Strange Problem

[bnot]

So I bought the Creative Fatal1ty HS-800 gaming headset a few days ago and it arrived today but I've been having a lot of problems with it. Firstly I cannot get the microphone to work for the life of me, I have been on Numerous Forums and even used the manufacturers knowledge base but I couldn't find anything that worked, plugging the microphone jack into the rear I/O has the same effect as plugging it into the front one. Secondly if I plug a USB device into a front USB port the headset will emit a sort of high pitched noise which will persist until the USB device is unplugged. Lastly the audio when gaming is reversed, for example something happening to the left of me will come out of the right headphone and vice versa. I think the cause of the last problem is somewhat related to this, I have a pair of speakers plugged into my rear I/O port which work fine. Not problems with them at all and the sound comes out how it should, if I open the Realtek control panel and test the right and left speakers they work correctly, but on the headset they are reversed I think if I was to configure the audio to work correctly on the headset it would interfere with my speakers somehow. If anybody here has any advice for me I would be glad to hear it.

 

[anwaypasible]

i would first tell you to go deep indepth with the realtek drivers.
seems like you have a 'headphone' setting that activates when you plug in the headphones.
there shouldnt be a feature in the drivers to allow you to 'map' the left channel to the left or right speaker.

do the headphones have the left/right backwards when you plug 'em into the back of the computer?
that would tell you right away if your headphone jack on the headphones are backwards.
you might want to send 'em back.. or you might want to keep 'em as a collectors item.

MAYBE you have the front audio jack plugged in backwards and you need to spin the connector around.

do you get a high pitched noise if the headphones are plugged into the back of the computer or only when plugged in at the front?

 

[bnot]

When facing the front I/O ports of my computer the pink input port is on the left and the green output port is on the right. If I spin the case around so I am facing the back the ports are the same as the front, Input left and output right. As for the high pitched noise I haven't tested them in the back but the sound only occurs when I have a USB device connected to the front USB ports, someone told me this could be caused by electrical interference?

 

[bnot]

Just to add some more information for you, I actually had to download and configure Realtek Control Panel just to enable the front I/O ports. The headset would only work in the rear ports until I did this.

 

[anwaypasible]

the front ports plug into the motherboard.
its usually a wire with a socket.
that socket simply slides over some pins.. its not impossible to slide the socket over the pins backwards.
you just need to unplug it.. flip it one time and plug it back in.

to do this, i would suggest you turn off the computer and flip the switch on the power supply.
if the power supply doesnt have a power switch.. unplug it or flip the switch on the power strip.

the noise is probably an electrical connection that isnt solid.

i have no experience with realtek or its control panel.. so i cant briefly help you.
either there is a control panel with the option to change the speakers around or there isnt.
i would look in the realtek software and if i couldnt find anything, i would flip the plug around.


the biggest concern i would like to know is if the headphones have the same left/right problem when connected to the rear of the computer.
you might have a very rare set of headphones that could be worth something to a collector.
those factories are automated and that kind of stuff simply does not happen unless manually programmed to do so.

how loud is the high pitched noise?
a very faint noise can be expected.. its a 'you get what you pay for' scenario.
pro audio equipment is designed so that those things are eliminated.
but if you purchase cheap or generic pro audio equipment, that problem might arise again.

i would have to assume your microphone is muted and/or not selected as the recording device.. which is why it doesnt work.
since you havent said anything about specifically flipping the mute button on/off .. i can further assume that my assumption is still rational.

 

[bnot]

I have plugged the headset back into the rear I/O ports and it fixed the issue of the sound coming out the opposite side. The microphone is still not working though and I'm certain it is unmuted. As for the high pitched noise it goes when I unplug the USB device from the front sockets. I do however have another issue with noise and the microphone. If I mute the microphone via control panel then my headset is dead silent, no interference from any source, but if I then unmute the microphone I get this faint constant sound. Also what exactly do you mean by sliding the socket over the pins backwards?

 

[anwaypasible]

that sound you are hearing is probably the high noise floor of the microphone.. also known as a signal to *noise* ratio

as for the front I/O panel
pull the wire and place it back in opposite position.

kinda like taking the tire off a car and flipping it around so the tire sticks out of the fender.

kinda like seeing the jack of clubs on the table.. lift it up and flip it around.. now you see the design of the card.

kinda like taking a cup of water and lifting it up.. flip it.. set it down and see all of the water spilled.

flip it essay~!

p.s.
you dont need the mic un-muted to use it.
the only time you dont mute the mic is when you want to hear yourself talk through the speakers.

should be a good lesson about background noise and how it can add to what the amplifier and speakers have to play.. which could make a normal situation more confusing, thus robbing you of detail and clarity.

 

[bnot]

After spending all night on forums I have good news, I have my mic semi working, I read a few people fixed the problem by simply disabling digital input from their audio control panel, only thing is my digital input wasn't showing up. After a while I managed to make it display and disabled it thus allowing me to use my mic. Which leads me to another problem. When recording my own voice to test the microphone I am always at the same noise level even if I turn up mic boost and all the options, also when I playback audio it only seems to come out of the right headphone which I assume is related to the output being reversed. I'll try flipping the ports around in the morning but now it is time for some sleep. I appreciate your help so far.

 

[anwaypasible]

weird that your mic isnt being recorded as mono.. but instead as stereo and only one speaker.

extra extra weird that your mic volume isnt changing when you adjust the slider.
kinda cute to hear that your realtek soundcard has a digital input.
sounds like it is one of them 'flexi-jack' options that has multiple uses.

i would say that your drivers are malfunctioning if you cannot adjust the microphone input volume.
and hearing that you can only hear your voice on one side after recording from the microphone only strengthens that malfunction.

most audio programs record the mic as mono.
you have to have a stereo file to seperate the left and right channels.

apologies i dont know two things about realtek.

i am curious though.. can you slide the volume all the way down and still hear audio from the microphone?
perhaps that is really really bad and goes along the same theory of bad soundcard drivers.

 

[bnot]

I opened my case and tried my best but there is no way I can reach the front I/O ports. I'll try the other things in the morning.

 

[anwaypasible]

well you should have found the wire and followed it back to the motherboard socket.

usually the case will have two usb ports in the front.. and that would make it easier to know which one is usb and which one is audio.
because if there are two usb ports.. you will have eight pins grouped together.

the audio 'header' will have four pins.

IF you can unplug the wires on the motherboard but dont know which one is which.. i'd say unplug it and try out the socket to see if it quit working.
would be one or the other.

i found a website that has some pictures to help you get a sense of what you are doing.

http/www.directron.com/installusb.html

 

[bnot]

Well I managed to switch them around but now my speakers make this annoying noise every 2 seconds or so, like somebody tapping on a window.

 

[bnot]

After spending most of my evening trying to fix this I finally have my audio situation somewhat stable.

I started by changing the wires and placing them into the ports in certain orders, the wires were:

Mic in
Mic Bias
Speaker L
Speaker R
Output L
Output R
Ground

After mixed results I decided to just place them in randomly until I reached a stable solution. I'm using a random setup with Mic Bias unplugged and here are my results:

2.0 Speakers working fine, no interference.
Headset:

Haven't tested in read I/O ports on this setup
Front I/O ports, left comes out of right, nothing comes out of right.
If I plug the headset into my speakers they work as they should, with left coming out of left and right out of yet. I haven't tested the mic yet.

 

[anwaypasible]

what motherboard do you have?
i will look up the pins.

i'm not gonna let you unplug the cords without helping you plug them back in correctly.

it sounds like you have the type of wires that slide over the pins one by one.. am i right?

if you dont know what the motherboard model number is.. maybe you could tell me the brand name of the computer and a model number.

 

[bnot]

I have this motherboard:

http/www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/mb/content.php?S_ID=362


As for the wires they're all connected in the same sleeve but they all separate at the end, instead of them being grouped together I had to plug them back in one by one.

 

[anwaypasible]

the manual says the audio header is at the very bottom and all the way to the left.

it says that the first pin on the left (BOTTOM) is pin number one
and it says that the first pin on the left (TOP) is pin number two
the sequence continues across the header.

1 Mic Left in
2 Ground
3 Mic Right in
4 GPIO
5 Right line in
6 Jack Sense
7 Front Sense
8 Key
9 Left line in
10 Jack Sense

the manual also says this:
Front Panel Audio Header
This header allows user to connect the front audio output cable with the PC front
panel. This header allows only HD audio front panel connector; AC’97 connector
is not acceptable.

i have went on to read this:

Audio Design Considerations
Front panel audio design in conjunction with motherboard audio header design is dependant upon
the type of audio CODEC being used on the motherboard. In the past, AC97 Integrated Audio
CODECs were prevalent. With the introduction of Intel High Definition Audio, many new
motherboard designs are switching over to High Definition (HD) audio CODECs. Designers
should note that AC’97 and Intel High Definition Audio front panel motherboards and I/O cards
implementations are different and may not be directly compatible or interchangeable


CAUTION
It is strongly recommended that motherboard designers only use Intel® HD Audio analog front
panel dongles with the Intel® HD Audio analog front panel header to insure that the jack detection
and dynamic re-tasking capability is preserved. Passive AC’97 analog front panel dongles (ones
which leave the 5V Analog pin-7 line unconnected on the dongle) may be used with the Intel® HD
Audio analog front panel header. But note that the front panel jack detection and re-tasking
functionality will be lost as the AC’97 jacks cannot support connection to the SENSE line. In
addition, software must be aware that an AC’97 dongle is being used with an Intel® HD Audio
analog header since the software might need to dedicate codec ports that are connected to the
header to meet the product’s intended functionality.

have a look at page 25 here:
http/www.formfactors.org/developer%5Cspecs%5CA2928604.pdf

it looks like your computer case has to have a special circuitboard for front panel audio.
and its kinda dumb because it looks like your motherboard case has to have a special circuitboard for ac'97 audio too.

i mean.. it appears to be something as simple as an 'automatic mute' that mutes the main speakers whenever you connect the headphones into the front panel.

but i am seeing that the ac'97 has two audio grounds.. and the intel HD audio only has one audio ground.

page 21 and 22 show the differences between the two.

you have clearly stated that your motherboard has the ac'97
and the motherboard manual says that your motherboard is intel HD audio.
it doesnt appear that they mix very well and i would disconnect them and plug the headphones into the main speakers.

apparently you need to hookup the ground wire to pin number two on the motherboard.
pin number two is the first pin on the left (TOP ROW)

then you need to hookup the left and right channels for the headphones.

output L goes on pin number nine.
pin nine is the last pin on the right (BOTTOM ROW)

output R goes on pin number five.
pin five is the pin directly in the middle (BOTTOM ROW)

this should be what you need to get left channel audio from the left speaker of the headphones.

**now the pins for your microphone**

looking at the differences between the pins.. it says that ac'97 has the second pin for microphone power or additional mic input for stereo mic.

that means MIC IN goes on pin number one.
pin one is the first pin on the left (BOTTOM ROW)

MIC BIAS goes on pin number three.
pin three is the second pin to the left (BOTTOM ROW)
...it is the pin right next to the MIC IN...

this should be enough to get your headphones and microphone working.

the reason why your microphone was recording at the same exact level is probably because the input of the soundcard was using 'line level' when it should have been using 'microphone'

i bet if you have a 'line level' volume slider, the volume will change.
seems like you turned the digital input off correctly, but have yet to change the analog input from line level to microphone.

i cant guarantee your microphone will work in the front panel without using the appropriate intel HD audio front panel circuit.
it might go straight through.. but it might not work because of the 'auto mute' feature.

the auto mute feature works by detecting something is plugged in because when you plug something in it makes two wires touch.
you cant simply touch two wires to activate the feature.. you need an actual circuit with pieces on the circuit board so you dont break something.

anyways.. you should be good to go.

got your pins hooked up right (i would stuff those other wires somewhere out of sight)
and tackled the only logical reason why your mic volume wasnt working.

 

[bugsbee]

m facing the same problem both sound are opposite wht comes frm left is actually coming frm right side in gaming !!! how u fixd ths ?? evn i hav a realtek manager !!!

 

[anwaypasible]

m facing the same problem both sound are opposite wht comes frm left is actually coming frm right side in gaming !!! how u fixd ths ?? evn i hav a realtek manager !!!

reversed output is then because of the wrong wires connected to the motherboard header.
i mean, the header might only fit one way.
but
that doesnt mean the wires that go into the little plastic connector are perfect.
rare mistakes happen.
people do odd things for attention.


you should be able to test the headphones with the realtek software.
if it happens then too.. you know you have some wires backwards.
and when the problem is only with video games.. and it isnt ONE video game that does it, then your computer most likely has an 'annoyance' virus.



the noise you hear when you plug the headphones in is because of the wires being poorly shielded.
very hard to find premium wires for that job.
some would be better than others obviously.. but it might be a part connected to the motherboard (or the motherboard itself) causing the electrical noise interference.
you could try to re-route the wire that goes to the front panel.
maybe pull it all out so that it is as far away from the motherboard as possible.

 

[bugsbee]

Today an engg came whn he plugd his headphones the sound were normal i mean right was giving right and left was givng left proper . bt my headphn is not , even my cousins headphns ! we hava an iball rocky headphone

so it seems thrs no problem with the connection of wires ?:S cuzz tht pc exprt pludgd his headphns n it was woking properly !

 

[anwaypasible]

well you can always get a headphone cord with a male connector and cut wires at the end, and put those wires backwards onto a female connector.
plugging in the headphones to that home made adaptor would flip the channels around.