the white drew carey Posted February 4, 2004 Posted February 4, 2004 OK, this is computer, or more importantly, iMac-related: When I listen to music through the headphones, it's EXTREMELY quiet, even with the volume all of the way up. I've tried finding answers for this through the information super-highway, but I can never find an answer that resolves this specific problem. I've tried 4 different headphones which, given, aren't the best, but aren't that bad either and none of them work any better or worse (ie- the cheap-o earplugs have the same volume as the $10-15 ones). Any help? p.s.- Mods, please leave this one up for a day or two to see if anyone has any answers. This is about the only message board I ever visit and I can't find any help at computer or mac-specific boards. Plus, like I said- You're all the smartest people I know. Quote
imode Posted February 4, 2004 Posted February 4, 2004 OK, this is computer, or more importantly, iMac-related:When I listen to music through the headphones, it's EXTREMELY quiet, even with the volume all of the way up. I've tried finding answers for this through the information super-highway, but I can never find an answer that resolves this specific problem. I've tried 4 different headphones which, given, aren't the best, but aren't that bad either and none of them work any better or worse (ie- the cheap-o earplugs have the same volume as the $10-15 ones). Any help? p.s.- Mods, please leave this one up for a day or two to see if anyone has any answers. This is about the only message board I ever visit and I can't find any help at computer or mac-specific boards. Plus, like I said- You're all the smartest people I know. Perhaps a stupid question, but do you have the phones plugged all the way in? A lot of times, I don't push them all the way in because with a normal push the headphone jack goes in all the way right before the last click and when I listen, all I can hear is faint sounds in the background. I check my plug and I realize I hadn't pushed it in all the way. Quote
the white drew carey Posted February 4, 2004 Author Posted February 4, 2004 Not a stupid question at all, but they are plugged in all the way. I'm just afraid of buying a nice set of headphones and finding out that the headphones aren't the problem. Quote
Jolly Rogers Posted February 4, 2004 Posted February 4, 2004 Go to your control panels and check the sound setup - see if your input and output are configured correctly, besides the master volume. Quote
JB0 Posted February 4, 2004 Posted February 4, 2004 Not very familiar with Macs. If it were an IBM-compatible, I'd bet the soundcard didn't have an amp, but Apple would have to be cheap beyond words to not put an onboard amp on a machine that expensive. Quote
estacado06479 Posted February 4, 2004 Posted February 4, 2004 like he said, if it were a PC this would be good advice, not sure about imac, but i would check to see if there is an updated driver for the imac soundcard/equivalent imac device Quote
BoBe-Patt Posted February 4, 2004 Posted February 4, 2004 Go to your control panels and check the sound setup - see if your input and output are configured correctly, besides the master volume. after that, you should check the volume on your itunes, or whatever music player you use, and check the system's volume. Hope this works out. Quote
lebhead Posted February 4, 2004 Posted February 4, 2004 In OS X, go to System Preferences -> Sound Then move the slider for "Output Volume" up to at least half way. Also, as mentioned earlier, check your volume settings on iTunes, or whatever music-playback app you are running. I highly doubt that this is a hardware problem. Also, some headphones have a wired remote with volume control. Check the cord, and see if you have this type of remote. If so, make sure the volume is all the way up on the remote. Quote
Duke Togo Posted February 4, 2004 Posted February 4, 2004 I am going to report this thread for off topic posting. Ha ha! Quote
kanata67 Posted February 4, 2004 Posted February 4, 2004 flattery will get you everywhere. doubtful hard ware so as lebhead suggested. I know with pc's in addition to checking system overall volume, volume on all your players, sound card utilities if applicable... you can always get amplified headphones Quote
the white drew carey Posted February 4, 2004 Author Posted February 4, 2004 Man, I thought you guys were smart, but I've heard all of this before!!!! Seriously, thanks for the advice, but I've tried all of those avenues to no avail. Maybe I'll spring for a really nice headset and if that still doesn't work I can always return it. Mods- Feel free to lock/remove this topic. I think it's served it's purpose. Thanks. Quote
ewilen Posted February 4, 2004 Posted February 4, 2004 Okay, here's a last stab: try resetting the PRAM. But basically, I'm pretty sure there's no separate volume control for the headphone jack vs. the built-in speakers. So if the speakers can play loud, but if you plug a headphone in and it's super-quiet, you may have a defective headphone jack. Quote
tom64ss Posted February 4, 2004 Posted February 4, 2004 .....you guys, are the smartest people I know! WDC needs to get out more. Quote
Toast Posted February 4, 2004 Posted February 4, 2004 Do you have the 'phones plugged into the line out? that'll produce exactly the problem your having. Quote
the white drew carey Posted February 4, 2004 Author Posted February 4, 2004 (edited) Do you have the 'phones plugged into the line out? that'll produce exactly the problem your having. C'mon, Toast... give me some credit here!!! The jack is clearly labeled with the universal symbol for headphones. Edited February 4, 2004 by the white drew carey Quote
Toast Posted February 4, 2004 Posted February 4, 2004 You'd be suprised how often that happens... Quote
imode Posted February 4, 2004 Posted February 4, 2004 Man, I thought you guys were smart, but I've heard all of this before!!!! We are smart... We don't buy macs. Quote
the white drew carey Posted February 4, 2004 Author Posted February 4, 2004 Man, I thought you guys were smart, but I've heard all of this before!!!! We are smart... We don't buy macs. After all my years and problems with PC's, I've had this iMac for over a year and a half now and this is the one problem I'm having*? *except for when I spilled beer on the keyboard. But that was human error. Quote
Agent ONE Posted February 4, 2004 Posted February 4, 2004 MWers are some of the smartest people I know too. I love your new anatar! Quote
Dangard Ace Posted February 4, 2004 Posted February 4, 2004 Have you tried testing for sound with your apple pro speakers(using the speaker port)? If it sounds fine through the speakers, then it's the headphone jack. Bring it in for repairs. Of course I'm assuming you bought the extended warranty. Also if you could take screenshots of your sound control panel and your iTunes volume slider that would be great. I know you said you checked that but I just want to make sure the settings look right. Quote
the white drew carey Posted February 5, 2004 Author Posted February 5, 2004 Okedokee- here's some screenshots. The top is a volume setting through my speakers. The bottom is a roughly equivalent setting using headphones. I'm going to give a new set of headphones a chance this weekend and see if a better set will make me proud. Sadly, we didna get an extended warranty. Dumb, I know. But the wife wouldn't go for it... Quote
the white drew carey Posted February 5, 2004 Author Posted February 5, 2004 Oh yeah, the Pro Speakers use a smaller plug than reg'lar headphones. So that test ain't gonna fly. ewilen, I'm running OS X 10.3, but had the same issue when we had OS X 10.1 Quote
Dangard Ace Posted February 5, 2004 Posted February 5, 2004 Hmmm.....only thing left I can think of is that somebody set your EQ to -12db. Go to iTunes ->Window> EQ. Otherwise it may be time for a trip to the apple repair center. Quote
the white drew carey Posted February 5, 2004 Author Posted February 5, 2004 Nah. I checked that, too. All good. Quote
Jolly Rogers Posted February 5, 2004 Posted February 5, 2004 Visit a doctor, have your ear wax cleared out. Quote
ewilen Posted February 5, 2004 Posted February 5, 2004 Does the volume seem low only with iTunes, or also with Alert sounds, Quicktime movies, MIDI files, Speech, DVDs, etc? Quote
Opus Posted February 5, 2004 Posted February 5, 2004 You did try Apple's site, right? http://www.info.apple.com/usen/imac/ Quote
Oihan Posted February 5, 2004 Posted February 5, 2004 On the PC you have the option of disabling some of the sources, like CD-Digital, Line-In, Auxilary. Maybe there's an option like that on the iMac that's causing the volume to be low? My guess is that there's either something interferring with the output or it's defective. Quote
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