Sound Fades In and Out

AnnesAnnes Tripped Up by Libidos and HubrisAlexandria, VA Icrontian

I recently rebuilt my HTPC using this board running Windows 10 Pro and have it connected to my sound bar using an optical cable. In the past couple of months the sound has been fading in and out quite badly, but quite inconsistently. It's best with Plex and worst with Netflix, Spotify, and HBOGo.

There's nothing installed on the box except for Chrome, VLC, Spotify, some NZB downloading and cataloging programs, and Plex. I've tried installing updated sound drivers but the latest seems to be from 10/2015.

Any ideas?

Comments

  • TushonTushon I'm scared, Coach Alexandria, VA Icrontian

    So fading out means it gets quieter and louder in the same app during a single show, or different apps have different noise levels?

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian

    Is the cable known to be good?

  • WinfreyWinfrey waddafuh Missouri Icrontian

    I don't know much about these things but I'd be suspicious of the cat.

    Annes
  • BlackHawkBlackHawk Bible music connoisseur There's no place like 127.0.0.1 Icrontian

    Have you tried alternative connections for sound, like though the HDMI cable? What about connecting some headphones directly to the HTPC?

  • AnnesAnnes Tripped Up by Libidos and Hubris Alexandria, VA Icrontian

    @Tushon said:
    So fading out means it gets quieter and louder in the same app during a single show, or different apps have different noise levels?

    The former. I had to change the volume for Game of Thrones so many times I actually stopped watching.

    @Thrax said:
    Is the cable known to be good?

    Not a clue, actually. Is optical not an on/off thing? I was thinking if it was damaged it just wouldnt work at all.

    @BlackHawk said:
    Have you tried alternative connections for sound, like though the HDMI cable? What about connecting some headphones directly to the HTPC?

    I have not.

    Are people thinking a hardware issue as opposed to a software one?

  • BlackHawkBlackHawk Bible music connoisseur There's no place like 127.0.0.1 Icrontian

    @Annes said:
    Are people thinking a hardware issue as opposed to a software one?

    I don't know about the others, but I like to rule out simple things first.

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian

    Optical is digital/binary, sure, but a shoddy cable can drop ones and zeroes or transpose them. Can happen to any digital cable. See it all the time on monitors with high-frequency cabling. Things generally work okay, but sometimes it just cuts out or gets corrupted.

  • KwitkoKwitko Sheriff of Banning (Retired) By the thing near the stuff Icrontian

    Maybe there's a normalization setting. Sometimes that will cause the fading problem. Normalization should be off.

  • SonorousSonorous F@H Fanatic US Icrontian

    Make sure windows isn't ducking the sound when it thinks a mic may be enabled. Ducking is the automatic lowering of source volume when a secondary source is used (example: your game volume lowers when someone talks in mumble)

    Make sure your TV and sound bar do not have a "night mode" enabled. This is automatically adjust the volume when a certain scene gets loud in a show. I don't think that's the issue but worth a check.

    Other than that I have no clue.

  • AnnesAnnes Tripped Up by Libidos and Hubris Alexandria, VA Icrontian

    Here's what I've tried tonight:

    • changed from optical cable to Y-cable
    • turned off TruVolume
    • turned off Night Mode
    • Disabled all recording devices in the sound panel

    Still having the issue. So I guess that leaves soundbar or mobo itself? Is there any place that realtek would put new drivers that I didn't find?

  • AnnesAnnes Tripped Up by Libidos and Hubris Alexandria, VA Icrontian

    Tomorrow I'll try hooking my laptop to the soundbar to see if that makes a difference.

  • KwitkoKwitko Sheriff of Banning (Retired) By the thing near the stuff Icrontian

    @Annes said:
    Tomorrow I'll try hooking my laptop to the soundbar to see if that makes a difference.

    Outcome? Any luck?

  • AnnesAnnes Tripped Up by Libidos and Hubris Alexandria, VA Icrontian

    Today I tried running the sound through the HDMI cable and TV itself, bypassing the soundbar. The sound was fine this way. I also noticed today that there was a "reset" option for the soundbar and said "what the hell" and tried it. This fixed the issue. Welp. Guess I'll just reset if it ever happens again.

    BlackHawk
  • KwitkoKwitko Sheriff of Banning (Retired) By the thing near the stuff Icrontian

    Simplest solution is best solution.

  • WinfreyWinfrey waddafuh Missouri Icrontian

    @Winfrey said:
    I don't know much about these things but I'd be suspicious of the cat.

    I knew it.

    Annes
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