I have an M2A-VM HDMI that I (finally) got setup (after a bit of a
run-in with RAM voltage)
Now that it's running, I have to say I'm a bit dissapointed with the
onboard audio. The volume is severely lacking - even with all the
audio properties and the speakers set full-blast, the sound is very
soft. The quality is clear, but the volume is definitly lacking. I
know the speakers are capable of so much more.
We've tried two different pairs of speakers, both times using the rear
green jack (don't have front panel audio connectors hooked up). They
were plugged in at different times, we weren't using a splitter, and
both sets of speakers are amplified...one set was my Edifier 2+1 sound
system (2 speakers + sub), the other was my old HP monitor's built-in
Polk speakers. We've been all throughout all the settings in Windows
Audio Properties and the Realtek control panel.
Is the onboard audio really supposed to be this bad, or am I missing
something? Or could there just be something wrong with the onboard
audio?
Fred Poe wrote:
> Hi Again,
>
> I have an M2A-VM HDMI that I (finally) got setup (after a bit of a
> run-in with RAM voltage)
>
> Now that it's running, I have to say I'm a bit dissapointed with the
> onboard audio. The volume is severely lacking - even with all the
> audio properties and the speakers set full-blast, the sound is very
> soft. The quality is clear, but the volume is definitly lacking. I
> know the speakers are capable of so much more.
>
> We've tried two different pairs of speakers, both times using the rear
> green jack (don't have front panel audio connectors hooked up). They
> were plugged in at different times, we weren't using a splitter, and
> both sets of speakers are amplified...one set was my Edifier 2+1 sound
> system (2 speakers + sub), the other was my old HP monitor's built-in
> Polk speakers. We've been all throughout all the settings in Windows
> Audio Properties and the Realtek control panel.
>
> Is the onboard audio really supposed to be this bad, or am I missing
> something? Or could there just be something wrong with the onboard
> audio?
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Fred
To do some testing, start with a copy of Audacity. I'm using the beta
version, but I expect the release version would work equally well.
Start the program. The screen will be blank, with no waveform present.
Go to "Generate". Select "Tone" from the menu. Default is a 440Hz sine
wave. I changed the duration to 30 seconds (I want playback to last long
enough so I can use my voltmeter). I left the amplitude at "1", so that
the waveform fills the track to the maximum allowed amplitude.
Initially, I set my multimeter to AC and 2 volts full scale. That will
measure the RMS (root mean square) voltage of the signal. I didn't change
my sound settings in my mixer panel.
On playback, I got 0.1 VAC as an initial measurement. To get more, I had
to put both the "Speaker" slider and the "Wave" slider to 100%. When I
measured with those sliders at max, I got 1.091 volts RMS.
To access the audio signals, I use a short extension cord, which has
1/8" stereo male plugs on either end. It is a cord that came with a
TV tuner card, to connect the output of the TV tuner to the input of
the sound card. By plugging that into the green connector, and doing
the test, I can measure the output between tip and sleeve or between
ring and sleeve (for the left and right channels respectively).
To make the test technically a bit better, I should have connected
a 600 ohm load in parallel with the output, while measuring it with
the multimeter. Then, I could give a number in decibels relative to
1 milliwatt. But for the purposes of a quick test, knowing that a
value of 1.1 volts RMS or so is the most you can get from a cheap
sound card, should give some idea what to realistically expect from
the M2A-VM sound output.
Another thing that occurs to me - the fact that you have HDMI on that
motherboard, means it is possible there is a digital sound channel for
the 690 itself. Perhaps you've noticed more than one sound device in
the Device Manager ? So that is one potential difference between that
particular board, and a lot of other ones. Your board could have a
digital channel that is transmitted over HDMI, as well as having a
separate HDaudio (ALC883).
A further thing you can check for, is the presence of any echo
suppression software used for something like Skype. I don't remember
all the details, but there is some interaction between that kind
of software, and audio operation. I think it is supposed to screw up
multi-channel setups, and work properly if the sound is in stereo
mode. I only mention it, as I've run out of other plausible causes.
When looking at the output (with your multimeter, or even while
listening to the speakers), one consistency check you can do, is
verify if both channels have equal strength. If only one channel was
weak, then you could explain that as a bad jack/plug contact, or even
a busted wire in the cables. But if both channels are weak in the
same way, and stay weak (not an intermittent condition), then
there must be something else (software) going on.
Low Audio Volume - M2A-VM HDMI 
Linear Mode
