HELP !! losing half my sound

[bobnf]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have my computer connected to my Denon 5800 to play my MP3 files. It is connected with an RCA cable. Single wire out of sound card splitting to the RCA cables into Denon.... I am only getting feed from the white...

Do I need a new sound card?

Thanks,
Bob

[Les Adams]

I presume the connector out of the back of the soundcard is a stereo mini-jack.

It is most likely a faulty lead which is easily rectified by getting a new one.

It could also be that the jack plug is making a poor connection to the socket on the soundcard, or the jack plug is not fully inserted. Play a track and give the plug a push and a little wiggle to see if the other channel appears. If it does momentarily and then disappears again, it is either the lead or the socket on the soundcard is damaged. If the socket is damaged, you will have to look to see if it can be replaced. If it can't then you will need a new card.

If neither of these brings back the channel, then it may be the soundcard itself, but in my experience of those awful little plugs, it is usually the lead or the connection.

It might also be worth checking the soundcard mixer settings to make sure you do not have the balance control set to one side.

One more word of advice. If you do need a new soundcard, get one that has RCA outputs. They are far more durable and make a much better connection.

Good luck.

[poneal]

you may want to check the playback settings on the computer to make sure that the left/right is centered between the two and not far left/right. I know it sounds silly, but if you have kids, anything can happen.

[sam9]

The other comments are all good things to check out. Here is one more. Which Soundcard output are you useing? Is it "line-out" or "headphone"? On some soundcards the "headphone" out is mono. Use "line out".

If you have a basic multimeter you chan first check the end to end continuity of the cable. If that is OK, plug one end into the soundcard, paly something and using the AC volts feature on the multimeter to check that there is a signal at the other end. If continuity was OK this means that either the soundcard or it's software has an issue.

BTW, those 3.5mm stereo jacks and plugs can be really funky. Consider the possability of a loose connection. A different cable might fix the problem. Or it may just not be pushed in all the way.

If you do all this and confirm that there is a signal asrriving at the RCA end of the cable then you need to look there for a bad connection.