PC Audio Feedback 4 Life?

April 29, 2007 1:38 PM

Can you help me with my PC audio woes? This high-pitched whine isn't just coming from me...

I loaned my computer to a friend for a couple of months, and having just gotten it back, I've noticed something is wrong with my sound. When my speakers are plugged in, I get a high-pitched frequency whistle, and when anything plays it's all crackly.

I tried plugging the speaker jack into both different audio outlets (there's one on the front, one on the back), to no avail. Then, in case it was a problem with speakers or their jack, I tried a pair of headphones-- exact same problem. So apparently no matter what device I plug in, or which outlet, the sound persists.

No new software has been installed, everthing seems just as it was when I last had the computer in my possession. It's a Gateway PC. Is there anything I can try, or is a connection inside knocked loose or something, possibly in transport?

Hope someone can help. Thanks!

posted by hermitosis to computers & internet (9 comments total)

I've had bad drivers for onboard sound, could that be the issue?
posted by IronWolve at 2:09 PM on April 29, 2007

I replaced my sound drivers last year (when I was a dummy and accidentally deleted them). They've worked just fine ever since. Should I look into a reinstall?
posted by hermitosis at 2:15 PM on April 29, 2007

Did your friend blast the volume and blow the speakers?
posted by andihazelwood at 2:32 PM on April 29, 2007

The friend didn't have my speakers, just the PC, plus see above re: jacks and outlets.
posted by hermitosis at 2:36 PM on April 29, 2007

Do you know if it's motherboard sound, or an add-in card? From your description of only two sound jacks, I don't think it's an add-in.... but just in case, Audigy soundcards are known to fail in approximately this way. I lost one myself, although the crackling wasn't as bad as you describe.

If it's motherboard sound, hmm. Not sure. A sound driver reinstall can't hurt.

Oh! Check your sound settings in control panel... try muting everything, and then unmuting just your WAV output and see if anything improves. You might have an input turned on that wasn't on before.
posted by Malor at 2:42 PM on April 29, 2007

Malor, you genius! The sound settings option worked like a charm! I don't know what could have switched things, but it's all better now.

Thankyouthankyou.


Unfortunately, having AskMe fix my problems means I only ever have to learn *so* much myself. Fiddle dee dee.
posted by hermitosis at 2:50 PM on April 29, 2007

Ah yes. Sorry for not reading carefully enough. In that case I hope the driver reinstall works, and that your soundcard hasn't gone bad!
posted by andihazelwood at 2:53 PM on April 29, 2007

You're welcome, hermitosis. :) Now that you've narrowed it down, turn your outputs back on. Generally, that'll be WAV Output, CD Player, and Midi Synth, though you might have more or less, depending on your device.

Then tinker with your inputs; what you'll probably find is that either the Line In or Microphone In sets off the squeal/crackle. You can just leave them disabled until you need to input sound for some reason. They'll probably work okay once you plug in a real device.
posted by Malor at 3:10 PM on April 29, 2007

Often if there's nothing plugged into your Line In jack, but the Line In volume control is wound all the way up, it will mess up the sound in exactly the way you describe.
posted by flabdablet at 6:43 PM on April 29, 2007