Bad/Muffled Sound Quality

Question

Level 1

2 points

Bad/Muffled Sound Quality

Hi everyone,
Just recently with my iMac I have been experiencing horrid sound quality from my speakers (internal, external through the headphone jack, and through my Logitech G35s) I have tried disconnecting everything, restarting, and nothing really has seemed to work. Any ideas what may be my problem?

24" Intel iMac late 2008, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Sep 28, 2009 5:46 PM

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Answer 1

den.thed

Level 10

90,988 points

Sep 28, 2009 6:14 PM in response to powerpcmac

Hi ppm

I'm not sure if this will help, but go to: Applications > Utilities and open Audio MIDI Setup, then check to make sure that for Output the Format: is set to 44100.0Hz 2ch-16bit.

Dennis

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Answer 2

Sep 28, 2009 5:55 PM in response to powerpcmac

What are you using to play the sound? Does it sound bad in any application? Does the startup sound
also sound bad?

Have you shut down your iMac (power off completely), and started up, since you noticed this problem?

Have you tried resetting PRAM?

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379

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Answer 3

powerpcmac Author

Level 1

2 points

Sep 28, 2009 7:14 PM in response to den.thed

Resetting PRAM and NVRAM did not improve quality. However, the output for the headphones was set to 11k and I switched it to 44k with no improvement. Same with the built in speakers, and with headphones plugged in.

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Answer 4

Oct 3, 2009 10:56 AM in response to powerpcmac

My Mac actually just started having the same problem (which is very inconvenient considering I use GarageBand). Was there an exact pattern to reseting the PRAM and restarting your computer? For instance: I tried Shutting Down then holding Command, Option, "P" and "R" when I turned the computer back on. In your post you said that you "restarted a few more times WHILE reseting ram". What did you mean by that?

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Answer 5

Oct 3, 2009 2:40 PM in response to Josh Kasen

I think it just means the poster just tried the same procedure again.

When I reset PRAM, I keep the keys held down until I hear the startup sound one extra time (so for the THIRD time). So I am basically doing two PRAM resets in a row.

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Answer 6

powerpcmac Author

Level 1

2 points

Sep 28, 2009 6:08 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

Everything sounds bad, in every program. I will try resetting PRAM

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Answer 7

powerpcmac Author

Level 1

2 points

Sep 28, 2009 7:36 PM in response to powerpcmac

I restarted a few more times while resetting ram. Seems to be working fine now. Thanks a lot for your help.

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