[baxuz]

Not really easy to be honest. Depending on the day, I am getting horrible static in my desktop microphone(s). This might be caused by no grounding in the outlet.

I'm living in a really old house with no ground for most rooms (yes, I know), with only a bootleg ground to prevent _really_ bad noise and occasional static zaps. Though I've read of many people having the same issues with properly grounded machines (as far as it goes for domestic use. I'm not talking about studio-grade grounding).

My Macbook, on the other hand, doesn't have any static, even though its charger doesn't even have a ground pin, nor does my Steelseries Arctis 1 wireless (which uses a non-bluetooth dongle. Might be because it's wireless, or just because it's an external device.

In any case, I don't feel comfortable shelling out upwards of 400$ for an audio setup.

[elisaado]

I don't recommend the following but in our old house I used to tie my outlet ground (that was free floating) to the radiator which was grounded. It worked until my mother reported the shower water was feeling "very harsh".

[Cerium]

Sounds like the radiator was not actually grounded and the device plugged in had a ground fault.

[doubleunplussed]

If the radiator was actually grounded, why would there be any effect on the water?

[baxuz]

Yeah, I could theoretically tie my outlet ground to the gas pipe. Doesn't sound like a good idea.

[XorNot]

This shouldn't be a problem from what I understand: "real" ground is just tied off to a rod buried in your backyard, but it's also bonded to neutral at the switchboard anyway.

[ferongr]

>but it's also bonded to neutral at the switchboard anyway

Depends on the country. Over here protective earth is entirely separate from neutral, and there's a separate earth stake for each consumer. This is the TT system.

[elisaado]

Yes, but with a certain resistance meaning there will always be a voltage difference between neutral and ground.