Phaenius

Care to share what you believe ? Sure, I will post impressions "the job". It will be done probably on Wednesday.

bphlpt, I noticed problems suddenly, because I started using the sound card's headphones output suddenly. Otherwise, I might have not noticed it. jaclaz, I don't know what you are talking about SATA and ISA and insertions. I kept the computer suspended in mid air while moving, using my Jedi powers.

It's a long shot. Moving the car from one place to another each day can cause disruptions in the electrical systems ? Not to mention cars suffer heavy exploits, like weather changing and mechanical shocks. I didn't said it didn't happened, but it has a low to zero probability.

Yes, but weird, isn't it, ONLY to audio ? Everything else works peachy. I avoided mentioning the moving because first I don't think it is of much importance and second, I was SURE you would blame that.

I know, but those programs are too complicated and didn't provide easy steps in how to do things. It implies you already know what to do.

I can't rule out the sound card, since it sounds bad via headphones, unless all headphones are faulty (quite unlikely). Besides, what can go wrong inside a headphones set ? They only have basically 2 electric devices, 2 coils. Passive components. They can either have a mechanical failure (coil rubbing the magnets or membrane broken) or a wire failure due to excessive heat melting the isolation or simply discontinuity. Not the case. Why do I say it sounds better via receiver and passive speakers ? Because somehow they tend to "enhance" the sound somehow, both receiver and active speakers have all sorts of filters, EQs and so on, a set of headphones doesn't have. Plus, headphones are connected in close vicinity of your ears, you spot faults easier. I didn't test the receiver extensively at all sounds and levels and sources, because so far, I didn't have to. When I bought the card, I plugged it into computer, connected the headphones on front panel, it worked fine, then connected the sound card to receiver and I used headphones on receiver, it sounded even better, perfect (to my likening) I should say. Then I moved and unpacked the computer at first, without receiver, passive speakers (which are big and heavy) and other big devices and decided to use the front panel sound headphones plug on the sound card for a while. Result was bad, somehow, during my listening via receiver, sound card went bad (and I failed to notice). Or perhaps during the moving of computer. So, I stopped using receiver and passive speakers to avoid inflicting damage to it. I bought this set of active speakers and connected to the coaxial output. I know the thread title is about "capping", but I am more concerned at the moment about the general sound I am getting via headphones, more than capping. I am sure the active speakers were faulty when I bought them, with this limitation of sound somewhere. If the capping is happening inside the active speakers, at least one problem is solved. Maybe they simply fail to supply the amplifier with enough current to withstand "heavy" passages of music, I really don't know. Not three sets of headphones, 5 sets, Sennheiser, AKG, Philips, Samsung and Sony. But let us wait until I will clean the card and try to do the best I can in replacing ribbon cable, moving to another slot, whatever I can and report the results. It is clear as it stands, nothing can be done without a direct action to sound card. I would have LOVED to have (and/or to know how to use it) a software program that could detect imperfections in DACs or analogue amplifiers. Something like generating some predefined sounds and prompting me to watch some sine waves on a software oscilloscope and notice if the visual waves stay within normal limits. I am fearful the card may have a voltage leakage somewhere that mixes with the "correct" sound.

I think you are making a too much case out of it. Have this washed has the same meaning as wash this. There is an example of "have this washed" in my latest posted pic.

Well, I am Romanian. As a fun fact, on old wagons, we still have the signs in 3 languages: - Nu va aplecati pe fereastra (Romanian) - roughly translated into "Don't lean on the window" (without please, in the communist era, authorities never said please) - E pericoloso sporgersi (Italian) (without "dal finestrino") - Nicht hinauslehnen (German) In fact, i don't know where you added "dal finestrino" (which I know it means on the window, Romanian and Italian are somehow similar, I understand about 90% of the spoken Italian), but nowhere have I seen this. http://www.teknemedia.net/esposizioni/2008/TKimg4868e65551824.jpg http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4x95ifMT0zY/TM4mgMh16WI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/LXgm3u5bp98/s1600/E+pericolo+2.jpg http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2153/2190765498_1f2d2a4124.jpg http://lesautrefois.blog50.com/media/00/01/1870295672.JPG http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4x95ifMT0zY/TM4o26F3cAI/AAAAAAAAAPU/kB1mjMRpJM8/s1600/semn+pericolo.jpg

Well, God said "Let there be light" and there was light. Isn't this some form of imperative ? How that phrase sound in Italian ?

If speakers are faulty to some extend (ONLY the capping problem, because otherwise they sound fine), and as you say, it doesn't manifest on receiver/passive speakers, why sound card sounds bad on headphones ? As I said, there are actually 2 problems, one the capping (manifesting in active speakers mostly, I am not totally ruling out a sound card problem on this matter as well, since active speakers doesn't "cap" that much on the other on-board card, but they still do), and one the "bad" sound, distorted to some extend, metallic, lacking consistence and richness. Hard to described but that's how it's sounds. It's not a warm, pleasant sound anymore. This is mostly seen on headphones, since both active speakers and receiver/passive speakers combination have their own way to "soften the sound" somehow, plus you can't discover imperfections in sound at a distance the same way you find out using headphones. I tested several headphones on the sound card, they all manifest in the same way. But Sennheiser are the best phones I have, so the rest are not that good (a pair of AKG-66, a pair of Philips and two sets of in-ear Samsung and Sony). It's that bad I stopped using the Creative sound card for the time being, I am using the on-board (cheap and not so good, but working) Realtek HD. All-in-all, next week I will do the "surgery" and see if I can resuscitate the patient. At least I will have something concrete in my hands. It's like in real surgery, painful as it is, cutting the patient open can offer more information than theorizing.

OK, you (and you alone) are kindly asked to stop giving me further advice or assistance. I had enough coming from you and I don't think I did anything to deserve it. You are not funny. You crossed a certain border, it's not the first time. Jaclaz, I think there is an equivalent in Italian. Otherwise, how could Italians would translate the famous Cpt. Piccard's "Make it so !"

I said I won't reply on this thread until I will open and clean the card, but I see you replied on my latest post and I feel somehow obliged to reply. Just some quick words, though. bphlpt Thank-you for a very nice post. You pointed out things very accurately. Problems with the Creative sound card deteriorated progressively, not at once. That's the worse kind. When things start to slowly degrade, so slowest the decay, the worst. You adapt and when you realize something is definitely wrong, it's well stuck and hard to isolate. I think it's most likely a hardware issue. As you pointed out, same albums that worked in the past, now don't, players are more or less the same (I upgraded to latest versions, but don't suspect them, I believe it would sound the same with the old version as well), OS is now Windows 7 (it was Vista when I bought the card), but again, it worked for a while under Windows 7. Card worked correctly on all outputs (digital coaxial and optical, analogue and headphones on front panel). It didn't distort, not cap, not metallic sound, had a powerful and clear sound. Now, everything I do, I can restore it. submix8c Let's take the premise that (apart for the ribbon cable between card and front panel which will be replaced with a better one) cables are good and everything else is susceptible. I don't know if you are mocking me with the cables, you keep insisting with that and other experiences with professional equipment not related to my case and which most of it I don't understand. Cables are good, it's for the last time I will mention that, they conduct, they make good contact. I will leave out possibilities close to 0 probability, otherwise I could suspect every single soldering on the sound card or each wire on the ribbon cable. My equipment is not professional, not even close. But, for a regular user, I believe it is a decent one. Bottom line is it's not something fancy (I can't afford it), but definitely not a piece of junk. It should work better than now. And it did for a while. Next week I will do "the job". If won't be successful in my trying, I should try and buy a new card. God knows what, since it looks Creative failed me. I could go for another X-Fi Creative, an Asus Sonar of some kind of M-Audio, I read people saying they are good. Bad things about M-Audio is they don't have front panels to accommodate all sort of digital inputs and outputs (I forgot to mention, I use the input of this sound card to pass some other equipment through it as well) and no headphone connector.

No. I hope you are not making fun of me, that wouldn't be nice. My problem is real and I AM trying to solve it. That's what I am trying to do. To find out what caused the problems, then solve them, I told it so many times. So far, the only thing left to do is put out the card, clean it and inspect it visually. Not an easy thing to do, neither of you know the lack of space or workbench I have (plus other inconvenient things), but I say I will do it and I will. I know it has to be done. I will NOT post anything more until I will clean the card and inspect it. I wanted to some posts ago, but people keep posting and I feel the need to reply. I don't have a cooperative friend, not a friend at all. So, I can't test the card in another system, all the testing must be done on my system. Depending on the money I will have (not right away), I intend to upgrade the motherboard, CPU and memory, so then, I will basically have another system. [sigh] 1. Yes, I did. Check thread. 2. I can't. Beer alone won't do the trick, unless I plug the speakers in the can. Please, don't speculate. 3. Cable IS good. Front panel I don't know, but I assume it is. 4. This I didn't say. You are speculating. There are several things that could be wrong on this connection. Sound card, front panel, active speakers' DAC, active speakers' amplifier. Basically everything EXCEPT the cable. What on earth could be wrong with the cable ? The only things required for a cable are to make good contact (it does), to have a good consistency throughout all it's length (no reason to suspect) and to be able to withstand the amount of current/data transferred (oh yeah, good, thick cable). It active speakers would be blown, I wouldn't be able to hear anything from them, don't I ? You in particular don't like me much, constantly mocking me, instead of trying to read what I repeatedly wrote in my trying, so please stop. Please bare in mind that all through this thread I kept a decent tone, although I was put under some degree of mocking. You might close the thread, but my problem is real, I was seeking help, I tried (and still do) to follow the advice under my own pace and the best I could (can). I didn't trolled, not trying to waste time. jaclaz once said you people are not having problems with your computers. Thank God for that. My computer is also working fine, apart from the sound issue. But bad things can strike to anyone at any time, in any area, sometimes it is a pain in the butt to find the problem and repair it, mine is a super easy one if I would have a lot of money (I don't), simply replace everything there is on the chain with new parts. But that would mean a very inefficient way of solving the problems.

I did. I will. I can't. I could swear there was another post between mine and yours.

As pointed out many many times (I might as well type it with the maximum font size for anyone to get it): - I don't want to prove anyone wrong. - I don't want to fight anyone. - I don't want to waste anyone's time and appreciate the time taken to give any advice. - I am not ruling out any solution just because it sounds stupid to me, without checking and double checking other sayings. - I will clean the card. It's a long shot, very little chance of solving anything, but it does make sense and I will do it. - I just want to figure out what is wrong. As I believe it is, for some reason (capacitors or anything else), card is pretty much gone (I hope it isn't, but I fear it is), but want to understand what happened and to prevent anything like this happening again (to figure out if the card, if faulty, malfunctioned on it's own or another component or my settings damaged it, in which case something similar may happen to another card). bphlpt: 1. I can rule out my ears' possible problem, since I can hear out sounds from surroundings just fine, also other equipment I find in audio showrooms. 2. Source CAN be a problem, since I repeatedly said CDs are working better than MP3 or FLAC. Don't know why, since at least FLAC should be so close to original sound. 3. Software could be a problem, but the same software is working ok to so many people using it, so I can safely rule that out too. 4a. Unlikely. Speaker doesn't limit sound the way I am experiencing. A faulty or bad speaker, when over driven, will distort because of the membrane out of range capabilities or mechanical friction or whatever. And it's happening at high volumes and/or in excess of low frequencies. Also, too much treble can melt the twitter's wires. But again, it's not the case. 4b. (this also applies to submix8c) Please, rule this out. While in theory this could be a reason, I'll put my neck on it it's not the cables. Cables do make good contact, are not interrupted, can transport a lot of current. The only problem can be with the ribbon between the card and the front panel (which I know you all hate). 4c. No. CD drive (actually DVD drive) outputs digital sound. I have 4 units. They ALL get the same digital output. 4d. This is way to vast. Sound card is part of the computer for instance. Do you meant motherboard ? 4e. Most likely. I know you don't understand what I am referring as "capping". It may be clipping (technically defined), or can be something else. But, as I said many times, there are actually 2 problems, one is the clipping, I can isolate this in my active speakers, since it's mostly manifesting there (although active speakers work pretty good and don't "cap" with the on-board sound on board) and the second one is the "metallic" sound, lacking any clarity, consistence, it's not the warm, crystal clear sound I got when I bought the Creative sound card. Something went wrong. I described somehow the "capping". When medium and high frequencies are playing alone, it outputs ok. When bass comes into play, especially at higher volumes, medium and high frequencies get modulated after bass. I mean, if a singer is playing a single note for instance and on top of it, a rhythmic bass is playing at the same time, singer's voice oscillates in the rhythm of the bass. This is more noticeable when bass is strong or amplified itself. I know bass somehow drives a speaker so to speak and influences the other frequencies, but not to such extend. Also, if I am raising volume very high, I am not getting much acoustic pressure when bass is on. Sound just caps. Speakers are 30 watts each, I should be shaken a bit at high volume, I am not. With receiver and passive speakers (100 watts each), I am clearly experiencing powerful sound, but I am reluctant to use them, unless I solve the sound problem. Yes, I don't have knowledge of how to test the cards, via oscilloscopes and all. I do have 2 cards I can connect and I can generate signal from one and trace it via software oscilloscope onto the other. But I don't know how. I wanted to know if there is a battery of tests, well explained step by step as in what to generate and what to expect on the other card. All-in-all, I am not a moron. I know what damage a bad connection or double EQ-ing can do to sound. But I also know if a card is defective and doesn't output a good "base" sound to work with, no EQ in the world or volume setting can make a good sound out of it. I don't think it's the settings. I do believe it's a hardware failure of some kind. I've been changing software codecs, tried various players, even tried live CDs, with their own drivers, nothing works. I will clean the card and will save money to buy another one in the end. My only fear is, since I wasn't able to isolate what caused the failure in the first place, it may happen to the new card, sure, not at once, but in not such a long time (a few months). I mean, I am sure a faulty motherboard for instance can damage the other add-in cards. Bad settings can also short the life of a sound card and any other audio equipment. It's just I haven't been able to figure it out what went wrong and why. My hope is if card is indeed faulty, it was on it's own and not other things related. submix8c: Ordinary computer sound cards don't have a true analogue line-out so to speak. Or at least, not a standard one. To the front speakers, you can connect either a set of active speakers, an external amplifier or a pair of headphones. Each one of course has it's own impedance and expect a different output, so don't know how sound card can "feed" all those from the same output. It's even mentioned in the manual a pair of headphones can be connected to that connector. So, no adapter needed. Sure, the (much hated by you) front panel has a much more adapted 6.3 mm plug for standard headphones. My Sennheiser (http://www.sennheiser.co.uk/uk/home_en.nsf/root/private_headphones_audiophile-headphones_005343) have 50 ohm impedance. So, I wasn't wrongfully connecting the headphones, it was just to test the card without the front panel. It looks like sound isn't adapted for headphone use at the back. Unfortunately, Creative doesn't release much technical (or rather useful) data to public, so I don't know the voltages and impedance each socket operates.

In the end, I can't ignore the bad quality of sound. Sound isn't clear, regardless of the clipping, which occur on active speakers mostly, it's not a 100% exact feedback, ears are subjective to all sort of equations (the "richness" of sound and instruments used, bass levels, volume, type of music, etc.), but as I noticed it's mostly on the active speakers (what I think is clipping, since I cannot putt my finger that what I am referring as "capping" is actually defined is clipping). "low" is subjective. How low is low ? But I did set the volume low and very low. What did I get ? At very low volumes, I couldn't hear any clippings, since I almost hear no sound at all, because of the very low volume. At low volumes, yes, I did hear some limitations. I do believe I actually have two problems, one with the sound card, the other with the active speakers. In the end, I wanted to know if is safe until I replace the sound card to continue using it, or it could inflict damage to whatever amplifier I may use or possibly to motherboard or headphones if I plug them on. By the way, I didn't found any EQ in Windows Media Player (mentioned at #2). And I specifically stated that problems do occur at music recorded at high levels and/or with many instruments and mostly bass in it, so music that consumes a lot of power. Songs recorded at low volumes or having few instruments at once (only voice or easy on bass, etc.) sound ok concerning the clipping. Of course, they still do not sound ok because of the distortions, but at least they don't clip (or whatever is the phenomena I am encountering). Bad language taken aside, a cable at those frequencies and those voltages and current can either conduct or not. In other words, I would get interruptions if defective. I am not. The possibility of a good, reasonable cable to be defective as long as it wasn't DOA or suffered heavy operation conditions (which isn't the case in my situation) is very low to nonexistent. In other words, you can use that cable for a loooooong time and still work. What makes me sure my cables are good ? I assume they are. There is no reason to doubt them. If you start to suspect anything, even remotely, you will get nowhere. (can't find the MANUAL...) If the SWITCH in back changes from Analog<->Digital IT could be bad!!! Use ONE only!After all of this digging, I would say you DO have Pro Sound Equipment. I'll stop quoting now, to save space. So, for the rest of it, I will comment flat: No, front panel isn't absolutely necessary to test the line out at the back. But the front panel is most convenient to me at the moment, because of the facilities it offers. But I did tested from the back. In addition, I nearly destroyed my headphones when plugged in (out of curiosity), because of the impedance. About updating the drivers. Don't bet or you'll lose. I tested a lot of drivers, I specified many times. From card's drivers, shipped on CD, through latest from Creative and ending with Daniel K's modified drivers. How did I connected the active speakers ? Easy. Creative sound card has a digital coaxial output and the speakers have a digital coaxial input. It's the same way how I connect to any amplifier that has a digital coaxial input. Active speakers have a digital selector, switching from analogue to digital inputs. All in all, I will find the courage and take everything apart these days and try to clean them as good as I can. I will replace the cable from sound card to front panel and I will try to move the card into another slot. If all this fails and still distorts, I think it's safe to say the card has a problem.

Yes. I don't understand what you meant above. Except what ? "this" is referring to what ? If I don't use Winamp, what shall I use ? I need a player to play music. And I am using one connection into the active speakers. Even though active speakers have 2 inputs, those are used alternatively, not both at once. Speakers have an input selector. Heed - now that's a new word to me, I learned something today. About gaining. I cannot adjust gain, other then based on my ears. When I get no clipping and distortions, I assume gain is ok. You keep insisting on gain. But I think it's ok. Do you believe I am setting something wrong ? Tell me the volume levels and I set them accordingly. Again, my equipment is not a professional one. And my cables are ok, good cables, big, thick, good shielded, gold plated connectors, general good quality, problem isn't from cables. Also, apart from various other cards inside computer, there is no source of electromagnetic perturbation in the area. To some extend, I suspect them of having some issues, but not clearly what. When connected to the motherboard built-in audio card, the clipping (capping, whatever) is much lower, so, logically, I'll say Creative sound card may have something to say in all this. Yes, with receiver, sound is much better, but I fear to use it, since I don't know if sound card is ok. I mean, I'm not clearing it yet. It used to sound fine when just plugging headphones into it (designated headphones output on front panel). Now it sounds horrible there. Via receiver, still sounds good, but not quite as it was some time ago. But clearly better. Since it worked before on both receiver and on sound card and now it's only working ok on receiver, I suspect something went wrong with the card. Maybe DAC inside the card is faulty, I don't know. On receiver I only connected via optical plug, although it does have a coaxial socket as well. However, on active speakers I connected via coaxial (still bypassing the DAC) and doesn't sound good. Definitely will need to clean it and replace the ribbon cable, a long shot, but if I do have a bullet on my gun, no matter how far the target, I stil have a chance, huh ?

No, that curry spice will only add more granules. Don't think all that cleaning substances are that different. I'm sure a lot of it is just marketing propaganda.

They'll do anything just to add a letter and taking you more money from your wallet. Same applies to compressed air spray cans. I found one with about 3 euros. I read all sort of theories about them as well. I intended to clean the contacts with this: Universal lotion.

Too expensive. How about this, found at a local store at about 2.75 euros ?

It is said that what you don't know can't hurt you. Now you made me worry again, jaclaz. I fear I have might tightened the screws too hard. Also, the contacts between PCB, head and motor were so corroded, I wonder how it works. But it does.

bphlpt, you do make good points. Yes, I am fighting cleaning the card, although, yes, I am aware that dust cannot be a friend, but rather a foe. I am resisting taking out the card (although, I will do it these days for sure), because computer is heavy, mounted in a tight space and don't have much space to take every piece apart. You can be sure when I do this, it won't be just the sound card, I will put out everything and clean it (with the exception of processor - I am afraid not to break a pin, those must be ultra-super molded by now due to heat and the power supply, which is sealed and it's 4 months old anyway). Another thing I am reluctant to clean the computer is the [cough cough] dust I will inhale and, no matter how careful I will be, will deposit everywhere inside the room). But yes, I will [big sigh] clean the card. On this occasion, I will replace the factory ribbon, with a twisted, shielded, cable, can't hurt. Also, I will put an extra power line to the card (not needed, but can't hurt, I think). Card has already a plug. Will try to switch the card to another PCI slot, maybe it'll help. At the moment, it's close to a HDD controller. There aren't many spaces left, it's either close to the HDD controller or close to the video card. **** the screwless computer cases. While the case is ultra heavy and thus providing a good ground, lack of a screw fixing the boards to the case, sure doesn't help. Those cases are easy to work with, but from an electrical point of view, may not look the best solution. Will see if I can fix the boards with some screws. As you pointed out, all those are long shots, but it can help. Of course I tried other software players. Results are partial similar, partial different, I believe it's not much the programs, most are merely shells, what counting are codecs, filters, and so on. But I tried VLC, which has it's own codecs and filters. So, I can't give you a clear yes or no on this question. Let's say results are more similar. About the chain. Of course I am not using receiver + speakers simultaneously with active speakers. Now I am using the active speakers, those are cheaper than receiver + passive speakers, so it won't hurt so much if, by some incorrect usage or defect, sound card will damage it. But yes, you are right, as I said before, it sounds much better with receiver + speakers. I think receiver, with it's settings (plus the 5 speakers with 3 ways on each column) somehow "repairs" the sound somehow, in the fact that flaws are not so distinctive noticeable. But I don't use it, since I do believe there is something wrong with the card and I'm afraid to not damage receiver + speakers. Why do I say it could be something wrong with the card ? Because, I will simplify more the chain, by taking out even the active speakers from the chain and leaving the shortest possible chain, that is winamp, sound card (outputing from the back) and headphones. Headphones cannot clearly distort sound to such extend, there are reasonably good headphones (Sennheiser HD595), who sound good connected to receiver. Well, connected at the rear, sound is bad, it's metallic and like coming out of a bucket. Trying to enhance the sound with card's "goodies" (like sumbix8c said) improves the quality a bit, but not that much. I mean, if sound is outputted wrong, you can't do much. Those goodies can't turn a frog into a prince by magic. So, at the moment, I will leave the active speakers' problem alone, trying to isolate a potential problem with the sound card. I believe there are actually 2 problems, one in the active speakers (there are cheap and other people complained about the model, not necessarily my problem, but in general) and one in the card. I read many reviews and (I believe some unbiased ones), plus impressions from users and people are generally pleased with my sound card model. And I was up to some time ago. At the moment, I don't have a 3.5 mm jack - RCA adapter, to plug active speakers at the back and using coaxial output at the back, so I am only connecting the speakers on coaxial via the front panel only (it has a RCA socket). I can only connect the active speakers to the back of the sound card, via analogue output, but this adds an additional DAC to the chain. Of course, it will bypass the active speakers DAC. I don't have a way of testing the sound card onto another system, unfortunately. I can only assume it will manifest the same symptoms. It worked in my system before. As for a second sound card, I do have the on-board sound card, who is by definition a cheap card, so you can't ask much of it. But the "capping" is much reduced when connected to active speakers. It's seem to be a totally tangled situation, that's why I try to simplify it. You can bet I did turned this issue on all possible faces. After all, I am living with it and it hurts me to not being able to listen to music properly. I installed sound card's drivers, Windows generic and Daniel K's modified drivers. Without effect. They sound pretty much the same. Just some "goodies" added here and there. No one is more curious than me in finding the problem. Thanks for the hints. Bottom line is, do you suggest amplifying the signal progressively working towards the end of the chain ? Because now, the Winamp internal volume is at 75%. If I set lower and try to raise the volume from Windows and/or active speakers, it doesn't go up much, I may end up turning all the knobs at maximum and not getting much. So, Winamp must be set at a reasonably high setting. Look at the picture bellow. The white and grey bars are pulsating when music is playing. Why there are 2 bars ? Green one is always smaller and they pulsate together. Could this be one for Winamp and the other for general output ? Grey bar can go way up to the end and never distort, while if the green one is going above half, clipping and even distortions occur.

Look, I don't know where do you have the idea of me fighting or arguing with you. This is not a debate, this is me trying to figure out what is wrong with my components. It's not a game of who knows more. I have a pretty good idea about basics in sound, of course I am not an sound engineer, but at a common user level, I have a pretty good idea. Point me where I was arguing with you. Several times I said I am not contesting, debating or arguing and I thanked all for suggestions or advice. Returning to my problem, I am NOT double EQ-ing. I said it countless times, Winamp EQ is flat, preamp at 0. I don't have EQ or bass/trebble on my active speakers, so I am using EQ from sound card mixer. It's in the middle of the chain, but it's the farthest down the chain. And I am not using insane levels, just to add some "taste" to otherwise dull sound, because as it's now, it's sounding like coming from a bucket. You are talking about professional mixers and charts and soever. I am merely using a software 10 band graphical EQ. So, all those charts and professional stats are fine tuning. I said it, if you have a basic sound that sounds bad, distorted, you can't do much with EQs, filters and so on. Not at least at amateur level. That's what I am trying to say. If you put a perfectly working card in a computer and connecting to a good equipment, but leaving everything at default, no EQ, no enhancements, no bass-treble, no filters, etc., it may sound dull and lacking a certain feel of power or touch, but it won't sound bad or distorted. In my case, it kinda does. So again, since you accused me of not listening: 1. I am NOT NOT NOT NOT using Winamp's EQ. 2. I understood the principle on non double EQ-uing. I am using now ONLY as a last resort, otherwise I would have used the correct path. 3. I understood the principle of low and high frequencies and the fact that low ones consumes more power, that can drain from other. But if I set the volume too high, it will most likely distort, not oscillate like I was playing with the amplifier volume. 4. I would love to know how to see the signal on an oscilloscope, but sadly, I don't know how to even operate one. I downloaded some software oscilloscopes and I do have 2 sound cards, but again, I don't know how to use the program. To technical for me. About setting the EQ. You suggest me lowering the low and high frequencies ? Because I am doing the exact opposite now. Without this, music sounds horrible. Again, tell me where I am going wrong, because I have the feeling you believe I am doing the settings wrong and I don't know where. So, what am I doing wrong, in your opinion ? Please use basic terms and settings I have, not professional ones, in other words, something that I CAN do with my equipment.

Just a small update (still haven't read the links): I remember someone here telling me to set the Winamp level to maximum and everything else to maximum and working only with the end volume. This kinda contradicts your theory, submix8c. You said to progressively raise the volume towards the end of the chain.

i CAN"T ! It sounds horrible without. You are right on a correct chain, where everything is running ok. What does GAIN mean ? What is FRONT of the chain ? Do you mean I should set the volume low starting from the beginning and raise it as it approaches final amplification ? I am not stupid. I know the basics, I know what are you saying. But I do believe speakers are at fault and amplifier is clipping due to a faulty circuit (possible some chip that controls the digital volume). As I said, it doesn't manifest on AV receiver, but I am reluctant to use it, because it's more expensive and I'm afraid not to break it, if sound card is defective. Here the manufacturers have their own fault, they induced too many volume options in the chain and furthermore, they didn't quite respect some basics. I mean, a line out is a line out, roughly at 1 Vcc / 500 KHz (or so). How can you output phones, amplified speakers and even normal amplifiers with high input impedance and low voltage from the same 3.5 jack for instance ? Again, how can you set the volume on digital output ? You should only have ONE volume, at the end of the chain, the rest should have only a preamp volume. But here, there are several blocks that amplifies each other, without much restriction. I will read the second part of your post and will reply later. I think I get it. I believe you don't get it what I am trying to say. I am not a total moron. But I believe sound card, NO MATTER WHAT I DO OR SET, it's faulty. All the enhancements (EQ's, filters, so on) can enhance sound, but it cannot clean much if this is faulty in the first place. So, at this moment we have 2 situations: 1. Sound card is faulty, in which case you can't do much. (maybe cleaning will help to some extend, but I doubt it) 2. Sound card is wrongly set or the audio chain is badly setup. This is questionable, since the same chain worked before, but sound degraded in time. I will check the links later. I do appreciate the time trying to help. Thanks.