Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Some Speakers Don't Play
If you hear sound coming from some speakers, but not others, check the following:
•
Mono plug in the stereo jack
—A common mistake is to use a mono plug in the sound card's
speaker or stereo out jack. Seen from the side, a stereo connector has two darker stripes. A
mono connector has only one stripe.
•
No power to speakers
—Check the AC adapter's connection to the electrical outlet.
•
Loose speaker connection to some speakers
—When possible, use keyed and color-coded
connectors to avoid mistakes.
•
Speakers not set to same volume
—Some speakers use separate volume controls on each
speaker. Balance them for best results. Separate speaker volume controls can be an advantage if
one speaker must be farther away from the user than the other.
•
Loose speaker jack
—If you find that plugging in your speaker to the jack properly doesn't
produce sound but pulling the plug halfway out or “jimmying” it around in its hole can
temporarily correct the problem, you're on the road to a speaker jack failure. To avoid damage
to the speaker jack, be sure you insert the plug straight in, not at an angle.
•
Incorrect sound mixer settings
—Most systems assume that you are using two-channel
(stereophonic) sound, even if you have plugged in four or more speakers. Select the correct
speaker type with the Windows Speaker icon or a third-party sound mixer.
•
Additional speakers connected to the wrong jacks
—Make sure you connect the additional
speakers needed for four-channel, six-channel, or eight-channel audio to the correct jacks. If
you connect them to line in or microphone jacks, they won't work.
•
Incorrect balance settings
—The volume control also adjusts the balance between the left and
right speakers. If you hear audio from the left speakers only or the right speakers only, the
balance control needs to be centered with the Windows Speaker icon or a third-party sound
mixer.
Note
On some systems with integrated audio, audio jacks have multiple uses. For example, in six-
channel or eight-channel mode on some systems, the normal line in and microphone jacks might
be reconfigured to work with rear and center/subwoofer speakers. In such cases, the mixer
controls need to be reset.
Some Types of Sounds Play, But Others Don't
If you can hear CDs but not WAV or MP3 digital music, or you can play WAV and MP3 but not CD
or MIDI files, check the following:
•
Low volume or mute settings for some audio types
—Some audio mixers have separate
volume controls for WAV/MP3, MIDI, CD digital, CD audio, and other sound types and
sources. Unmute any audio types you play back, and adjust the volume as desired. In Windows
7, you can set different volume levels for individual apps.
Scratchy Sound
Scratchy or static-filled sound can be caused by several problems. Improving the sound can be as
