Weird sound problem

Alrik Fassbauer

TL;DR
Original Sin Donor
Original Sin 2 Donor
Joined
November 5, 2006
Messages
21,909
Location
Old Europe
Hello,

I've never had this before :

When there is any sound - be it within a game or when playing a DVD, it sounds … kind of "muffled".

Music on DVDs is very much audible, yes even often in the foreground, meanwhile speech is silenced, and often sounds as if there was a big hall effect applied to it.

In general, sounds are a lot more quiet than I used to it. Windoows speaker tests usually go fine.

Sometimes, speech is suddenly in the foreground, but only for a few seconds (remember that I'm almost deaf on one ear), and it … sometimes appears to me as if it was put artificially into the foreground, or if that had been left side (my deaf ear) and then switched into the right side (my "normal" ear, but I'm not sure about that, either.

I don't remember applaying any kind of effect to my sound output, or even messing around with sound options.

I bought a new cable to my headphones, but that didn't work out, either.

Could it be that my old headphones are causing that ? That cables or plugs are broken ?

Alrik
 
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
21,909
Location
Old Europe
Maybe try going into the Sound control panel (the old one, there's a link to it from the Win10 sound settings area), select your speakers in the Playback tab and hit Properties, then in the Advanced tab turn off the checkbox for "Enable audio enhancements". Also, if you have a Spatial sound tab in that screen, go in there too, and set spatial sound to Off. This should turn off any effects that might be causing what you're getting. Although testing with a different pair of speakers or headphones is kind of a no-brainer (doesn't sound like you have yet).
 
Joined
Sep 26, 2007
Messages
3,444
It seems random so I'd definitely try other headphones, I don't think it's just a setting.

If you don't have any, test if that happens when you touch or move the cable (if that's a bad contact near the headphones or inside them).

Alternatively, to rule out a bad contact on the PC side, check with another source you can plug your headphones in.

Something else to try: many PCs have multiple outputs, often one on the front panel and one at the rear.

Sometimes it happens with oxidation, turning the jack a little bit a few times in each direction removes it. But if you tried with a new cable, it's unlikely.
 
Joined
Aug 29, 2020
Messages
10,162
Location
Good old Europe
Okay, thank you. I'll tr<y that with my headphones.
They're fairly old, by the way, must be 15 years or maybe even 20.
 
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
21,909
Location
Old Europe
Still analysing ... It is often so as if what's in the background is pushed into the foreground and vice versa.


I have never had surround sound, only headphones, but it sometimes feels s if the system is srt to surround sound, maybe even 5.1 or 7.1 , and puts what should be in the foreground into the background - or even silencing that - and vice versa.

Just as an example : If I play any Disney DVD (currently testing with "Raya"), I cannot hear the tiniest bit of that male "Fast Play" narrator/advertiser voice. I can only hear music in that bit.

I fear that the sound chip might be fried or something.
 
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
21,909
Location
Old Europe
In the sound settings of your sound card you can often switch between <Stereo> and <Surround> Mode.

If the wrong setting is selected, the sound sounds strange.

***

Nowadays monitors have speakers a well, and they will be set as default speakers when you install new graphic-card drivers.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
19,818
Location
Germany
If you haven't touched any of your settings it could be a frail wire in the core. I've had that happen a few times - more with ear buds than headphones. Conversely if your headphone have replaceable wire such as hd555 and similar you could try a new cord.

To test this theory you can put the headphoens on with sound (music or game) and then slowly run your fingers up the cord.
 
Joined
Jun 26, 2021
Messages
272
I just recently had the same issue. Found out that the video in vlc was set to dolby and automatically used the highest setting, while I was using headphones.
Meaning if something was said on the channels in the back it was not audible.
I had to switch the setting in VLC (either for the specific video or as standard) to headphones, so that it worked properly.

Never had that before. So I dont know if I was just lucky before or Windows/VLC changed some standards.
 
Joined
Jun 2, 2012
Messages
4,691
I just recently had the same issue. Found out that the video in vlc was set to dolby and automatically used the highest setting, while I was using headphones.
Meaning if something was said on the channels in the back it was not audible.
I had to switch the setting in VLC (either for the specific video or as standard) to headphones, so that it worked properly.

Never had that before. So I dont know if I was just lucky before or Windows/VLC changed some standards.

Do you remember where within vlc that was ?
 
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
21,909
Location
Old Europe
Do you remember where within vlc that was ?

Right Click on the Video
Audio->Sterio Mode-> And then select Stereo or Headphone. It might be set to dolby.

If you want to do that in gernal, then go to Tools->Settings-> Audio
Then in the bottom Left switch the Setting to show "all"
Then in Audio, you can set the Output to Sterio/Headphones as well.
 
Joined
Jun 2, 2012
Messages
4,691
Thanks, I'll try that.

I just saw that there is also an option "headphones (German : "Kopfhörer", if you switched the user interface language into German).

I already used the vlc option "reset all settings", which helped a bit, too.
 
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
21,909
Location
Old Europe
Yeah, thats what I am using (also the German version).
With videos optimized for Dolby they still sound a bit odd, but you can then at least hear everything :D
 
Joined
Jun 2, 2012
Messages
4,691
Well, that seems to have fixed some of it.
I need to analyse this further, though.
 
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
21,909
Location
Old Europe
Okay, after re-installing the mainboard's audio drivers I had a revelation … The support page of the mainboard manufacturer told me that i had to try other sources of sound … and then I thought : Hey, why not try the FRONT plug again ?

And then, there it was. Crystal clear sound. Nothing's changed, nothing's lost.

( The very first sound I tried out was a music CD - and that was the very first song from the "Sing 2" soundtrack by U2. I had bought this CD (there's a semi-acoustic version of "I still haven't found what I'm looking for" on it and a new song by U2) together with the 30th anniversary edition of "The Jushua Tree", which is my very first version of that album. always wanted to buy it, now, I thought, the time is just right, with that U2 song on that OST album. )

I had bought new headphones on Friday, and what was a VAST improvement was that the lower sounds were so much more audible now, compared to my old headphones (Sennheiser HD 465, which I had received as a christmas present 15-20 years ago).

Now, I have to use that FRONT plug now, but I'll keep investigating the BACK plug. Maybe it's really a bit corroded or so, just like Redglyph wrote.

I need to remove that dust with a vacuum cleaner from the PC (early 2018) also.

I'm so happy now that the sound is back again ! :)
(Even although I'm partially deaf. ;) )
 
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
21,909
Location
Old Europe
Glad you found the source of the problem, and it's probably the best outcome too.

Yes, you can try to turn the jack in the back plug a little bit, it will do scratchy sounds at first but with luck that should eventually remove the tiny bits of oxidation.

Some sound cards are equipped with jacks of better quality, but in general the tendency is to save money and make them cheaper. If it's integrated with the case or the motherboard, it's rarely gold plugs.

EDIT: some headphones are more appropriate than others, in theory you should check that the impedance of the headphones is compatible with what the sound card supports. If this impedance is higher (in short, higher resistance), the sound will be lower. In general if it doesn't match the range, there will be "echoes" too (it's rarely a noticeable problem for audible sound, I doubt the human ear can perceive that).
 
Joined
Aug 29, 2020
Messages
10,162
Location
Good old Europe
In the future, if you have more problems with faulty plugs/headphone jack on your computer, there are another couple things to try. If you buy a Bluetooth speaker that works with your computer, (make sure to turn on bluetooth) and one that has a headphone jack built into it, then you can plug your headphones into the bluetooth speaker, thus bypassing the need to use a faulty plug that might be on your computer.

The best solution though is probably to buy a "DAC" which is a headphone amplifier, which is great because not only does it give you an extra working plug for your headphones, but it also enhances the sound of your headphones greatly.

The one I use simply plugs into a USB port on my computer. You can find it on Amazon by searching "FiiO E10K USB DAC and Headphone Amplifier".

Its $100, but if you have a decent set of headphones like I do (I have a pretty good mid tier to high end pair of headphones -beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO 80 Ohm Over-Ear Studio Headphones - its not super high end like something ridiculous like over $500 or $1000 bucks but still good in that they sound great to me and costs me about $150)

then it is well worth it, because it makes a huge difference in the sound quality from your headphones.
 
Joined
Oct 2, 2009
Messages
2,244
Location
Pacific NorthWest, USA!
Agreed, the DT770 headphones are great, a bit heavy on the hair after a while though, one day I'll add some foam or something to balance the weight better. Now, when I use other headphones they seem so poor in comparison. :)

I'm not sure I see the advantage of a DAC, it's more expensive than a very good sound card which provides inputs, several outputs and the ability to process the sound with an equalizer (and other useless effects)…? Except to isolate the analogue part better (if it has been correctly built); if you connect the audio cable at the rear of the computer and it gets near the motherboard, the power unit or other sources of noise, chances are it'll pick up noise despite the ground shielding.
 
Joined
Aug 29, 2020
Messages
10,162
Location
Good old Europe
I'm just recommending what has worked well for me, I thought if he is having trouble with the headphone ports on his computer then he might want a DAC for not only enhanced sound quality for his headphones but also as a new headphone port.
 
Joined
Oct 2, 2009
Messages
2,244
Location
Pacific NorthWest, USA!
Well, I was thinking of buying higher qualirty headphones ( the new ones are just great anyway for me ! ), but then I thought , that my hearing isn't good, so I wouldn't need super good headphones … I can tell that my ears aren't that great because when I wear my hearing devices, then evewrything is so much louder … So loud, in fact, that I don't want to wear them at work all of the time. I'm so much used to my "deafness", that with the hearing aid devices some sounds can be almost painfully loud (metal scraping on metal, for example). I mostly only wear them when there is something
important going on, like group meetings at work.
Sometimes I pity people who have healthy ears, because everything seems to be so loud, then.
Maybe it has something to do with me being a highly sensitive person (HSP), too. I just happen to be a bit deaf, that's all.
 
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
21,909
Location
Old Europe
Back
Top Bottom