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What to do if the headphones start playing quietly. Why is one earbud louder than the other? One of the headphones is quieter

By inserting earcups into the ears, a person can completely isolate himself from the outside world, focusing only on his favorite sounds. Without fear of disturbing others, you can safely turn up the volume to the maximum limit and enjoy musical compositions. But one day the sound of your favorite melodies may become weaker, even if the volume control is set to maximum. Finding the reason for this may not be easy even for a specialist. And even more so, few people know what to do if the headphones start playing quietly.

Technical reasons for sound deterioration

Before blaming the accessory, it is necessary to carry out a simple check to determine the cause of the malfunction. You need to connect to another source: if you were listening from a phone, then you should see how the headphones behave on a computer. If the sound returns to normal, then the problem is not in the headset, but in the settings on the phone. But if even when connected to other sources there is still a quiet sound in the headphones, then the reasons for the malfunction are purely technical in nature.

Contact inside the plug

The plug (also called a jack) is the weakest link in any wired device. Due to the fact that the accessory is often connected and disconnected through it, it most quickly fails. From increased load, as well as from bends, the wire inside the jack may fray. As a result, the device begins to wheeze and stutter.

Considering that literally all manufacturers produce their headphones with a molded case in the plug area, there can be two repair methods:

purchase a collapsible jack and re-solder the contacts on your own (if you have the knowledge and experience);
contact the service center.

The workshop can charge a decent amount for such minor repairs, since unscrupulous repairmen understand that the user will agree to relatively small expenses in order not to buy new headphones because of a broken plug.

One earbud is quieter than the other

The worst reason that one earphone plays quieter than the other could be speaker demagnetization. This kind of damage cannot be repaired.

Important! If the volume of one of the headphones decreases as a result of demagnetization of the speaker, this indicates that the purchased accessory is a low-quality fake. Such malfunctions are excluded from branded manufacturers.

When one earbud is louder than the other, it may be in a broken wire at the soldering points with the driver(speaker). This situation may arise due to savings on production, but the reason for the flimsy soldering is most likely another: European environmental standards have banned the use of a large list of substances and components due to their harmfulness to the environment. Therefore, the quality of soldering has dropped even from the most branded manufacturers. In this case, two repair methods are also possible, similar to a faulty plug.

Cable break

If a long wire is subjected to a destructive external influence (for example, being run over by the wheels of a chair several times), the headphones will stop working. This will lead to a guaranteed break inside the cable, which is fraught with the need to completely replace it.

Advice! Such breaks may not be visually noticeable and may not even be palpable with your hands. Therefore, if you do not have special equipment at home for ringing the cord, it is recommended to contact a service center.

Water inside the device

If music plays quietly in the headphones after the user has been in the rain or accidentally dropped the accessory into any liquid, this indicates that water has flowed into them. If you don’t immediately turn off the gadget and start drying it, you can soon lose the device: oxidation from moisture will eventually cover such an area that repair will no longer be possible, and the headphones will have to be thrown away. Even vacuum devices are not immune from such a nuisance.

The headset should be dried near a heat source. For this purpose, you can use a hot battery or heater. You need to wait until the moisture inside has completely evaporated. The drying process can be long and take up to 2-3 days (with a margin). However, to ensure that the device is completely dry, you must be patient.

Important! Under no circumstances should the accessory be placed directly on the battery. Excessive heat will cause the insides of the device to become completely unusable.

In the summer, you can use “grandmother’s” method: put headphones damaged by moisture in a bag of uncooked rice. This grain has a unique ability to absorb all the moisture from nearby objects.

Plug socket at the sound source

Failure of contacts in a plug socket is a rare but possible failure. The reasons for this may be: poor design of the hole itself or haste when connecting the device. Over time, this can lead to a situation where in order to obtain a clear sound, without hissing and crackling, it will be necessary to keep the jack pressed all the time. Or a little pull it out of the nest.

Self-repair without the necessary equipment and knowledge can lead to even more serious consequences. Therefore in this case It’s better to immediately contact specialists.

The reasons are not in the headphones

In medical practice, there are cases when the reason for the deterioration in the sound of your favorite melodies is not the headphones. This phenomenon is explained by the habit of the younger generation to listen to music at the highest volume. And sound above 100 dB (precisely such indicators are typical for modern devices) can gradually cause damage to the eardrum.

With constant such practice, a person may simply become a little deaf. But when you are young, it is difficult to believe in the vulnerability of your body, so everyone first of all thinks about the “spoiled” accessory. However, it is enough to limit listening for a few days, and your hearing will return to normal. And here if this does not happen, then you should urgently contact a medical specialist.

Another cause of hearing impairment may be the presence of an excess amount of yellow-brown lubricant in the ear canal. In common parlance it is called earwax. Due to its large accumulation, it may occur plug in ear. The same lubricant can also affect the earphone: when it comes into contact with the speaker cup, the sulfur can clog the holes in the mesh. The treatment in both cases is the same - with hydrogen peroxide.

As for the ear, then A 3% solution should be instilled into it to soften the cork and then clean it. But it is better to entrust the solution to the problem to medical personnel (otolaryngologist), so as not to aggravate the situation by compacting the sulfur even more. And the speaker grid is necessary rinse with this solution. The algorithm of actions is as follows:

3% hydrogen peroxide is poured into a small container (a bottle cap will do);
the earphone mesh is lowered into the solution so as not to wet the speaker;
the grid is kept in this position for about 10 minutes;
the accessory is dried, for which the earphone is held strictly with the mesh down for at least one hour;
All actions are repeated with the second cup.

After treatment of the ears and headphones, sound volume is usually restored.

Software errors

Before approaching software errors, you need to remember that in our age, most devices require their own software to operate. In order for the equipment that reproduces sound to “see” the headphones connected to it, it needs to be on a laptop, Android or iPhone a special driver was installed.

Everywhere (on any devices) all parameters must be configured responsible for sound. And for wireless accessories to work correctly, Bluetooth must be turned on on the equipment. And if the user himself is not able to carry out all the manipulations, then there is always the opportunity to turn to specialists.

Advice! Service centers that service electrical equipment from manufacturers such as Sven, Blood, Apple and many other equally well-known brands are engaged in installing software and its subsequent configuration.

But there are situations when the headphones do not play at all, despite installing all the necessary drivers and firmware. Or they work, but quietly and with distortion. In this case, you need to use operating system tools, for example, Windows 7, and make deeper settings.

Connecting to a USB port

If you have connected headphones via the USB port, but they are silent, then you need to perform the following steps.

After these steps, the headphones should work. But in order for the sound to be clear and, most importantly, there are no problems during the next connection, you need to continue the settings.

In the Sound window, select the headphones icon to click on RMB and go to the “Properties” tab. Here you can change the name and icon if you wish.
In the section “Using the device” check: "Use this device" and click "Apply".
Next, on the “Levels” tab, you can adjust volume and balance left and right headphones. If one of the headset speakers is louder than the other, then the reason may be due to imbalance. All indicators must be set to 100%. This will help if the headphones play very quietly, while the sound from the speakers is normal.
On the tab "Additional features" must be unchecked. This will remove various noise.
At the last stage, go to “Advanced” and disable exclusive mode. You can also try the sound in different formats and choose the one you like.

The setup algorithm for the Windows 10 operating system may be slightly different, but understanding it will not be difficult, since the steps should be similar.

Front Panel Connection

Sometimes, when the plug is plugged into the front panel, the headphones for some reason do not show any signs of life. This indicates that the panel is not active. The activation algorithm is as follows:

go to the Control Panel through the Start menu;
in the “Hardware and Sound” section, select “Realtek HD Manager”;

in the “Connector Parameters” folder, activate both parameters.

The problem has been resolved and the headphones now play normally.

Drivers are to blame

If all the previous settings did not help, and activating the devices did not change anything, the reason should be sought in incorrect operation of the drivers. The simplest solution is to update them or completely reinstall them.

Advice! You can try to install even non-native, but compatible drivers. And if the problem only gets worse, a rollback will help: in the properties of the sound card, you need to go to the “Drivers” tab and select “Roll Back”.

A very good way is in the device manager activate the “Update configuration” function. The Windows system itself will find and install all the necessary software. But to do this, you will first need to completely remove all sound card drivers.

If the system does not find anything, you can manually install the driver. You need to take it from the official websites, guided by the capacity of the system. In many cases, installing through compatibility mode will help. Moreover, the launch must be done only with administrator rights.

Important! To ensure that any software is not just updated, but installed again, you must first remove the old version.

Based on the above, we can confidently say that many problems with sound reproduction with headphones can be solved independently. Moreover, you need to act from simple to complex, leaving software reinstallation as a last step.

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The most popular accessory for a smartphone, computer or tablet are headphones. These small, convenient, portable speakers let you listen to music anywhere, anytime. Unfortunately, headphones are not without their drawbacks. Probably everyone has faced the tedious task of untangling their headphones. But there are also more serious problems, for example when The headphones began to work quietly, or one earphone is quieter than the other. What to do in this case?

Sometimes people throw away such headphones, thinking that nothing can be fixed. But in vain. It is necessary to understand in detail why did the headphones play quietly?, and at least try to correct the situation.

Possible reasons

The problem is not with the headphones

Perhaps the headphones work fine, unlike other devices that beep. Test the headphones with different devices - smartphone, laptop, player. If the sound is quiet and muffled on one device, but normal on others, then do not look for the problem in your ears. In the case of a computer, the problem may be with the sound adapter and its settings. Experiment with the sound settings in the equalizer. If one earphone began to play more quietly, check the sound balance in the player. If something happens, turn up the volume to the desired channel.

Physical breakdown

Physical damage can also cause distortion in the sound from your headphones. Remember what events preceded the breakdown. Perhaps you got wet in the rain and the headphones gained moisture, or the last time you accidentally pulled the cord, which led to mechanical damage to the cord. If the headphones get wet, leave them in a warm, dry place for 24-48 hours. Inspect the cord to see if there are any fractures or exposures, pay attention to the area of the cord near the plug and the earphone itself, this is where the wire most often breaks. Repairing such a breakdown requires skill, so if you haven’t held a soldering iron in your hands, you shouldn’t try to fix the situation yourself.

By the way, to protect your headphones from kinking the wire, use this life hack:

Quality

The speakers themselves in headphones rarely fail. Although, if these “ears” were purchased in China for $2, such an outcome is also possible. Then you can safely throw away the device. When choosing headphones, don't buy the cheapest ones. In addition to adequate sound quality, you get poor build quality, disposable speakers, and a very weak cord. It is better to buy once more expensive than twice cheaper.

Human factor

Many people like to listen to music loudly. Why not if the track is really good? But don't overdo it. Probably everyone is familiar with the situation when, after being in a very loud place, for example at a disco, ordinary sounds seem quiet for some time. The fact is that when listening to music at high volume, a person’s hearing temporarily decreases, and it seems that The headphones began to work quietly. Spend a few days in silence and stop listening to music. When hearing returns to normal, the sound will be the same as before. And if not, consult a doctor.

Clogging

The earbuds can become clogged with dust, debris, or earwax. In this case, they need to be cleaned. Due to human anatomy, one earphone gets clogged faster than the other. Because the situation is when The left earphone plays quieter than the right one quite common. Simply cleaning the small metal mesh that protects the speaker will help make the sound louder.

Find hydrogen peroxide in your first aid kit. If peroxide is not available, alcohol will also work. If you have headphones with tips, remove them. Take a small container, such as a plastic bottle cap. Pour peroxide in there. Dip the headphones into the solution so that the mesh is completely submerged and nothing gets into the internal speaker. Be careful: if alcohol or peroxide gets into the membrane, it can make the situation worse.

Keep the headphones in this position for 30-60 minutes. After which they should be taken out and kept with the mesh side down, and under no circumstances turn them over. Fix the product in this position for at least an hour. After drying, you can carefully scrape off the remaining sulfur, dust and debris. Put on the earbuds, insert the plug into the smartphone and check if the sound improves.

Take care of your headphones, carry them in a special case, or simply fold them carefully to avoid bending. In case of blockage, use our recommendation. What ways do you know to fix the problem when Are your headphones playing quietly? Apart from buying new ones, of course.

Quiet sound on a computer can be evidence of both hardware and software problems and malfunctions.

Let's try to describe in more detail all the possible causes of the problem and effective ways to fix it.

Problem #1. Possible hardware problems

Among the hardware reasons why the sound became quieter are the following:

Outdated speaker connectors. All connectors break periodically. Typically, this problem occurs if an old version of the sound card is installed on a personal computer.
Also, the problem of non-working connectors is due to the fact that they were used too often, constantly turning devices on and off.
Due to such frequent use, contact with the plug is lost, so the audio device may work quietly or not work at all. The solution to this problem is to replace the connector;

Advice! Make sure that, other than a broken jack, your audio device is working properly and producing sound at the correct level. To do this, connect it to another computer.

Failure at the sound card level. In this case, you need to contact a service center to repair or replace the sound card of your computer or laptop.

Problem #2. The need to update drivers

Almost all problems with displaying connected devices to a computer boil down to the need to update the driver software.

First of all, if the sound is quiet, you need to check that the installed drivers for the sound or video card of the device are up to date.

In modern computers, video cards incorporate the functions of sound cards, which saves space inside the computer case.

It is also necessary to check the drivers of individual audio devices connected to the computer.

Follow the instructions below:

Go to the system device manager;

Then select the Audio Input and Audio Output Devices tab as shown in the image below;

Right-click on any of the devices and select driver update, then in the installation wizard that opens, select automatic search for updates and wait for them to install.
The entire process of updating the device driver will happen automatically within one minute; the computer must have an Internet connection. Do the same for all other devices in the audio tab in Device Manager.

Problem #3. The sound in the headphones is too quiet

Why do headphones play sound too quietly:

The headphones may be broken or damaged. To eliminate the possibility of headphones breaking, try testing them on your smartphone, tablet or any other device. If they work fine, the problem is with the computer.
If you are using the Windows xp operating system, then the problem of quiet sound playback is quite standard. The reason for the problem is that Microsoft has not released new updates for the sound card for several years and does not support the outdated operating system at all.
This is why many modern headphones and other audio devices may be incompatible with the OS and, accordingly, will not work correctly.
Make sure all drivers are installed and working correctly. To do this, find the connected headphones in the device manager, right-click on them and enable the device properties, as shown in the figure below.

In this case, the system shows that the headphones are working normally.

If the state of the connected headphones is determined to be erroneous or critical, you should update the hardware configuration, after which you should be sure to disconnect the headphones and restart your computer or laptop, then connect the headphones again and test the sound.

Everything should work fine. An example of updating the configuration of connected headphones is shown in the figure below.

Problem #4. Quiet sound when playing movies

Often, some film distributors deliberately reduce the sound level in order to protect themselves from possible claims from copyright holders.

After all, automatic programs for identifying pirated content cannot distinguish between two identical audio tracks if they are played at different frequencies.

Thus, the movie you downloaded may play sound quietly not at all due to problems in the system.

If your player plays all audio and video quite quietly, you need to install new codecs - unique drivers for recognizing video and audio tracks, without delay and in the correct encoding.

You can download codecs from the official website of the developer of your player.

Test the sound of the same video in different players; in most cases, only one of the players does not play the audio tracks correctly.

Make sure that all audio drivers on your computer or laptop are installed and working correctly. Use the instructions given above in the article.

Problem #5. Quiet sound from speakers

Quiet sound from the speakers may indicate more than just incorrectly installed driver software. The speakers may be dirty with dust or broken.

Check if the speakers are dirty from the inside, because too much dust accumulation can be a direct reason that the sound is not reproduced correctly:

Open the back cover of the speaker housing, an example of open speakers is shown in the figure;

Check the condition of all wires; perhaps some of them may have been damaged during a fall or other mechanical damage to the device. This may cause sound to be intermittent or too quiet;
Thoroughly clean the contents of the case from dust and cobwebs. This can be done using a cosmetic or artistic brush. Never use a damp cloth. Avoid getting moisture inside the device.

Problem #6. Incorrect operation of computer audio devices at the OS level

If you have updated all drivers, set up a new hardware configuration, verified that your speakers and headphones are working properly when connected to other devices, and also verified that the problem is not related to hardware failure, and the device is still running quietly, use the following sound settings option.

Most likely, the sound does not work correctly at the level of the computer or laptop operating system.

You can increase the volume in Windows 7-10 as follows:

Play any music file. This way, during the setup process, you can adjust the volume in real time;
Click on the sound icon, which is located next to the clock on the desktop device panel. Check the sound level;

If the sound level is high and the music is playing quietly, go to the control panel of your computers and enter the word “sound” in the content search field. Among the search results, select volume settings, the following window will open;

If the mixer is set to low, adjust it so the music should sound louder, then apply the settings and close the computer volume control window.

Sound Booster software

You can also use third-party software to adjust the system sound. An excellent program for quickly setting up sound is the Sound Booster utility.

With this utility you can increase the volume of all devices using one software window.

What to do if you have low sound from your speakers?

Quiet sound on the computer - Possible causes and solutions to problems

Setting up sound on Windows7 by LuckyMaverick

Will help you figure out where to start in Windows 7 when setting up audio, before setting up the Audio Manager!

What to do if the headphones play quietly?

Master's answer:

A huge number of people around the world listen to music through headphones. While enjoying your favorite tracks, they do not distract passersby. And it happens that they are used when they want to maintain the confidentiality of intercepted information. Of course, using headphones has both pros and cons. After all, they not only cannot convey the entire spectrum of sound. They don't play as loudly as stationary speakers can.

Many reasons can cause headphones to play quietly. Naturally, you need to remember that you should not expect the same from a miniature speaker as from a large one. He simply cannot cope with this due to physical and technical characteristics.

It may be that the headphones do not have enough power. You can try connecting them through a special amplifier. At a relatively low price, it significantly improves the quality and volume of playback. Excessive lightness can also affect the sound volume level. This causes the sound to travel in all directions instead of just one direction, which would increase the volume. Also, large, massive headphones make it possible to hear the sound much better.

You also need to pay attention to what cable you use to connect the headphones to the sound source. To avoid interference, it is better to choose a shielded one, but with low resistance.

Study the design of the headphones. Vacuum type headphones protect themselves from ambient noise, making it much easier to hear the sound.

If there are no problems with the headphones themselves, you need to check the plug for connecting them. If it doesn't fit tightly into the connection socket, just fix it. Reducing contact leads to quieter and poorer sound transmission.

The problem may also be related to your computer's sound card. Inspect it for signs of burnout and the tightness of its fastening. Pay attention to the volume level on the computer itself, for which you need to turn on the volume control. It's in the tray. If the sound disappears when you move the plug, then the problem is with the headphone jack.

The reason may also be related to the sound card driver. In this case, you should reinstall it.

Possible reasons

The problem is not with the headphones

Perhaps the headphones work fine, unlike other devices that beep. Test the headphones with different devices – smartphone, laptop, player. If on one device the sound is quiet and muffled, but on others it is normal, then do not look for the problem in the “ears”. In the case of a computer, the problem may be with the sound adapter and its settings. Experiment with the sound settings in the equalizer. If one earphone began to play more quietly, check the sound balance in the player. If something happens, turn up the volume to the desired channel.

Physical breakdown

By the way, to protect your headphones from kinking the wire, use this life hack:

Quality

Human factor

Clogging

Bottom line

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