Fix for Volume too low in Windows 7

[North]

Spent hours looking online and on the phone to get my volume above a whisper with no answers... here is the workaround from me.

Glitch in /Windows 7 / workaround... Use AC powered speakers... Hooray!..., SOUND!
Happy loudness

North.

 

[TrainableMan]

Not a W7 glitch. Audio drivers are hardware manufacturers responsibility. If they don't write it to work with cheap speakers then you are forced to buy new hardware. They just hope you buy it from them again so they can stick it to ya by not supporting this hardware when W8 or W9 comes out.

 

[North]

I submitted this post to help others who have the same issue, as I could not find the solution online.
Whatever it may be this solution has worked.

Political comments need not be posted, especially by a "moderator".

 

[Shintaro]

Dude, the mod is telling the truth, it's not political, just a fact of life.Maybe you are young.

Anyway for an amplifier circuit to work it needs power. As far as I know the output from a PC is just the audio signal.

 

[TrainableMan]

More an economical fact of life than anything political but I was merely trying to clarify who is to blame since you termed it a "W7 glitch", which it is not.

There are versions of powerless speakers and I'm sure some work if you use an amplified computer jack. There are also versions of speakers that supposedly work w/o power but have a place to plug in a power cord, so maybe they know you'll want one but sell it separately to save costs. But I think for the most part computer speakers come with either a USB connection to pull minimal power or with a power cord.

I'm glad you worked it out and I would add that anytime a peripheral (mouse, keyboard, headset, speakers, printer) isn't working, it's a good idea to try a different one.

 

[clifford_cooley]

Changing speakers will not change the signal. If changing speakers, fixed the problem then there was a speaker issue. Windows and audio drivers can not be blamed for speaker issues. If it was a windows or audio driver issue then changing speakers would not have resolved anything.

Anyway for an amplifier circuit to work it needs power. As far as I know the output from a PC is just the audio signal.

You are correct, both analog and digital signals are standardized signals. Neither signal can be altered by changing speakers. Power requirements has nothing to do with the signal itself.

However there is still power requirements involved in analog 1/8" Stereo and digital S/PDIF ports. The on-board analog signal power rating is usually standardized and if one requires more power, a set of powered speakers would be the only solution. The digital signal will require converting to analog for driving the speakers, so they will always be powered speakers. With TOSLINK fiber optics there is no power transfer since the output is in the form of light.

With all this said none of it matters for quality sound when the speakers themselves are damaged.