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COMPUTER
WIZARD
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Sound HELP!! |
Traditionally, sound boards use many of the same chipsets and basic components, but because each board is designed a bit differently, it is very difficult for commercial diagnositic products to identify failed IC functions. For the most part, commercial and shareware diagnostics can only identify whether a brand-compatible board is responding or not. When a sound board is judged to be defective, it should be replaced outright. You need to identify the problems and solutions for sound boards under both DOS and Windows. The following tips might help you nail down a sound problem most efficiently:
Check to see that your speakers are connected, powered, and turned on.
Check that the speaker volume and sound card master volume are turned up.
Check to see that the mixer volume and master volume are set properly.
Be sure that the music or sound file(s) are installed properly.
Check that all sound card and multimedia drivers are installed.
Be sure that the drivers are up to date.
Check for resource conflicts between the sound card and other devices in the system.
Be sure that the sound card is selected and configured properly (especially for DOS apps).
The sound device should be enabled and configured under CMOS (for sound functions incorporated on the motherboard).
Common problems and how to solve them
Hissing sound in background A typical problem:
I just bought a new soundcard have noticed background hissing after a sound is played. It doesn't appear to be in the speaker system as I ran a portable cd into it. PC soundcards are cheap consumer electronics and they are built using cheap parts using designs which are not the best possible. This causes that soundcards electronics generate noise and pick up interference from other electronics inside the PC. You hear all this as hising noise in the soundcard output. The soundcard design has effect on how little/much noise you can get, but usually the reason for most noise is not the soundcard, but how you use it. You can even make the best studio audio system hiss very noticably if you set the settings to very non-ideal values. Soundcards are typically used by people who do not know how to use audio systems properly which causes them to set up the system badly which leads to very poor performance.
Some tips for users of Sound Blaster family of soundcards:
The obvious would be a microphone enabled. Mute it. (Win 95 mixer) Next would be gain settings set at x4, change it to x1 (CL Mixer) Turn 3D Stereo Enhancement off. (Device Manager)
A noticeable buzz or hum is being produced in one or both speakers
Low-cost speakers use unshielded cables. Unfortunately, strong signals from ac cords and other signal-carrying conductors can easily induce interference in the speaker wires. Try rerouting speaker cables clear of other cables in the system. If problems persist, try using higher-quality speakers with shielded cables and enclosures. In most cases, that should resolve everyday noise problems. If the noise continues, regardless of what you do, the fault might be in the sound-board amplifier. Try moving the sound board to another bus slot away from other boards or the power supply. If that does not resolve the problem, try a new sound board.
No sound is produced by the speaker(s)
The lack of sound from a sound board can be caused by any one of a wide range of potential problems. If the sound board works with some applications, but not with others, it is likely that the problem is caused by an improperly installed or configured application. See that the offending application is set up properly (and be sure it is even capable of using the sound card). Also check that the proper sound driver files (if any) are loaded into CONFIG.SYS and AU-TOEXEC. BAT, as required. In many cases, one or two sound-related environment variables that are set in AUTOEXEC.BAT. Be sure that your startup files are configured properly. Check your speakers next. See that they are turned on and set to a normal volume level. The speakers should be receiving adequate power and should be plugged properly into the correct output jack—if speakers have been plugged into the wrong jack, no sound will be produced. If the cable is broken or questionable, try a new set of speakers. Also see that the master volume control on the sound board is turned up most (or all) of the way. If problems continue, a resource conflict might be occurring between the sound board and another device in the system. Examine the IRQ, DMA, and I/O settings of each device in the system. Be sure that no two devices are using the same resources. You might like to use the PC Configuration Form at the end of this book to record your settings. If problems persist, and no conflict is present, try another sound board.
The sound board plays back fine, but it will not record
The board probably records fine in DOS, but not in Windows. If the sound board is using 16-bit DMA transfer (typical under Windows), two DMA channels are in use. Chances are that one of those two DMA channels are conflicting with another device in the system. Determine the DMA channels being used under Windows, then check other devices for DMA conflicts. If you are using Windows 95, check the Device manager and look for entries marked with a yellow icon.
