Low Volume - Realtek HD Audio ALC888S - XFX 790i Ultra Motherboard

Not sure what information I need to provide for you guys to help, but basically I have installed many different realtek drivers and still get very low volume. My speakers are not powered, but compared to the computer I just upgraded from there is a huge difference i.e. drop in volume. I have unplugged the hd audio plug for the front panel audio on the case thinking this might resolve the issue but no luck. I checked the bios and the onboard audio is checked for auto, the only other option being disable.


Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS Service Pack Service Pack 3
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)

Motherboard
CPU Type Intel Pentium III Xeon, 3000 MHz (9 x 333)
Motherboard Name Unknown
Motherboard Chipset Unknown
System Memory 2560 MB
BIOS Type Award (06/25/08)

Display
Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX/9800 GTX+ (512 MB)
Monitor Plug and Play Monitor [NoDB] (96073CA003160)

Multimedia
Audio Adapter Realtek HD Audio output

Storage
IDE Controller NVIDIA nForce Serial ATA Controller
IDE Controller NVIDIA nForce Serial ATA Controller
IDE Controller NVIDIA nForce Serial ATA Controller
IDE Controller Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller
SCSI/RAID Controller JMicron JMB36X Controller
Disk Drive Hitachi HDS721010KLA SCSI Disk Device (931 GB)
Disk Drive USB-HS WDC WD2500BB-00R USB Device (232 GB, USB)
Optical Drive Optiarc DVD RW AD-7221A
SMART Hard Disks Status OK

Partitions
C: (NTFS) 953859 MB (943103 MB free)
D: (FAT32) 238414 MB (127 MB free)
Total Size 1164.3 GB (921.1 GB free)

Input
Keyboard Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse HID-compliant mouse

Network
Network Adapter NVIDIA nForce 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet
Network Adapter NVIDIA nForce 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet (192.168.1.45)

Peripherals
USB1 Controller Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller [NoDB]
USB2 Controller Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller [NoDB]
USB Device USB Human Interface Device
USB Device USB Mass Storage Device

Problems & Suggestions
Problem Disk free space is only 0% on drive D:.

Device Properties

Driver Description: Realtek High Definition Audio
Driver Date: 6/27/2008
Driver Version: 5.10.0.5653
Driver Provider: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
INF File: oem0.inf
Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0888&SUBSYS_10DE0175&REV_1001
Location Information: Internal High Definition Audio Bus

One thing I came across when looking at the NVIDIA control panel was, "nforce audio not reported." Might that have something to do with the problem?? :confused

 

I would get 'Everest Home Edition', that should detect the motherboard. And then get the realtek drivers from the motherboard manufacturers site. See if that helps for a start.
Sounds like a driver issue to me.

 

I have installed the audio driver "WDM_R204" which I got from the XFX website, but this did not resolve the issue. In fact I have installed several different realtek drivers, both older, and newer, but I get the same problem with very low volume. If I go into the realtek HD audio manager/mixer, I can get the sound a bit higher if I change the setting from line out (2CH Speaker) to headphones (2CH speaker), except this merely seems to boost the higher end signals and is still obviously much lower than it should be. There's nothing wrong with the speakers themselves, since I have plugged them into another computer I have and they work fine.

 

I was also wondering about this little circuit that came with my Raidmax Smilodon computer case that's about 1-2 inches long, and says speaker on it. Should I have plugged this into the motherboard somewhere?

 

Sounds like you need newer speakers. You stated non powered which they used to send with older pc's which were setup for non powered speakers whereas nowadays all speakers are powered. Even a cheap 20 dollar walmart set would probably give you the volume levels.

 

Hi Lost.

IBB is 100% correct. Line output will not drive non-amplified speakers.

Jim

 

Thanks for the replies from everyone. If this is the case, then what is the difference between the older motherboards and the newer ones? Did the older motherboards have some type of an amplifier built in?

The only other computer I have is an HP 8665C, which is around 10 years old, and the speakers I'm using came with the monitor for that system. Polk audio, the kind that attach to the side of the monitor. I do have some cheap powered speakers somewhere, so I'll dig around for those and see what happens.

The NVIDIA control panel still says, "nforce audio not reported." What significance does that have?

 

I had the same sort of speakers and found out the volume was abysmal! Buy powered speakers, you won't be sorry.

 

Hi again Lost,

Many years ago the audio output from the sound cards was 8 ohms to drive speakers/headphones directly. Then came cards with 8 ohm (Spkr) and 600 Ohm (Line out) jacks so anything could be used. Then they dropped the 8 ohm outputs completely. Now only 600 ohms (Line OUt) is supplied. You must have powered (amplified) speakers or an external amp for the EarPhones to get any usable volume.

Luck, Jim

 

The times they are a changing, haha. Well I found the cheapo (looks like the brand is CA?) powered speakers, and they are working just fine. The only problem I ran into is that they make this constant clicking noise and pick up my local country music station, which makes it even worse!! I assume this is because they aren't shielded properly since when I move them around I can reduce the interference.

What is a good site to pick up some decent powered speakers? Any suggestion for specific brands, or models? The only computer sites I have purchased from are tigerdirect.com and newegg.com.

 

Here's some speakers
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...y_slc.asp?Lprice=0.01&Hprice=24.99&CatId=2891
read the specs (I'd think on a computer site all they offer would be shielded). Also read the reviews.