no bass coming out of my subwoofer

LKru33 · Apr 6, 2011

I recently bought myself a new computer & ever since, have been having nothing but troubles. 1 in particular is no bass coming out of my subwoofer. I had a computer built in 2000 that ran XP Pro and my Altec Lansing speakers worked great. Now I have Windows 7 & Realtek HD On-board sound which gives absolutely no bass. Just curious if anyone has heard anything about a conflict between Realtek HD and Windows 7?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Woz · Apr 6, 2011

Of course you're not getting any bass out of your sub...Microsoft switched over to salmon for Win 7.

Welcome to Windows 7 Forum!

Seriously, though. I have Realtek HD on-board (ASUS mobo) and an old Altec Lansing 2.1 speaker system, and my sub works fine. The crossover in the speaker system should handle the job of sending LF signals to the sub, nothing in Windows or the Realtek hardware.

Maybe just make sure every cable is hooked up correctly and not damaged. My A-T sub has a special connector that has several small pins. If your is the same, make sure the pins are not bent. If everything looks fine, open the sub and check for a blown fuse. Worst-case, your sub may have bit the dust.

LKru33 · Apr 20, 2011

Nope... Sub did not bite the dust....unless everytime it is hooked up to my older machine it is resurrected from the dead.

Yes, the cords are fully plugged in.

Also... the power is on.

The surge protector is turned on.

The surge protector is plugged in.

The outlet in which all of this is plugged in, is working.

Woz · Apr 20, 2011

It sounds like the hardware is okay.
Is the green speaker output configured as a 2.1 system? IIRC, (I'm at work...XP Pro) there are settings which allow you to change the output type for the individual outputs.

metalmania31 · Apr 20, 2011

Try looking at your sound settings. Under playback tab there are additional settings you might look at that could be causing this.

LKru33 · Apr 21, 2011

Not quite sure about the green speaker output...

Under Audio Manager, Speaker Configuration is as follows:
5.1 Speaker
Only Sub Woofer is checked, simulating a 2.1 setup

Full Range Speakers
Front Left and Right is checked

Nothing else is checked on this tab

Sound Effects Tab
None

DTS
Off

What should I be looking at?

Oh, and I have the latest driver installed 2.59

LKru33 · Apr 21, 2011

Just to throw this in there, the speakers I have are Altec Lansing 4.1 Digital Speaker System (641). This includes 2 fronts, 2 rears and a subwoofer. 2 lines connect the subwoofer to the computer: A green line and a black line. 1 is for the front speakers and the other is for the rear. I'm not quite sure which line gives the subwoofer it's signal.

Mike Connor · Apr 21, 2011

You need to setup the Realtek audio;

Right-click on the loudspeaker icon in the tray for the sound manager;

Regards....Mike Connor

neo101 · Apr 21, 2011

LKru33 said:
I recently bought myself a new computer & ever since, have been having nothing but troubles. 1 in particular is no bass coming out of my subwoofer. I had a computer built in 2000 that ran XP Pro and my Altec Lansing speakers worked great. Now I have Windows 7 & Realtek HD On-board sound which gives absolutely no bass. Just curious if anyone has heard anything about a conflict between Realtek HD and Windows 7?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Other things that affects the sound/bass
Check for an option setting the speakers to 'small' or 'large'
('Large' means 'full frequency' - like normal hifi floor standing speakers)

Setting speakers to 'small' will invoke the bass setting you have set (normally 120hz cut off) and 'puta then redirects the sound frequencies below 120hz to the .1 Bass box.
(If you have a posh sound setup you will have to set each pair of speakers individually.)

Something else that might fix it is to try checking the option to swap front/rear outputs to invoke your Bass .1

GeneO · Apr 21, 2011

Here ya go. Sorry, couldn't resist.

LKru33 · Apr 22, 2011

I guess this goes to show how far windows 7 has gone backwards from XP. Pretty sad when something as simple as speakers won't work right without a team of experts trying to diagnose the problem..... and with no guarantees of a solution. At this point, I should be thankful the on/off button works.

GeneO · Apr 22, 2011

Have you ruled out hardware - I don;t mean the Speaker hardware but the audio hardware on your computer?

LKru33 · May 10, 2011

I would like to think I have ruled out the hardware being the issue.... I had originally purchased the ASUS P8P67 PRO motherboard before the recall was announced. During the 2 months of using my system with this motherboard, I was unable to get my subwoofer working. After the exchange of motherboards occured, I continue to experience the same problem.

As for my speakers, they work with XP, no problems at all.

There has to be some guru's out there that know about this issue. I've seen similar postings in regards to Realtek HD audio & Windows 7 - dead subwoofer. It sounds to me like a configuration issue or maybe a driver issue.

LKru33 · May 10, 2011

Mike Connor said:
You need to setup the Realtek audio;

Right-click on the loudspeaker icon in the tray for the sound manager;

Regards....Mike Connor

I do appreciate your efforts here... but I have set my speakers to 5.1 and unchecked the center and rear speakers.

If there is something I am not considering, if you would, please give me a step by step.

rhatch · Jul 6, 2015

Did you ever resolve this issue?

Hi, I'm running Windows 7 with Realtek HD and just purchased new speakers hoping to upgrade from a stereo setup, to 2.1. Your issue sounds exactly like mine--no matter what I do, I get no sound from the subwoofer. Did you ever find a solution?

GokAy · Jul 6, 2015

Until sound gurus respond, make sure you are connecting the sub to the correct plug.

rhatch · Jul 8, 2015

I figured out the solution to this issue.
The person who posted this originally said "I do appreciate your efforts here... but I have set my speakers to 5.1 and unchecked the center and rear speakers."

That's actually the problem. I made the same understandable "mistake". You would think that you need to set your Realtek HD Audio Manager to match the configuration that you have. Nope.

Instead the subwoofer separation is apparently built into many speakers these days. So leave the Realtek HD Audio Manager set to stereo speakers. Don't tell it you have anything but two front speakers. Then one line from the computer output to the main input on the subwoofer works. Let me clarify this works for my speakers in which the two front speakers plug into the subwoofer and receive power and audio feed passed through the subwoofer. Hopes this helps the next person!

no bass coming out of my subwoofer

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