Stereo Equalization Problems

[teddy510]

Hi,

I have had a very durable pair of Yamaha YST-MS50 Stereo + Sub Speakers for a few years now. I recently switched them with some cheap Dell 5.1 surround sound speakers to see how it sounded. After deciding the Yamaha speakers were better, I swapped them back. Now the "center" channel is quiet, which is weird seeing as these are stereo speakers. What I mean is that vocals in music are quiet (backing vocals are now about as loud as the original vocals), voices in game cutscenes and movies are quiet, etc. My computer obviously thinks there is still a center channel, even though I have set my sound settings back to stereo. In the levels adjustment panel for my speaker settings, all of the surround sound channels, such as center and RL and RR are still listed, and adjusting the center volume there doesn't have any effect. Any suggestions?

Edit:
I have a Dell XPS-720 with:
Windows 7 Home Premium
Onboard Intel Hi-Fi Integrated Audio
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 @ 2930 GHz
Nvidia GTX 260


Thanks in advance,
Teddy510

[Computer_Commando]

Setting Up and Using Your Computer



6
 side surround sound connector
 Use the (silver) side surround connector to attach additional speakers.
 
7
 center subwoofer/LFE connector
 Use the (orange) subwoofer connector to attach a single subwoofer.

NOTE: The LFE (Low Frequency Effects) Audio channel, found in digital surround sound audio schemes, carries only low frequency information of 80 Hz and below. The LFE channel drives a subwoofer to provide extremely low bass extension. Systems not using subwoofers can shunt the LFE information to the main speakers in the surround sound setup.
 
8
 surround sound connector
 Use the (black) surround sound connector to attach multichannel-capable speakers.
 
9
 line-in connector
 Use the (blue) line-in connector to attach a record/playback device such as a cassette player, CD player, or VCR.

On computers with a sound card, use the connector on the card.
 
10
 line-out/headphone connector
 Use the (green) line-out connector to attach headphones and speakers with integrated amplifiers.

On computers with a sound card, use the connector on the card.
 
11
 microphone connector
 Use the (pink) microphone connector to attach a personal computer microphone for voice or musical input into a sound or telephony program.
 

[teddy510]

Thank you for your reply Computer_Commando,

The speakers only get proper input from the Line-Out connector (number 10). Before posting this topic I tested every other connector for any form of output and only the Line-Out works. The speakers are hooked up properly and exactly the same way as before I tried the surround speakers. Still no dice.

Thanks,
Teddy510

[Computer_Commando]

Are you sure the sub is plugged into the right speaker & the sub is turned on?
My sub gets AC power & provides DC power to the right speaker which proves power to the left speaker.



Mine looks like these:


[recovering disk space - old attachment deleted by admin]

[teddy510]

Yep, everything is plugged in correctly. I'm pretty sure it's something to do with the sound settings... even though I have everything set to stereo, my computer isn't letting go of the "center channel." I have my left and right channels as always, but there is sound that plays from both that shouldn't be, and that is what is very quiet. It's a weird issue and tough to explain.

[Computer_Commando]

The large center speaker is a subwoofer.  You only hear very low frequencies from it, if your hearing is still intact.  You will not hear vocals through it.

[teddy510]

What I mean is that it's almost as if there is still a center speaker right under my monitor playing very quietly in comparison to my left / right. my left / right are at normal volume and my sub is providing bass in good proportion to the sound, but when my computer plays movie voices, music vocals, game cutscenes etc, it's very quiet as those are usually played through the center speaker. Like my computer is still trying to play through a center speaker which is no longer hooked up. Before i tried the surround sound speakers, my computer played everything normally, but even though I have reset my sound settings to stereo presets, the sound is scewed up.

Edit:

Imagine playing your favorite rock song, and both guitars are loud, but you only kinda hear the vocals in the background, even though they should be loud and in front, or watching a movie and turning the sound up to hear a dialogue sequence only to turn it down when an action scene begins.

[patio]

Imagine playing your favorite rock song, and both guitars are loud, but you only kinda hear the vocals in the background, even though they should be loud and in front, or watching a movie and turning the sound up to hear a dialogue sequence only to turn it down when an action scene begins.

What music source are we talking about here ? ?
To test any sound builds i work on i always use Terminator2 DVD.