I just hooked up my desktop computer to a HDTV/Monitor. I hooked up the sound to it also. The problem I am having is that the sound coming from the computer is low, so I need to raise the volume on the TV to max to be able to hear it decently. Then it is WAY too loud for regular TV. I know I’ll get tired of changing the sound from switching back and forth really soon.
The sound on the computer is set to max, so I know that isn’t the problem.
The question I have is: Is there any programs or utilities I can use to increase the volume output from a computer speaker out plug?
Do you have a sound card or are you using the on board audio?
Either way, if you have the computer sound tuned all the way up and it’s not working, I would suggest you get a sound card that has a output marked “Line Out”.
I’m using the on board audio. The motherboard has a 5.1 audio output, with like, what, 6 outputs? I have all the sound going through only one of the outputs though since the TV has only 1 input (front 2 speakers).
If there isn’t a way to fix it, I might just put my powered speakers back on, but just figured it would be easier to use the TV speakers.
Have you looked through all the volume and sound settings on your computer? In addition to the simple volume slider, you can sometimes go into your sound settings or special sound drivers and raise it even higher, or fake it by making a custom equalizer preset that raises all the levels equally.
And some media players offer similar functionality if your OS/sound drivers don’t.
Check those options first as they’ll be your cheapest and easiest.
Do have an s/pdif out option? I have 6 channel jacks as well, but without amplification, they’re surprisingly quiet. It also has an optical s/pdif jack, as well though, which is much louder, but stereo only.
Barring that, you’re probably best going back to amplified PC speakers. I have a similar setup with a my computer hooked to my TV from an DVI to HDMI cable, and I just let the PC handle the audio. But it has a 505 Watt surround sound system.
Before you do anything expensive, double click on your volume icon and make sure that all of the volume sliders are up, particularly the wave slider. I find that certain programs that have control over volume (e.g., Skype) seem to adjust volume with the wave slider instead of the master volume. The result is that after a while I find the computer is too quiet even with the volume at max.