[Solved] Distorted headphone sound after upgrade

[EntropyZ]

I tried almost everything.

1) Reinstalling different Realtek driver versions. Even ones that come through Microsoft themselves.
2) Disabling Audio Enhancements (Why would you though? It never helps)
3) Checking the cables for interference.
4) Messing with quality settings, volume and speaker setup.
5) Different headphones.

It's a combination of updating to Windows 10 1703 Creators Update and a change of the case. The front audio jacks should be fine. I have found 0 solutions.

Everything worked fine until I updated Windows from 1607, and changed out the PC case.

The sound coming out is very low, I can only hear faint trebly sound. Thing is Windows sounds are completely fine, so are the test sounds coming out of Realtek HD Audio Panel and the built-in Windows sound test for speaker setups. I just don't get what is actually causing this. I also noticed that the volume on speakers is quite lower than it was before.

If headphones are connected to the rear connector, it sounds as it should. So I am lost, I could only blame the front jack connector, but the case (Define C Mini) is new. If the jack or the cable was busted I wouldn't hear any sound.

All other sound sources are unbearable to listen, I haven't been able to use the headphones for weeks now and I can't game at night without them.

When I install the driver off of the motherboard support section, the volume on headphones doubles, but it isn't possible to control the volume anymore, any setting higher than 0 gives off the same volume and 0 just mutes it. (It's still messed up though.)

Youtube and Video/Audio players react somewhat when changing which API to use but that doesn't fix anything.

What's interesting is how other sources cannot play audio normally, but Windows obviously has no difficulty.

I have never been so frustrated in my life. I lived through nVidia drivers crashing constantly on Vista and 7. But this is doing my head in. This might be the first time where I genuinely don't know what the hell is happening.

Any help is appreciated, I've literally almost tried everything that makes sense.

EDIT: I tried plugging the speakers into the front jack, all it did was give off loud static and nothing else.

Final thoughts: The audio chip or the connector on the motherboard might be broken, So I intend to return the board for repairs.

 

[evernessince]

"If headphones are connected to the rear connector, it sounds as it should."

It sounds like you found the answer to your own question. Distortion from the front panel audio is common and is typically due to electrical interference. You should always be plugging your audio cable directly into the motherboard to avoid these kinds of problems. If you must, buy an extension cable. There are also plenty of external sound cards / DACs that completely eliminate audio interference issues.

 

[EntropyZ]

"If headphones are connected to the rear connector, it sounds as it should."

It sounds like you found the answer to your own question. Distortion from the front panel audio is common and is typically due to electrical interference. You should always be plugging your audio cable directly into the motherboard to avoid these kinds of problems. If you must, buy an extension cable. There are also plenty of external sound cards / DACs that completely eliminate audio interference issues.

It's not as simple as it sounds (no pun intented) the audio is almost unrecognizable, I have never had this issue before. I can put a bunch of cables all over the audio caps and it doesn't make a bit of difference.

It's distorted as in I can't hear anything that's legible.

 

[jboydgolfer]

but the case (Define C Mini) is new

doesnt mean a thing, i bought a Phanteks case, and the front panel was/is crap(within days of purchase). ive replaced it 2 times. my guess is bad PCB for the front header, or bad 3.5mm jack solder job possibly....or maybe the '97 or HD audio cable is pinched possibly? it could even be a bad audio plug on the mobo.

 

[EntropyZ]

I just tried rigging another case and using it's front panel real quick. Same result.

 

[evernessince]

It's not as simple as it sounds (no pun intented) the audio is almost unrecognizable, I have never had this issue before. I can put a bunch of cables all over the audio caps and it doesn't make a bit of difference.

It's distorted as in I can't hear anything that's legible.

Cables themselves aren't what generate a lot of the interference. You might get a small amount from a cable. Or are you saying that putting other cables near the audio caps should somehow cause issues with those other cables? That wouldn't work either, as nearly every other cable in a PC is digital, which isn't affected by interference.

You can contact your case manufacturer and mobo manufacturer and they will tell you the same thing, it's either interference or as jboydgolfer suggested a bad PCB. The audio chip is fine, as you proven to us by saying that audio is perfect when connect directly to the mobo.

 

[EntropyZ]

Cables themselves aren't what generate a lot of the interference. You might get a small amount from a cable. Or are you saying that putting other cables near the audio caps should somehow cause issues with those other cables? That wouldn't work either, as nearly every other cable in a PC is digital, which isn't affected by interference.

You can contact your case manufacturer and mobo manufacturer and they will tell you the same thing, it's either interference or as jboydgolfer suggested a bad PCB. The audio chip is fine, as you proven to us by saying that audio is perfect when connect directly to the mobo.

The audio is also fine through headphones when Windows plays sounds. But the sound is bad as soon as any other audio source tries to play anything.

 

[evernessince]

I just tried rigging another case and using it's front panel real quick. Same result.

With the same mobo, could be the FP header. Have you tried swapping power supplies and / or graphics cards? They are the major source of interference. It's possible they are causing the issue regardless of case.

 

[EntropyZ]

With the same mobo, could be the FP header. Have you tried swapping power supplies and / or graphics cards? They are the major source of interference. It's possible they are causing the issue regardless of case.

This wasn't a problem before why it would be now? I am using the same components as before. The case being the exception. And the front panel, it's cables are fine, because using an external front panel results are the same.

So at this point I can only blame the OS. I've narrowed it to that. It just doesn't play nice ever since I updated.

 

[evernessince]

This wasn't a problem before why it would be now? I am using the same components as before. The case being the exception. And the front panel, it's cables are fine, because using an external front panel results are the same.

So at this point I can only blame the OS. I've narrowed it to that. It just doesn't play nice ever since I updated.

Different cases have different EMI characteristics and dimensions.

Have you tried reverting to an old restore point or old build? It's should be possible through the windows recovery options.

 

[blobster21]

Boot on an ubuntu live CD and play some music (youtube), you'll see soon enough if it's windows or your hardware.

 

[EntropyZ]

Different cases have different EMI characteristics and dimensions.

Have you tried reverting to an old restore point or old build? It's should be possible through the windows recovery options.

I installed the OS on a new partition, same SSD after formatting. So there's no way to revert anything because it came this way.

Boot on an ubuntu live CD and play some music (youtube), you'll see soon enough if it's windows or your hardware.

Good idea, I might try that! I think I had a Parted Magic live ISO somewhere which has internet and sound drivers.

 

[Solaris17]

If the jack or the cable was busted I wouldn't hear any sound.

Thats not true at all. You probably have a broken cable or lead on the line coming from the board or the circuit board on the case header. The resistance is why it sounds terrible. The update is just a coincidence. especially if it is still fine out of the rear since the same chip is driving both.

Otherwise its the actual header on the board and a pin is cracked or a trace is broken generally static output is a sure sign of interference and in some cases with jack powered speakers grounding issues. If the sound works fine out of the back it is.

-Speakers
-FP header
-FP lead wires (to board)
-Motherboard

 

[evernessince]

I installed the OS on a new partition, same SSD after formatting. So there's no way to revert anything because it came this way.


Good idea, I might try that!

Well, that stinks. Yeah, a live linux CD might be your best bet right now. It would determine whether or not it's a software related issue.

 

[EntropyZ]

Welp. Parted Magic won't run on my Ryzen system. So I'll try that Linux distro real quick.

Oh I hope this works. It won't be nice if I have to RMA my motherboard, it overclocks like a beast, and any replacement might jeopardize that.

Edit: 00:35 Going to boot up that ISO soon and see how that goes...

 

[erocker]

Are you installing sound drivers or are you letting Windows do it? Any kind of options for sound in your bios?

 

[EntropyZ]

Are you installing sound drivers or are you letting Windows do it? Any kind of options for sound in your bios?

I tried both Microsoft Software driver thingy database, official Realtek website and the drivers that AsRock provides. The only sound options would probably be HD audio and AC'97 compatibility and ON/OFF, it defaults to HD panel on the BIOS.

Btw, any linux distro either locks up my system or gives off no video signal. I tried both booting normal and UEFI.

Setting the the integrated audio to AC'97, as expected renders the front panel useless because of different pin layout.

Is there anything else to try I wonder. I only saw installing 1607 back again as an option anyway from the beginning, since there is no magical driver or tweak that fixes this.

I read of people having the same issue, but I am not sure about that. Saying "distorted sound" is really vague. To remind you, most of the sounds that are louder are in high frequencies, bass is non existent, everything else is really faint even at 100% volume, yet Windows and Realtek Sound Manager has no problem playing it's sound test on the headphones.

This is why I'm so dumbfounded right now. Windows plays fine, every other application has the same issue.

Edit: Uninstalling nVidia HD audio driver didn't do anything.

 

[micropage7]

Everything worked fine until I updated Windows from 1607, and changed out the PC case.

i guess you could point on this two
try to use another front header on that and see, if ok so the update is the suspect

but the unusual thing is when you state from back is ok but not from front header.
if from OS the sound from the back should be bad too since both of them from the same hardware, only the front panel has cables

btw have you tried any setting from bios? like disabling front panel audio and see if anything unusual happened

 

[EntropyZ]

i guess you could point on this two
try to use another front header on that and see, if ok so the update is the suspect

but the unusual thing is when you state from back is ok but not from front header.
if from OS the sound from the back should be bad too since both of them from the same hardware, only the front panel has cables

btw have you tried any setting from bios? like disabling front panel audio and see if anything unusual happened

Nothing out of the ordinary when changing any settings in Windows or BIOS. I just tried a fresh install of 1607 on another SSD. Same thing happens with headphone playback through the front header, at this point I could believe something is wrong with the motherboard itself, but I installed it carefully and didn't overtighten the screws. I wonder what happens if I take it off the case. I still don't get why would the OS be the exception when outputting sound.

Most of these work fine, albeit at lower volume than it should be. I'm reaching my breaking point, this is becoming a challenge, and it somehow isn't funny to me anymore.

 

[jboydgolfer]

I've had bad AC'97 or HD audio ports before, these things happen. My guess is it's either the plug on the motherboard, the cord running from the front header to the motherboard, or the front header PCB itself or maybe the soldering of the 3.5 mm Jack. And I've had broken ports and front header PCBs with functioning audio, but it was crappy audio that was static laden, & cut out.

If your able to rule out the case portion not being the culprit ,then your best bet is to RMA the motherboard if that's an option still. If its the case portion, same recommendation if possible

 

[mad1394]

Front audio port is bad. I've seen it before.
No way the OS is the issue.

 

[EntropyZ]

I just took out everything out of anger and I've been at this for 3 hours now. I test benched the crap out of the stuff. Moved all cables around and tugged the front panel connector to see if there's anything wrong. It's still the same. All that effort for nothing.

 

[jboydgolfer]

Is there a reason you can't just use the rear port?

I understand the principle of something being wrong makes using a different working one moot, but at the end of the day you can just use the rear port, and be done with it.until a resolution presents itself

*** also have you tried both AC 97 as well as HD audio? Most motherboards and cases offer both , but you should only be using one or the other @ one time. (obvious, but worth mentioning)

 

[EntropyZ]

The reason for not using the rear jack for headphones is, well, cable length. The computer is quite far away and not on the same table as the monitor and speakers.

I have an older Asus case that uses AC'97 cable config but I am doubtful it would change anything. I had an idea to use the Mic front jack as a headphone jack. Problem is, the ALC892 codec doesn't have audio jack re-tasking, which is a major pain in the ass for me, it was comfy to able to use both jacks on my other cases, so I always had the option of having a working front jack even if one got busted after use or I just was in a hurry to plug the headphones in and it didn't matter which jack I used because I could always change what it did. Well not anymore. ALC1150 is superior in every way.

I read there is a way to force audio re-tasking through registry because most of the changes made by Realtek Audio Manager are handled through registry edits. But I am skeptical of that working.

I somehow knew I was going to have issues with sound some day simply because of the weak codec that's put on the motherboard. But pretty much every B350 board skimps out on something.

It took a while to get everything back together, the only consolation is that my cable management got better because that took like an hour.

Edit: I tried to do some experimenting with regedit. I janked out the rear cable and used two headphones jack with two of the same types of headphones. One plugged in for each front jack. Then forced the audio manager to output two different streams of audio through different outputs. The sound was fine through both headphones until the audio manager derped out and kept trying to reset the mic output to be what it should be by default, and it went back and forth until I had to close it with task manager.

So maybe the motherboard is fine like it was before, but then what is causing the front outputs to be almost unusable. This is so strange. It's like the audio manager can't or won't do something and Windows is being cheeky and blocks any changes. But that can't be it, never in my life did I ever had to run Realtek apps with admin rights.

 

[evernessince]

Have you tried uninstalling the driver and just using the generic windows drivers? Make sure to check the box to remove the drivers from the system in the device manager if you didn't try that already.