Curious computer issue

[Sheepy]

I've had this problem for a few weeks now, but really it's becoming a burden. Anyone I've asked about this hasn't been able to give me a straight answer. I had been having problems with my sound randomly cutting out on me; restarting would bring it back, but still, it was really annoying. I was told that I should uninstall my audio drivers and then have the system restore them, in case they had corrupted. Well, since I did that, I've noticed that neither my microphone or head phone ports have been working (thankfully I use a USB mic). I've tried three different sets of headphones, but nothing has helped.

What do I do? How can I fix this, since it makes recording rather difficult if I can't have any kind of audio feeding through without it leaking through my speakers and to my microphone.

[DarkAstar]

Well if there was any software that was with your audio drivers (like Realtek or Creative, etc. etc.) that program would be easily downloadable from the manufacturer's website. If your sound is just the built-in stuff on your motherboard, then usually there's no software, just drivers.

If not, and you have all of your drivers installed, then it could simply be that your sound card is ready to kick the bucket.


Good news is that getting a new sound card is simple. If you go that route, make sure to disable the drivers for your current sound before installing the new ones, or you could get a few conflicts.

[Sheepy]

I have a laptop, so getting a new sound card is... well, not so easy ._.

[AlexL55]

it could be the headphone jack. The jack on my compaq laptop broke after a few months. The headphones would only work if I said a little prayer and inserted the plug a certain way. Luckily it was still under warranty, so I got it fixed. Does the music cut out randomly when played back from the built-in laptop speakers? If not, then it's probably the headphone jack.

If it isn't the jack then it's probably the drivers. Dell's and Intel Mac's generally use Sigmatel Sound cards. HP and Compaq use Conexant. Other ones might use Realtek. Make sure there isn't an exclamation mark next to your sound card in the device manager.

For Laptops, you could just get a USB sound card. They can be as cheap as $10, but I'm not sure how the audio is gonna sound with those. Some people go the USB or Firewire audio interface route, which would probably give you the best quality, but those start at $150. Do some research and which one fits your budget.