Sound Issues

benbo96 · 19 Jul 2014 at 16:01

Hey there,

For the past week I've had issues with my sound where it's been rather distorted (for example, I can't hear the main vocals on songs unless I set the headphones to unbalanced). By unbalanced I mean I set the headphones to L=0 and R=100. If they're both at 100 the vocals cannot be heard whatsoever.

I've tried re-installing Realtek. I've tried different headphones.

rids57 · 19 Jul 2014 at 19:35

if you've tried different headphones with the same result then your motherboard sound is most probably on the way out - just buy a cheap sound card

benbo96 · 19 Jul 2014 at 22:34

rids57 said:
if you've tried different headphones with the same result then your motherboard sound is most probably on the way out - just buy a cheap sound card

I had a thought that it was the motherboard. Thanks for the info!

benbo96 · 19 Jul 2014 at 23:37

Actually, I just tried USB and it's still the same issue. Any ideas?

Space Monkey · 20 Jul 2014 at 09:08

Can you try these headphones on a different PC just to rule out if they are faulty or not?

benbo96 · 20 Jul 2014 at 13:02

Have tried them on a different PC, they work fine there.

Space Monkey · 20 Jul 2014 at 13:14

I'm wondering if maybe more than just the onboard sound is faulty? If it was me, I'd back up my stuff and do a complete fresh windows install, if that doesn't work and the headphones work elsewhere, then I'd suspect a faulty motherboard?

Hope you manage to sort it out

Space Monkey · 20 Jul 2014 at 13:15

Actually, just a quick thought, do normal speakers work ok on your PC?

benbo96 · 20 Jul 2014 at 14:56

Space Monkey said:
Actually, just a quick thought, do normal speakers work ok on your PC?

Speakers are the same

Space Monkey · 20 Jul 2014 at 15:19

benbo96 said:
Speakers are the same

Personally then, I'd do a fresh windows install (not from an image etc) and see if that helps, if not then it seems the mobo might be on the fritz?

benbo96 · 20 Jul 2014 at 15:28

Aite, cheers for the responses!

rids57 · 20 Jul 2014 at 16:03

Trouble is, if it's happening on USB as well then it's not the onboard sound because USB doesn't use it. If it's happening with speakers as well then could it be electromagnetic interference from another component maybe, say the graphics card or PSU?

benbo96 · 20 Jul 2014 at 16:28

Thing is, something crazy must've happened as it literally changed within 30 seconds. Around a week ago I was listening to music and then suddenly I couldn't hear the vocals anymore.. it's really weird.

Another thing to note is that the motherboard is only 10 months old

rids57 · 20 Jul 2014 at 16:33

What do you have the PC plugged into? A wall socket or a surge protector? If it's a protector try plugging it into the wall socket directly. Clutching at straws here

benbo96 · 20 Jul 2014 at 17:21

rids57 said:
What do you have the PC plugged into? A wall socket or a surge protector? If it's a protector try plugging it into the wall socket directly. Clutching at straws here

Plugged into the wall

rids57 · 20 Jul 2014 at 18:00

At this stage I'd be looking at swapping graphics card & power supply with spares to try and isolate the cause but obviously, if you don't have spares that's not an option.