Why is the volume low when I plug my headphones directly into the sound card jack?

Volume low when I plug my headphones directly into the sound card jack?

You may find that the volume is low when you connect headphones into the sound card headphone port. To fix this you can try the following step to see if it resolves the issue.

1. Verify there is no damage or kinks on the headphone cable or connector.

2. Check the Headphone volume is not muted. Refer to the article No Sound from External Speakers on your Computer for details on how to do this.

3. Connect the headphones into the speaker-out jack.

4. Some sound cards only have a single output jack (Line Out), while other sound cards contain two output jacks (Line Out and Speaker Out). The difference between these two outputs is that Speaker Out is amplified by the sound card whilst Line Out is similar to the audio output on the back of a VCR (which requires an amplifier to listen to it).

   • If you have a sound card with two output jacks, try plugging the headphones into the Speaker Out jack.

   • If you are simply listening to CD audio music, if it's available on your drive you can plug your headphones directly into the front of your CD or DVD drive.

   • If you have a sound card with only a Line Out jack, try adjusting the Windows volume control.

5. If you still are unable to adjust the volume settings to your satisfaction, you may need to run the signal through a pair of amplified speakers or some other device that provides amplification.

6. Connect a verified working set of headphones.

If the above steps do not resolve the issue, please contact us.