Sound Card Problems - Only One Speaker...

For a while now I had my computer hooked up to some cheap speakers which only play sound out of one speaker most of the time, but would randomly start playing in the other for a second if i turned the volume up. I attributed this to them being cheap and me dropping them a lot, but I moved my computer yesterday and hooked it up to the stereo in my room and am having the same problem. I also think the volume itself is not very high. I was watching a movie on it last night and not only was it coming out of only 1 of my 5 speakers (1 of the 2 large ones) but with my stereo and computer volume turned all the way up, i had trouble hearing some of the quiet scenes.

When I ordered my dell (this is only a year old) the sound card was listed as - Integrated 5.1 Channel Audio.

Thanks for any help you can give me!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mogadishu

For a while now I had my computer hooked up to some cheap speakers which only play sound out of one speaker most of the time, but would randomly start playing in the other for a second if i turned the volume up. I attributed this to them being cheap and me dropping them a lot, but I moved my computer yesterday and hooked it up to the stereo in my room and am having the same problem. I also think the volume itself is not very high. I was watching a movie on it last night and not only was it coming out of only 1 of my 5 speakers (1 of the 2 large ones) but with my stereo and computer volume turned all the way up, i had trouble hearing some of the quiet scenes.

When I ordered my dell (this is only a year old) the sound card was listed as - Integrated 5.1 Channel Audio.

Thanks for any help you can give me!

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just some suggestions:

check your connections, the plugs on some systems are fragile
and can be stressed(pulled apart internally). suggest you try to spray a electronic cleaner...on all connections ,see if this improves performance.

google for dell drivers if you have installed sp2
as sometime this action creates problems with audio.


on connections...may have oxidized,have dirt/dust embeded
when playing, move wires around, if you discover static ,etc
it probably is wiring/connections...if you still get just sound
from 1 speaker with no interference , then you should start
thinking driver.

last thing...possible damage by you dropping them and
it can't be fixed, just replaced.

Check all you connections, update drivers.

FYI, "integrated audio" means you don't have a separate audio card plugged into your motherboard. The audio "card" is physically located on the motherboard.

Checking your connections as stated above is the firs and simplest thing to look in to.

If there is a problem with your audio circuit then repair on the motherboard is in order. Sadly not many people can make "component" level repairs on the motherboard itself due to lack of available schematics/service literature. Although some true technicians(not computer repairmen) can make those types of repairs without need of a schematic, experience has shown me that people with that type of skill are few and far between. (a schematic helps identify components, voltages, etc.)

When I was service manager for electronics repair the first thing I would tell customers with your symptoms is to swap the speakers from left to right and see if the problem moves from one to another. But, it's not so simple because you have a single, 3.5mm phono jack instead of separate connections for each speaker.

Good luck with it.