High-pitched sounds are muffled to the point of inaudibility

cookiecaper · 2009-11-16 16:12:34

I don't know how to describe it exactly, but Tiny Tim's "On the Old Front Porch", I can't hear the falsetto parts without going into VLC and changing the equalizer every which-a-way. This is concerning. I know this file is good, I've listened to it before. Is there some thing that makes my system default to a weird equalizer or something? MPD and mplayer both play it the same way; VLC plays it that way by default, too, but if I mess with equalizer/spatializer I can get the falsetto parts out to where I can distinguish them.

Anyone know wtf is going on here? I have a Xonar DX. Help greatly appreciated.

JohnVV · 2009-11-16 23:23:09

do you have a treble/base knob on your sub-woofer/amp like i do ???
if treble is at 0 then ...

cookiecaper · 2009-11-17 19:33:32

I don't. My sub has a "Sub Level" dial that seems to control the volume of the output from the sub. Other than that, only a volume control.

cookiecaper · 2010-04-22 08:47:55

Anyone else? Maybe it's just bad defaults in the ALSA driver or something? If I run through JACK and use pretty much any settings on jamin this problem goes away. Perhaps my hardware mixing doesn't work correctly or something? It's pretty annoying problem.

EDIT: Ah, actually, it seems that any settings in Jamin work as long as low-band stereo width is increased from its default level to at least 0.25. Anyone know what's wrong here?

Also, enabling the Spatializer in VLC seems to make the words audible as well.

This is with lots of files that have treble-full sounds, including Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite and some other things.

Last edited by cookiecaper (2010-04-22 08:59:49)

cladisch · 2010-04-22 09:50:46

The DX's driver does not have any equalizer settings (there is no hardware DSP).

Might it be possible that you're using some misconfigured sound system (PulseAudio)? However, Jack wouldn't use that ...

Does this also happen if you bypass all software processing, e.g.:
aplay -D hw:DX something.wav
or
mplayer -ao alsa:device=hw=DX someaudiofile

cookiecaper · 2010-04-22 10:44:23

Thanks for your reply. : )

Yes, I get the same with mplayer -ao alsa:device=hw=DX.

I don't have Pulse or anything like that running (except when using JACK to test), should just be straight ALSA. I have no asound.rc.

cladisch · 2010-04-22 11:28:39

This sound like a hardware problem.

It's possible but not very likely that the card itself muffles some frequencies. Could you try with any other speakers/headphones?

cookiecaper · 2010-06-10 15:59:09

Sorry it took so long, but I've just tried with other headphones plugged directly into the card; I can hear more this way, but the same songs still have muffled areas by default. I've just tried with another user to try to avoid any effect of .asoundrc (which I don't have anyway) or similar and got the same outcome.

Is there some default equalizer in place somewhere? It is weird because these songs all used to work fine. I hope my card didn't die for some reason. I guess the next step is to try with a Live CD.

cookiecaper · 2010-06-10 16:11:39

Just tried in Windows 7 to the same effect. So this is almost surely some defect on my card? Because that sucks, if so.

cladisch · 2010-06-10 16:39:53

Windows rules out driver or configuration; the other HPs rules out the cable or the HPs itself.

You might try playing the same file with the same headphones on another computer (or with the onboard sound).

cookiecaper · 2010-06-10 16:47:27

Hmm, maybe the problem is different. I'm able to get it to sound right with some cheapo Sony cans, but my Senn HD555s and my speakers (cheap Altec-Lansing) both have the same muffle problem. On these headphones, though, it's fine. Any ideas on what this means? Are my speakers and Senns both just blown out or something? I _can_ get correct sounding audio from the card with certain phones. Anyone know why? It is pretty frustrating because I would rather use my Senns than the crappy Sonys.

Is this something to do with like, surround downmixing or something? I'm just grasping at straws here trying to get a solution.

Also, if I insert the plug only a bit into the card on a couple of the ports, I get one side good, but not the other side. What does this portend?

Thanks for all the help.

cladisch · 2010-06-10 17:32:45

On these headphones, though, it's fine. Are my speakers and Senns both just blown out or something?

Cheaper headhphones usually have less impedance.
And in theory, you are not supposed to plug headphones directly into a line output that does not have a headphone amplifier (but this shouldn't damage either of them unless the volume is way too high).

Does this happen with all four output pairs?

Is this something to do with like, surround downmixing or something?

No, this is not a software problem.

Also, if I insert the plug only a bit into the card on a couple of the ports, I get one side good, but not the other side.

TRS connectors behave like this.

cookiecaper · 2010-06-10 17:47:10

I see. Thanks for the replies.

I've just enabled my onboard sound and found that it plays the same file fine on the speakers, whereas when played through the Xonar DX, the higher sounds are muffled. So I guess that seals that the Xonar is defective? I am concerned that I am just not using it correctly and don't want to RMA for no reason, but that doesn't make sense since it used to work.

I assume that "output pairs" means output ports on the card, please let me know if not. Sorry for my ignorance here. But, the same thing does not happen on all ports; on some, the higher sounds sound correct while the lower ones sound incorrect (i.e. the opposite problem). However, none of them work correctly on the speakers and Senns. The cheap Sonys work well in the Front output.

stqn · 2010-06-10 19:25:59

That reminds me of my Meizu portable music player. Its jack output plug is fucked up, which muffles the sound until I've moved the jack inside for 10 minutes and it starts playing fine if I'm lucky. So it might be the jack plug of your sound card.

Edit: or some component close to the jack in my player... The fact that it often took a few minutes before I could get it to work might indicate that some broken component works better when it's "warm"...(?) So anyway it's probably a broken sound card I'd say...

Last edited by stqn (2010-06-10 19:29:08)

cladisch · 2010-06-11 08:22:31

I've just enabled my onboard sound and found that it plays the same file fine on the speakers, whereas when played through the Xonar DX, the higher sounds are muffled. So I guess that seals that the Xonar is defective?

It might have been a problem with the speakers, but it's unlikely that both the speakers and your first HPs break at the same time.

But, the same thing does not happen on all ports; on some, the higher sounds sound correct while the lower ones sound incorrect (i.e. the opposite problem).

The speakers wouldn't know to which port they are connected, so this must be the card.

Your problems sound as if the card's output stage doesn't get enough power, so there might be a problem with the power supply. Could you try reseating the connector?

cookiecaper · 2010-06-13 18:22:04

I've just reseated the connector, but it didn't help anything.

cookiecaper · 2010-06-13 18:35:39

Though, now the speakers have the same problem on the onboard card, after switching headphones and speakers a couple of times. ??? I don't get this at all. Something pretty weird is going on here. I guess maybe both my speakers and headphones are broken, but how come it played correctly before I switched the connectors around again?

The Sonys have worked consistently in both sound cards. Those are the only ones I can get to perform as prescribed.

Arch Linux

#1 2009-11-16 16:12:34

High-pitched sounds are muffled to the point of inaudibility

#2 2009-11-16 23:23:09

Re: High-pitched sounds are muffled to the point of inaudibility

#3 2009-11-17 19:33:32

Re: High-pitched sounds are muffled to the point of inaudibility

#4 2010-04-22 08:47:55

Re: High-pitched sounds are muffled to the point of inaudibility

#5 2010-04-22 09:50:46

Re: High-pitched sounds are muffled to the point of inaudibility

#6 2010-04-22 10:44:23

Re: High-pitched sounds are muffled to the point of inaudibility

#7 2010-04-22 11:28:39

Re: High-pitched sounds are muffled to the point of inaudibility

#8 2010-06-10 15:59:09

Re: High-pitched sounds are muffled to the point of inaudibility

#9 2010-06-10 16:11:39

Re: High-pitched sounds are muffled to the point of inaudibility

#10 2010-06-10 16:39:53

Re: High-pitched sounds are muffled to the point of inaudibility

#11 2010-06-10 16:47:27

Re: High-pitched sounds are muffled to the point of inaudibility

#12 2010-06-10 17:32:45

Re: High-pitched sounds are muffled to the point of inaudibility

#13 2010-06-10 17:47:10

Re: High-pitched sounds are muffled to the point of inaudibility

#14 2010-06-10 19:25:59

Re: High-pitched sounds are muffled to the point of inaudibility

#15 2010-06-11 08:22:31

Re: High-pitched sounds are muffled to the point of inaudibility

#16 2010-06-13 18:22:04

Re: High-pitched sounds are muffled to the point of inaudibility

#17 2010-06-13 18:35:39

Re: High-pitched sounds are muffled to the point of inaudibility

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