Soundless... help?

dchild000 · 02-24-2006, 09:36 PM

Alrighty,

I just started using this computer, about a couple of days ago and when I first plugged it all up (I recieved the tower ,equipped with windows xp professional service pack 1, I already had the monitor, speakers, keyboard, etc...) everything worked... but the speakers. I decided that since my speakers are rather old I'd buy some new ones (altec lansing bx2's) and maybe they would work. It didn't work either. Now I checked to see if the speakers worked, so I tested them out on a small radio and they worked with no problems. Then I made sure that they were plugged in the right jack on the PC, but seeing as the ports are color coded I saw that it was plugged in the right place. I was then instructed by a friend to go to the device manager and check out the sound drivers. I was told that my sound card was a Creative Sound Blaster 16 Plug and Play (WDM). I checked the properties of it and the device status said that said it was working properly. I asked around about it, but I got different answers... I then searched around and I found Driver Agent.com and it did a scan of my drivers and it said that my sound driver was up to date. So I'm not sure what to do anymore

.. I'm still soundless, and I'm hoping that its not a problem with the soundcard, b/c I do not want to buy one. If anyone can help remedy the situation... It'd be much appreciated.

=Dchild=

02-25-2006, 12:01 AM

Hi there,

Probably something very simple yet easily overlooked, and it can happen to the best of us. First check on the sound management app that you have nothing muted. You should have and sound management app by creative sitting in your systray (botton right hand corner of screen) - click on that and bring up the speaker settings, make sure that's ok for your paticular speaker setup (5.1, or headphones etc..) - then go to the sound control application and make sure the volume slider bars are high enough to hear the volume, and make sure wave, and midi are not muted.

dchild000 · 02-25-2006, 12:09 AM

all of its up, and unmuted :/

02-25-2006, 12:31 AM

If it's an add-in card in a PCI slot i would uninstall the drivers, boot down re-seat the card, possibly in another slot then reinstall updated drivers (EG act like it's a new card).

dchild000 · 02-25-2006, 12:57 AM

I'll have to have the person who gave me the comp do that then, I'll reply back with what happens, thanx

dchild000 · 02-25-2006, 05:41 PM

Thanx for the help, Ironically, the sound isn't supposed to be plugged into the speaker port on the back of the comp. Its supposed to be plugged into the speaker port for the video card... That threw me for aloop :/ thanks anyway

-Not soundless anymore :)

02-26-2006, 01:09 AM

Must be an older PC there, anyway glad you got sound on it now.

dchild000 · 02-26-2006, 08:35 PM

Wow, I've been using new and old speakers and they both seem to sound the same... Its weird, when ever I'm listening to music or just regular sounds like simple ones from IM the sound gets botchy (Sorta sounds like I'm listening to a low quality stream) but it only happens when something happens on the screen (eg typing, opening a file/window, runing the mouse over links etc)... what could that be about? Can it be fixed?

Thanks Again

02-28-2006, 08:01 PM

I would imagine that you are getting some poor PCI shielding issues as can be the case with integrated/onboard sound - or oudated drivers sometimes causes that. As far as sound quality being about the same with new and old speakers it might be that even though you have newer speakers the quality is about the same.

You might just need a better soundcard and better speakers to get better overall output and less PCI crosstalk noise that you might be experiencing now. A Live 24 bit or audigy 2 value with very good midrange speakers would probably clean up your sound tremendously.

02-24-2006, 09:36 PM	#1 (permalink)
dchild000 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Virginia USA Posts: 6 OS: Windows XP Professional	Soundless... help? Alrighty, I just started using this computer, about a couple of days ago and when I first plugged it all up (I recieved the tower ,equipped with windows xp professional service pack 1, I already had the monitor, speakers, keyboard, etc...) everything worked... but the speakers. I decided that since my speakers are rather old I'd buy some new ones (altec lansing bx2's) and maybe they would work. It didn't work either. Now I checked to see if the speakers worked, so I tested them out on a small radio and they worked with no problems. Then I made sure that they were plugged in the right jack on the PC, but seeing as the ports are color coded I saw that it was plugged in the right place. I was then instructed by a friend to go to the device manager and check out the sound drivers. I was told that my sound card was a Creative Sound Blaster 16 Plug and Play (WDM). I checked the properties of it and the device status said that said it was working properly. I asked around about it, but I got different answers... I then searched around and I found Driver Agent.com and it did a scan of my drivers and it said that my sound driver was up to date. So I'm not sure what to do anymore .. I'm still soundless, and I'm hoping that its not a problem with the soundcard, b/c I do not want to buy one. If anyone can help remedy the situation... It'd be much appreciated. =Dchild=

02-25-2006, 12:01 AM	#2 (permalink)
T_Rex Guest Posts: n/a OS:	Hi there, Probably something very simple yet easily overlooked, and it can happen to the best of us. First check on the sound management app that you have nothing muted. You should have and sound management app by creative sitting in your systray (botton right hand corner of screen) - click on that and bring up the speaker settings, make sure that's ok for your paticular speaker setup (5.1, or headphones etc..) - then go to the sound control application and make sure the volume slider bars are high enough to hear the volume, and make sure wave, and midi are not muted. Last edited by T_Rex; 02-25-2006 at 12:02 AM.

02-25-2006, 12:09 AM	#3 (permalink)
dchild000 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Virginia USA Posts: 6 OS: Windows XP Professional	all of its up, and unmuted :/

02-25-2006, 12:31 AM	#4 (permalink)
T_Rex Guest Posts: n/a OS:	If it's an add-in card in a PCI slot i would uninstall the drivers, boot down re-seat the card, possibly in another slot then reinstall updated drivers (EG act like it's a new card).

02-25-2006, 12:57 AM	#5 (permalink)
dchild000 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Virginia USA Posts: 6 OS: Windows XP Professional	I'll have to have the person who gave me the comp do that then, I'll reply back with what happens, thanx

02-25-2006, 05:41 PM	#6 (permalink)
dchild000 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Virginia USA Posts: 6 OS: Windows XP Professional	Thanx for the help, Ironically, the sound isn't supposed to be plugged into the speaker port on the back of the comp. Its supposed to be plugged into the speaker port for the video card... That threw me for aloop :/ thanks anyway -Not soundless anymore :)

02-26-2006, 01:09 AM	#7 (permalink)
T_Rex Guest Posts: n/a OS:	Must be an older PC there, anyway glad you got sound on it now.

02-26-2006, 08:35 PM	#8 (permalink)
dchild000 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Virginia USA Posts: 6 OS: Windows XP Professional	Wow, I've been using new and old speakers and they both seem to sound the same... Its weird, when ever I'm listening to music or just regular sounds like simple ones from IM the sound gets botchy (Sorta sounds like I'm listening to a low quality stream) but it only happens when something happens on the screen (eg typing, opening a file/window, runing the mouse over links etc)... what could that be about? Can it be fixed? Thanks Again

02-28-2006, 08:01 PM	#9 (permalink)
T_Rex Guest Posts: n/a OS:	I would imagine that you are getting some poor PCI shielding issues as can be the case with integrated/onboard sound - or oudated drivers sometimes causes that. As far as sound quality being about the same with new and old speakers it might be that even though you have newer speakers the quality is about the same. You might just need a better soundcard and better speakers to get better overall output and less PCI crosstalk noise that you might be experiencing now. A Live 24 bit or audigy 2 value with very good midrange speakers would probably clean up your sound tremendously.