On Thu, 19 Mar 2020 17:44:23 +0700 Ken Heard <k...@heard.name> wrote:
> I think that this particular laptop has mono sound. I have been > using it temporarily to stream content by HDMI to a LG HD monitor and > then by fibre optical cable to a NED D3020 V2 hybrid amplifier and > finally to a pair of bass reflect speakers. Unfortunately sound > comes out of only one speaker. > > After extensive tests I have determined to my satisfaction that the > problem is in the laptop. I can test the two speakers built in the > laptop separately, but I have no way of knowing whether the sound so > produced is mono or stereo. I could find no specs for this laptop > with details about the sound card. > > Lack of such specs indicates to me that Acer does not want people to > know that this laptop is mono only. Is mono sound the norm for low > market laptops such as this one and notebooks? > No. I have the cheapest laptop (HP), a previous cheapest laptop (Acer), the cheapest netbook (Acer) and a previous cheapest netbook (Acer) I could find when buying, and all do stereo sound just fine, in fact these days the cheapest of sound chips will do more channels than Fantasia... you can buy a USB dongle with pretty decent sound out for a couple of Pounds/Dollars. Buy/borrow the cheapest earphones you can find, if you don't already have such. Plug into the laptop and select the headphone jack as output. Locate a modern pop music track. Play in VLC. Under Audio->Stereo Mode, switch between mono and stereo. If you can't hear any difference, if the sound is located in the centre of your head in both modes, you only have mono. Or if the Stereo option is greyed out.... There are quite a few tracks with deliberate stereo effects, most stuff by Pink Floyd, Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love etc., and they make stereo very obvious, even on laptop speakers. But pretty much any music will have stereo differences which are obvious on headphones, but maybe not on the poor excuses for loudspeakers in laptops. If you're getting convincing stereo, then the problem is elsewhere in the path. I always suspect HDMI of anything that involves it. Yes, it can do many channels, and something with 'HDMI' stamped on it should do at least stereo, but that may be the weak link in the chain. You should have a headphone jack on any modern screen which handles audio, try your cheap earphones in that, with sound via HDMI. Again, VLC provides a quick mono/stereo switch, but many sound hardware drivers can also do that. -- Joe
