Terrible sound quality when playing CDs. How can I fix this?

ClairR

New member
Ok, I have an Advent laptop. When I play CDs (on both iTunes and Windows Media Player) the sound quality is extremely bad. It's really crackly and fuzzy. Strange though because this only occurs with several of my CDs. Other ones play perfectly.
I have tried playing the CDs on a CD player to make sure it isn't them but they played fine on the CD player.

Is there anyway I can fix this problem?
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Advent Modena M200
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
ClairR, Welcome to SF. My guess here is these two or three discs are recorded with especially deep bass which is distorting the speakers and making them break up. This is a guess but with the small and very cheap speakers which laptops are known for they just can't play loud and they can't play at the extreme ends of the frequency spectrum.
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
A blend of brains, brawn and dumb luck.
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate 64
CPU
i7 3770k OC'd 4.6 @ 1.17v, also FX 8120 & i5 miniITX
Motherboard
MSI P67A-GD80 b3
Memory
32 gb G.Skill Sniper DDR3 10-12-12-31 @ 2133
Graphics Card(s)
XFX Radeon 7870 2GB DDR5
Sound Card
Sound Blaster Z Series Card
Monitor(s) Displays
(2) LG LED 23" 1920 x 1080 2ms Monitors via mini d-port
Screen Resolution
1680 X 1050 p
Hard Drives
Samsung 256 gb 830 SSD sata III
(1) 1 tb WD Black
(2) 1 tb Hitachi deskmates/sata II
(2) 1 tb WD green/sata II
(2) 3 tb Seagate Barracuda
(1) 120 gb OCZ Vertex SS
(1) Drobo 5N w/5 Seagate 3tb
PSU
EVGA modular 1000G2 80% gold rating & APC 1200 RS
Case
CoolerMaster Storm Styker
Cooling
7 case fans 140mm & 120mm, NZXT Kraken X60
Keyboard
(2) Logitech Illuminated Keyboards (1) usb (1) wireless
Mouse
Logitech G700 & T-BC21 - nano nx for the laptop
Internet Speed
Basic 120mbps down
Antivirus
Trend Micro Titanium Max Security & Malwarebytes Premium
Browser
Chrome and IE 10
Other Info
5 Noctua case fans + 3 Noctua in p/p on NZXT cooler
Integrated hot swap drive bays for 2.5" Drives
(2) Lite-on dvd/cd/Blu Ray optical 22X
Integrated fan controller and led on/off
HP Officejet Pro 8630 all-n-one
Hot-swappable 3.5" hard drive bay
Netgear Nighthawk router
Asus USB 3 & sata 6 PCIe card
Vantec IDE to sata adptr./Ultra sata adptr
Lenovo L420 i5 lappy with m sata
Drobo 5N advanced NAS
I've found that attaching higher performing powered external speakers would be an option or you can look to find the equalizer function and reduce the bass levels till the speakers stop distorting. This will make the speakers sound even less full but may help them to stop breaking up.
Altec Lansing Orbit IM237 MP3 Portable Speaker IM237 - RT at TigerDirect
This little guy could help as it's portable and offers clearer sound than most laptops can produce.
Altec Lansing FX3022 Expressionist Bass Speakers - 25 Watts RMS, 1.5 Full Range Drivers, 9 Watts 4 Subwoofers (x 2), AUX In, Volume Control, Black at TigerDirect
These are just some of the vast options but they have a nice small design and the bass drivers are in the base of each speaker.
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
A blend of brains, brawn and dumb luck.
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate 64
CPU
i7 3770k OC'd 4.6 @ 1.17v, also FX 8120 & i5 miniITX
Motherboard
MSI P67A-GD80 b3
Memory
32 gb G.Skill Sniper DDR3 10-12-12-31 @ 2133
Graphics Card(s)
XFX Radeon 7870 2GB DDR5
Sound Card
Sound Blaster Z Series Card
Monitor(s) Displays
(2) LG LED 23" 1920 x 1080 2ms Monitors via mini d-port
Screen Resolution
1680 X 1050 p
Hard Drives
Samsung 256 gb 830 SSD sata III
(1) 1 tb WD Black
(2) 1 tb Hitachi deskmates/sata II
(2) 1 tb WD green/sata II
(2) 3 tb Seagate Barracuda
(1) 120 gb OCZ Vertex SS
(1) Drobo 5N w/5 Seagate 3tb
PSU
EVGA modular 1000G2 80% gold rating & APC 1200 RS
Case
CoolerMaster Storm Styker
Cooling
7 case fans 140mm & 120mm, NZXT Kraken X60
Keyboard
(2) Logitech Illuminated Keyboards (1) usb (1) wireless
Mouse
Logitech G700 & T-BC21 - nano nx for the laptop
Internet Speed
Basic 120mbps down
Antivirus
Trend Micro Titanium Max Security & Malwarebytes Premium
Browser
Chrome and IE 10
Other Info
5 Noctua case fans + 3 Noctua in p/p on NZXT cooler
Integrated hot swap drive bays for 2.5" Drives
(2) Lite-on dvd/cd/Blu Ray optical 22X
Integrated fan controller and led on/off
HP Officejet Pro 8630 all-n-one
Hot-swappable 3.5" hard drive bay
Netgear Nighthawk router
Asus USB 3 & sata 6 PCIe card
Vantec IDE to sata adptr./Ultra sata adptr
Lenovo L420 i5 lappy with m sata
Drobo 5N advanced NAS
Well yes maybe it is the speakers being distorted but this terrible sound quality even occurs when I plug in headphones while these CDs are playing.
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Advent Modena M200
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
Then that's something else than. Could the discs be damaged or dirty and the optical drive is having issues reading the info cleanly? Try washing the disc in your hands in soapy water and then drying with a soft towel and re-inserting ! What are the head phones your using, ear buds from another device or real head phones?
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
A blend of brains, brawn and dumb luck.
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate 64
CPU
i7 3770k OC'd 4.6 @ 1.17v, also FX 8120 & i5 miniITX
Motherboard
MSI P67A-GD80 b3
Memory
32 gb G.Skill Sniper DDR3 10-12-12-31 @ 2133
Graphics Card(s)
XFX Radeon 7870 2GB DDR5
Sound Card
Sound Blaster Z Series Card
Monitor(s) Displays
(2) LG LED 23" 1920 x 1080 2ms Monitors via mini d-port
Screen Resolution
1680 X 1050 p
Hard Drives
Samsung 256 gb 830 SSD sata III
(1) 1 tb WD Black
(2) 1 tb Hitachi deskmates/sata II
(2) 1 tb WD green/sata II
(2) 3 tb Seagate Barracuda
(1) 120 gb OCZ Vertex SS
(1) Drobo 5N w/5 Seagate 3tb
PSU
EVGA modular 1000G2 80% gold rating & APC 1200 RS
Case
CoolerMaster Storm Styker
Cooling
7 case fans 140mm & 120mm, NZXT Kraken X60
Keyboard
(2) Logitech Illuminated Keyboards (1) usb (1) wireless
Mouse
Logitech G700 & T-BC21 - nano nx for the laptop
Internet Speed
Basic 120mbps down
Antivirus
Trend Micro Titanium Max Security & Malwarebytes Premium
Browser
Chrome and IE 10
Other Info
5 Noctua case fans + 3 Noctua in p/p on NZXT cooler
Integrated hot swap drive bays for 2.5" Drives
(2) Lite-on dvd/cd/Blu Ray optical 22X
Integrated fan controller and led on/off
HP Officejet Pro 8630 all-n-one
Hot-swappable 3.5" hard drive bay
Netgear Nighthawk router
Asus USB 3 & sata 6 PCIe card
Vantec IDE to sata adptr./Ultra sata adptr
Lenovo L420 i5 lappy with m sata
Drobo 5N advanced NAS
I shall try cleaning them and see if it makes a difference but as I said I have tried playing them on my CD player and they are working fine.
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Advent Modena M200
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
worth checking the bit rate sampler for playback?

PassMark SoundCheck™ is a Windows based application that allows users to test their PC sound card, speakers and microphone. Verify that your sound card can record and playback sounds at various audio sample rates. Check the capability of your speakers to reproduce the highest and lowest frequencies (and your capability to hear these frequencies). Create perfectly formed test tones and loop them back into your sound card to look for distortion using PassMark audio loopback cables. SoundCheck also provides an audio FX test and a surround sound test to analyse those advanced sound card features.

PassMark SoundCheck :ar: PassMark SoundCheck - Download software to test your PC sound card
 

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My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
packard bell IXTREME M5722
OS
Operating System : Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 6.01.7600 SP1 (x64)
CPU
Processor : Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 @ 2500 MHz
Motherboard
Mainboard : Packard Bell (Acer EG43M )
Memory
Physical Memory :8GB Corsair4x 2GB 800MHz C5 DDR2
Graphics Card(s)
Video Card : XFX 6700 AMD
Monitor(s) Displays
Maestro 234DL - BenQ V2220 - BenQ VW2420H
Screen Resolution
Current Display :1920x1080p pixels at 60 Hz in HD LED
Hard Drives
Hard Disks : WDC (1000 GB)
Drive C: (Hard Disk) : 428 GB available on 491 GB
Drive D: (Hard Disk) : 426 GB available on 492 GB
SAMSUNG spinpoint HD103SJ 1000.2 GB
(X 2) KINGSTON SSD NOW V 30GB
PSU
XFX ProSeries 550W PSU
Case
PACKARD BELL IXTREME
Cooling
System Blower Current: 150mA Air Flow16CFM ;Akasa 90mm rear
Keyboard
Gigabyte Aivia K8100
Mouse
TRUST-Wireless Laser Mouse - Carbon edition MI-7770C
Internet Speed
TP-LINK > TL-WN951N / AV500 Gigabit Powerline Adapters
Browser
chrome dev
Other Info
EXTRA COOLING>(FAN CONTROLLER) PC Bay Cooler 3 x 40mm fans; Akasa AK-HD-BL Blue hard drive cooler 2 x 40 mm fan 4500 rpm 29.7 dBA
Bios> American Megatrends Inc.
Version : P01-A1
Date : 08/31/2009
If it's a standard CD (not an Mp3 data CD) it has to be burned at 16-bit 44.1K.

Are these CDs the original CDs or are they burned copies?

If they're copies burned on different burners it could be the burner had a weak laser or didn't track quite right.

Right click the Microsoft speaker icon in the taskbar, selct Playback Devices, single left click on the Default Device (speakers) and select the properties button, select the advanced tab.. set the rate to 16-bit, 44.1.


pancenter-
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Assembled in my workshop
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium
CPU
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 3.00gHz
Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-P35-S3G
Memory
4 GB
Graphics Card(s)
ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT
Sound Card
RME 24/96 Card, Realtek Internal Audio PreSonus FireStudio
Monitor(s) Displays
Acer 1917 (x2)
Screen Resolution
1280 x 1024 on both monitors
Hard Drives
Three 250GB Seagate SATA Barracuda 7200rpm
PSU
Rosewill 500-watt
Case
Rosewill mid-tower
Cooling
Noctua NH-U9B (CPU), PwrSupply fan + single large case Fan
Keyboard
Macally w/2/USB ports.
Mouse
Trackman Wheel
Other Info
Event 20/20 bas studio monitors, Yamaha sub.
Rackmount Korg/Roland/Yamaha synthesizers,
Cubase MIDI/audio recording. Sony Soundforge audio/mastering software. CD Architect Mastering. RME & Presonus audio interfaces.
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