I’m using Windows XP as my operating system. My problem is when I play video
clips, the audio comes out like an echo and reverberates. I don’t know if
there’s some setting in my PC that I can change to eliminate this problem.
Would you please advise me on what I can do?
In this excerpt from
Answercast #54, I look at a computer that is getting feedback though its
audio settings.
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Audio feedback
The very first thing that I would look into in a case like this is your
microphone. I would be very interested to understand if perhaps your microphone
is turned on and somehow configured to feedback into your audio output. That
can and does result in pretty much exactly what you’ve just described; the sort
of echo reverb-type thing that can happen from time-to-time.
Microphone settings
The thing to do with Windows XP is right-click on the speaker
icon and then click the (I believe) Mixer or
Sound Properties (one or the other.)
In there, you’ve got the opportunity to set your audio output levels.
In other words, you can choose the volume for the specific things that are
being played. On the File menu in that little applet is an
option to set the recording device levels. And at that point, you can mute
the microphone.
Interior or plug in microphone?
Obviously, if you have a microphone that’s simply plugged in – unplug it. If
it’s built-in that gets a little harder which is why I’m directing you to the
mixer: the sound mixer application that comes with Windows XP. It will allow
you to control the recording level of the microphone. In other words, the
volume of the microphone coming in.
And, like I said, all we’re going to do is mute it.
At the same time, it might be a good idea to mute everything that shows up
in the recording panel. Maybe there’s something else that’s feeding back. It
depends on the sound card and the sound hardware that’s installed on your
machine.
Sometimes, the hardware can be instructed to loop an output back into an
input, which can in fact result in pretty much what you’ve just described. So,
try and see if you can’t just mute every kind of recording device that might be
available on your system and see if that doesn’t make the problem go
away.
Next from Answercast 54 – How do I prevent pictures of my paintings for sale on eBay from being copied?
I’m betting your answer is exactly correct. I recently experienced that on my laptop. A couple of weeks before, I had tweaked my mike settings to try to pick up sound better while recording an internet meeting. Then, a couple of weeks later I started getting reverbs when playing any audio. I was perplexed, until I remembered my tweaking. On my laptop, the mike is at the top of the monitor, beside the camera. The speakers are just above the keyboard–pointing up. So, the mike was literally picking up the sound from the speakers and sending it back through. Hence, the echo. Muting the mike (as you directed above) worked.
Another possibility is the sound driver software has an “environment” option that changes the way sounds are played so they sound as if they are being heard in a different environment. I’ve seen some that have settings to mimic places like a cave, a stone dungeon or tiled bathroom. Any sounds played by the PC echo as if they are being played in a cave. The level of echo can be adjusted. Typically this software is on the task bar or appears when you plugin earphones.
I had a similar problem. I went to the Control Panel and found a Sound Effects Manager icon. I opened it and hit Sound Effects. Then I scrolled to the top to >None