Karaoke/Vocal Cancel mode stuck ON [Realtek HD on Win7 x64]

I've got a basic two-channel setup on my PC, and everything that I listen to sounds like it has "vocal cancellation"/"karaoke mode" applied. If I listen to something, like CNN, that has no stereo effect, it is completely silent. If I listen to something with a strong stereo effect, it sounds almost normal. Stuff with a mid-level stereo effect just sounds horribly weird, some sounds present (music and environmental sounds, generally) and some missing (speech, generally).

I've tried the HP-recommended Realtek driver, and the latest driver from the Realtek website. Both offer a "Karaoke mode" setting in the Realtek Control Center. Doesn't matter if I toggle that on or off, there's still a lot of vocal cancellation going on. With the Realtek driver installed, I also get a "vocal cancellation" option in the "enhancements" tab of the Win7 "speaker properties" window. Doesn't matter whether that setting is ON or OFF; I still get vocal cancellation.

I just uninstalled Realtek entirely and am using the Win7 default HD Audio driver. There's no longer a "vocal cancellation" setting on the "enhancements" tab. But there's still vocal cancellation going on!!

I'm at a loss; any suggestions?

Aha, great tip fireberd ... I shut down and unplugged the system; let it sit unplugged for 15 minutes. Just rebooted and audio is normal! Many thanks for giving me that idea

Oh no! My first listening test was successful as I said above, but I just went back (3 minutes later) to listen to the same thing again, and now it's messed up again! Arrghhhh

Broke down and purchased a USB audio device, and it has the same problem!

Uninstalled Realtek driver, disabled onboard audio, Ran SFC /SCANNOW. No joy.

The new USB audio device uses the Microsoft-provided "USB PnP Sound Device" driver, BTW.

This is making me crazy.

Just tried a clean boot (disabling all startup items and non-microsoft services). Problem persists.

Crazy.

mc510 said:

OMG. The problem seems to be in the headphone cable!

I've had the same trouble, but it turned out you were both right and wrong.

Fix is about head phones, but not the wire it's jack for phone with mic pin. If you unplug it a little, it makes everything work.