I'm new, so I put it here. If the admin moves, you won't offend me.)
(P.P.S. I donated today to the site for your help with my last question. It's not much, but it's what I can do. You guys rock. Very informative stuff, a huge help, and a lot of fun! )

I'm just taking a stab here, but it'll affect efficiency if anything at all. AC/DC switching efficiency is something I know very little about but the rest shouldn't affect anything. After all, your computer's power supply is MEANT to be a regulated voltage source.

Any output instabilities from incoming power is absolutely unacceptable for a PSU manufacturer.

Isolate your sound equipment from your PC and you should be fine. I doubt a line conditioner will do jack for a pc.

Thanks for the replies.

Hey tay -- when you say isolate, what do you mean? ...Isolate in terms of a seperate power supply?

Yes, if all your music equipment is on the line conditioner then you dont have any nastiness from your PSU messing with your AC power. Your PSU may not introduce any nastiness into your AC signal, but I'm not 100% sure if it does or not. I have no clue if your PSU appears as an RLC circuit to the AC power source which might introduce resonant frequencies into your AC power. Someone here might know, but I wouldnt spend any money till I was sure I needed to.

I already have the power conditioner. It's part of my live rack. I've just been plugging my computer into it because ... well, I guess I thought it would make some difference. What I'm hearing you say is that it might make a difference if I plug everything else into that and give my PSU a clean power supply unit.

I guess my biggest question regarding this was would it reduce any electrical hiss that still exists from the USB line into my MBox. I purchased a HQ USB cable (Monster Supreme USB) for that, and suprisingly enough, it did make a small difference to my ears. I'm just wondering if a clean power supply will help. ...or, now that I think about ti, since I'm going to be assembling a more effecient/cooler PC, maybe that will reduce the line hiss more.

Are you sure that the hiss is coming from the Mbox and not any connection from the MBox to your other equipment? i.e. do you hear problems when you plug headphones into the Mbox?

Yes. Absolutely. I get a bit of it when absolutely nothing is plugged in but the usb. There is both a headphone jack and a TRS monitor jack.. I've tried it in both of those, both with headphones and with an amp/speaker. Same result.

Now, understand, I'm talking about very quiet hiss. I have to turn up the gain a LOT to hear it. Most people wouldn't even worry about it when it comes to S/N ratios, and frankly, it's in an acceptable ragne (ie <108db S/N range) I'm just being picky about it for the sake of my own education...and maybe in the hope to push my signal just a hair more.

Hate to be a party pooper, but I vote "None of the above" 100 times. Most AC filters are poorly designed and ineffectual. I looked at the Alesis webpage and was not impressed. The neon bulb in the power switch, LED lights, and dimmer circuit will add plenty of noise to the AC line. Can’t tell what kind of filter network it’s got inside, but when they claim the output is “noise free” I think there’s more marketing then engineering going on here.

Don’t mean to knock your setup, but the AC filter/surge/conditioner market is 99% BS.

For my HTPC, I wired up a 2kVA transformer to provide balanced power (60 VAC - 0 VAC - 60VAC) to my PC, plasma TV, and audio gear. Not sure if it helps "clean up" anything, but I feel more secure knowing there's a big transformer with a separate, dedicated ground between me and the power company.

Here's what I built: http://www.geocities.com/jonrisch/catch2.htm

He also has a good surge/filter on his website.

Except you may create ground loops. If you go strictly optical between your PC and audio system, then'll you'll be ok. Otherwise, you're asking for noise.

Hey...just as long as it's not a vote for me being a damn noob!

Feel free to knock my setup. I have heard that until you spend about 200 on a powerconditioner for sound, it really doesn't change much of anything. Maybe that's what you're saying, maybe not. All I know is that when I at least play live (i.e. running lines from my mixer to amp'd speakers) it does help reduce line hiss in the speakers when the room has dirty power.

..at the worst I bought it for cheap off of eBay. I could always sell it back and lose nothing!

I sort of suspected that it did nothing for the PC itself. That's why I started this topic, because I really had no idea.

So, if I did want to gain that extra 5db or so in S/N running the USB to my MBox, what would I do? Or is it not worth the gain?