No Sound From Left Channel

[Chris]

I made some changes recently to my computer and now I
can't hear the left channel in my speakers. The left
speaker works fine but when I play music or anything I can
tell that the left channel isn't working. When I switch
the balance to the left, the speakers go silent. I tried
re-installing the software for the sound card
(Soundblaster 1024) but that didn't help. My speakers are
harman/kardon if that helps. I'm thinking that I might
have changed the settings in WindowsME. if anyone can
help me fix this or at least point me in the right
direction, that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Chris

[Rick T]

Chris wrote:

> I made some changes recently to my computer and now I
> can't hear the left channel in my speakers. The left
> speaker works fine but when I play music or anything I can
> tell that the left channel isn't working. When I switch
> the balance to the left, the speakers go silent. I tried
> re-installing the software for the sound card
> (Soundblaster 1024) but that didn't help. My speakers are
> harman/kardon if that helps. I'm thinking that I might
> have changed the settings in WindowsME. if anyone can
> help me fix this or at least point me in the right
> direction, that would be greatly appreciated.

To test the speakers, switch speakers plugs/sockets. L/R R/L

If you right-click on the volume control in your taskbar and choose
"Open Volume Controls" you'll notice there's a balance control on each
mix input as well as on the mains.

If you're installing Creative drivers, try to install the minimum possible.

One of the traces on your soundcard may be kaput in which case you'll
want to switch your speakers from the front set to the back set (if your
card has the extra plug).

There's probably a tiny patch to tell the soundcard to send normal
stereo output to the back set instead of the front (a little creative
googling might help), however

http://kxproject.lugosoft.com/index.php?language=en

The "KX Project" is a set of drivers for the Soundblaster series
(anything with an EMu chip in it actually) and IIRC they change
front/back pairs by default (something to do with a better frequency
response on the back set).


Rick