Hello all...original soundless gal here. Long story short, I had gotten moisture in my headphone jack.

I tried it all... changing every setting carefully, checking the volume (none), then turning it off. Restarting, rebooting, multiple times throughout my trek. Ugh. It finally occurred to me I'd had the iPad near a sink earlier that day. I know it got wet very shortly before I jumped up and nabbed it.

Sure enough, after standing up end down overnight, iPad sounds were back to normal.

Thanks for all of your knowledgable and kind words of hope! - Marla