Realtek audio, Gigabyte mobo: muffled audio, no mic input

goyta

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Location
São Paulo, Brazil
I have a self-assembled desktop PC - full specs in the signature below, but in short, it has an AMD Phenom II X6 1090T processor on a Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P mainboard, which uses a Realtek Azalia ALC887 on-board sound system. I have no loudspeakers and listen to the computer sounds exclusively through a Microsoft LX-1000 headset. I also have a Logitech C270 HD webcam that has its own microphone. My PC has 16 GB RAM, a SSD and a large HDD. It runs Windows 8.1 Update 1 with all Windows updates (Patch Tuesday was this week, but my problems had started before that and I'm sure they're unrelated).

Everything is working fine, except the audio, which started behaving strangely a few days ago for no apparent reason. The problems started suddenly and I can't think of anything that could have caused them. There were no hardware changes or any intervention in the hardware, nor did I install any new software that could have messed up things.

When playing music, it sounds muffled, with the volume very low and the voice and several instruments muted, while other instruments in the background arrangement sound relatively louder. No graphic equalizer is on, and this happens with any player software (Windows Media Player, VLC, Media Player Classic, etc.), and any source (MP3 music, audio CDs, DVDs, videos, etc.). There appears to be no hardware problem with either my headset or the onboard audio: when I run both Windows' native and Realtek's driver sound output tests, the test tune comes out loud and clear in the tested channels.

Neither microphone works to record audio either - neither the headset's, nor the webcam's, with any recording program. I have connected the headset both to the PC case's front connectors (linked to the mainboard by a cable) and to the rear ones (which are parts of the mainboard itself); no difference.

YouTube videos are also mute, both when played in Chrome or IE (using HTML5) and in Firefox (using Adobe Flash), all in their latest versions. Curiously, however, the YouTube-hosted videos from a local newspaper's Web site play perfectly the audio of their initial vignette (which appears to be synthesized or MIDI) normally, but the rest of the video with the news story is silent. I normally use "No Sounds" as my Windows sound scheme, but I've tested other sound schemes; they all work, but volume is very low, as with the music.

There is no sign of any abnormality indicated either in Windows' Control Panel or in Realtek's control center window. The driver correctly detects when the headset is disconnected or reconnected, all tests work fine (like I said, both Microsoft's and Realtek's speaker tests come out loud and clear through my headset).

I have uninstalled and reinstalled the Realtek drivers several times (both the version supplied by Gigabyte with the mainboard - which appears to be the penultimate one from Realtek - and the latest 2.75 generic version from Realtek's Web site); no effect. I have installed a new codec pack to see if there was any trouble for applications to communicate with the driver; no effect. I have changed every possible configuration option on both Windows' and Realtek's control panels, also to no effect.

EDIT: I have also uninstalled the device and drivers, and tried to use Microsoft's default drivers. No change, the same problems happened, meaning it's not a driver problem either. I'm confused... :confused: I also checked Gigabyte's Web site and there is only one stable BIOS version for my mainboard model (and no newer audio drivers), so that's not something I could try (there is a newer beta BIOS, but I don't think I should try that, risky as it is). The current BIOS only has an option to enable or disable the audio.

What could be happening and what could be done, short of reinstalling Windows (which of course I don't want to do)? It surely looks like a software problem, because of the passed hardware tests and the strangely perfect vignette in the newspaper site's videos. But what software, and where? As you can see from what I wrote above, I've tried everything I could think of.

Thank you very much for your help.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro Update 1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    self-built
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X6 1090T
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P
    Memory
    16 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1866 (4x4 GB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Zotac GTX 650 Ti, 2 GB
    Sound Card
    on-board Realtek Azalia ALC887
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG IPS236V 23" LED + Samsung T200M 20" LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 (LG), 1680 x 1050 (Samsung)
    Hard Drives
    1 OCZ Vertex 3 SSD (120 GB), 1 Western Digital Black WD1502FAEX HDD (1.5 TB)
    PSU
    XFX 750W Black Edition
    Case
    CoolerMaster CM690
    Cooling
    several fans, Akasa Nero 2 for CPU
    Keyboard
    Logitech K270 wireless
    Mouse
    Logitech M185 wireless
    Internet Speed
    ~20 Mbps fiber optic
    Browser
    Firefox, Chrome, IE, all latest versions
    Antivirus
    Avast! Free
    Other Info
    Logitech C270 HD webcam
This is a duplicate of what is posted on the Seven Forums.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built
    CPU
    i7 6700K
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Hero
    Memory
    16 Gb G Skill TridentZ DDR4 3400
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel (i7 CPU)
    Sound Card
    RealTek Integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    27" Dell SE2717HR
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1080
    Hard Drives
    500GB Samsung 850 SSD, 3TB for backups
    PSU
    EVGA Supernova 750 G2
    Case
    BeQuiet Silent Base 600
    Cooling
    Deepcool Captain 120EX
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Wireless
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Internet Speed
    Cable - 100MB Downlink
    Browser
    Edge/Firefox
    Antivirus
    Microsoft
    Other Info
    Sonar Platinum 64 bit recording studio software with MOTU 896Mk3 Hybrid recording interface unit.
Did you disable all sound effects and room correction ?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
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