Can a Soundblaster card die?

Gary Ulinskas · Post by **Gary Ulinskas** » 25 Jun 2005 12:49 pm

Went out of town for a couple of weeks and when I came back and started up my computer, I cannot get any volume out of my speakers. I can listen on headphones plugged into the same 1/8" stereo port and the sound is audible. But even with the volume cranked up all the way on my XP's control panel, the headphone volume is just normal. It should be blasting me out of my chair. The card is about 2 years old. When I installed it, the factory headphone speaker jack ports on the front and back of the computer became inoperable.
Thanks,

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 25 Jun 2005 2:22 pm

Modern sound cards do not have a built in power amp, like they did in the "old" days.

If you are getting sound on the headphones, although not as loud as you should, you should be getting sound from the speakers (assuming they are plugged into the same port ont he card).

There are two speaker/line out's on a standard SoundBlaster card. One may be designated "speaker" and the other may be designated "speaker2" or "line out". Each one has a separate volume control and then the master volume control.

The first thing is to verify that all the volumes are turned up. Second, "reseat" all of the speaker cables (unplug each jack then plug it back in making sure the jack is fully seated). Third make sure the "powered" speakers are powered on (most have a power on indicator).

If everything checks out and still no sound, uninstall the sound card in the Windows Device Manager, then restart Windows and the sound card will be redetected and reinstalled (refreshed). See if that takes care of it.

Dennis Lobdell · Post by **Dennis Lobdell** » 25 Jun 2005 4:10 pm

Gary; My sound blaster audigy crashed and caused me to have to re load my operating system. The answer is yes. Dennis

Gary Ulinskas · Post by **Gary Ulinskas** » 27 Jun 2005 12:04 pm

For Jack Stoner;
Tried your jack checking ideas.
Went into my control panel to SOUND AND AUDIO DEVICES and cranked up the volume to
full on all settings. Now my speakers put out more sound but at a relatively low level. When looking at the VOLUME tab, I see the Soundblaster icon and the text
"SB PCI" after it, so I assume my computer is recognizing the sound card.
I cannot find the "DEVICE MANAGER" you mentioned to try turning the thing off. There is an ADD OR DELETE PROGRAMS icon that
has "SOUNDBLASTER PCI" listed under it, but I don't think I want to delete that.Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 27 Jun 2005 1:50 pm

You can access the Device Manager from the Control Panel. If you have something other than XP, you should see a Device Manager Icon. With XP, Control Panel/Performance and Manintenance/System will bring up the System Panel - click on Hardware Tab then Device Manager.

Gary Ulinskas · Post by **Gary Ulinskas** » 28 Jun 2005 8:24 am

Hi Jack Stoner,
Found the Device Manager right where you said it would be, uninstalled my Blaster card and rebooted. XP reinstalled the card and sound is better on speakers and real loud on the headphones. At least my visiting granddaughter can play her Barbie Horse Adventure game now, because we needed the sound to give hints on what keys to use to play the game.
I practice my steel with Band In a Box using headphones (so my wife won't hear all my mistakes), so the relatively low volume on the speakers won't really hurt.
Thanks for all your help.
Gary<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Gary Ulinskas on 28 June 2005 at 09:27 AM.]</p></FONT>