# Turtle Beach: Left Speaker Cutting Out



## Crozarius (Nov 17, 2011)

Right now I'm having problems with my headset. Sometimes the speaker on the left side cuts out and the only way to make it come back is to tilt my head to the right slightly, which is uncomfortable. Sometimes the issue vanishes for a while after I fiddle with the cord or unplug the headset and put it back in. I've tried both the front and back audio jack, reinstalled my Realtek drivers, prayed to the Nine Divines, everything.

===Computer And Hardware Stats===

Turtle Beach Earforce Z2 Headset

Intel Core i5-2500 CPU @ 3.30GHz 3.60GHz

8.00 GB RAM

Windows 7 Enterprise 64 bit

Service Pack 1

NVIDIA GeForce 560 Ti

Gigabyte Z68A-D3-B3 Motherboard

======
I plugged my headset into another computer after the left speaker played up again, lo and behold, the left speaker now plays up on ALL the computers. I checked on all the computers that we own and the problem is on every single one of them. 

That means that it's the headset.

Problem is, I only just got this headset 2 weeks ago because my old Turtle Beach did EXACTLY THE SAME THING.

This thing cost me 90 dollars, why can't Turtle Beach get their **** together? The first one I owned worked fine for 3 years, then went dead at the same time that two things happened.
*
1) We moved house.
*
I have no clue how this would affect my headset in any way, shape or form. But I think that there MUST be something about this place that is chewing through my headsets. I had my TurtleBeach X11 for 3 years and it bites the dust after 3 weeks here; then my new $90 Z2 dies in around the same time.


*2) New computer*

We've already established that it isn't just my new computer, it turns out that EVERY computer has the same problem. On a side note, it may be that there is an electrical fault in the audio jacks and it's somehow screwed with the headsets permanently.
Okay then. I have conducted a series of tests and drawn a helpful diagram with MS Paint.












So basically, whenever the sound box thing swung to the left, the speaker was fine, then whenever it swing to the right, it cut out. Odd. Upon further investigation, the wire before the voice box on the audio jack side HAD to be taut, else it would not work.


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## Crozarius (Nov 17, 2011)

Right, so I can't find the Edit button so I'll post a new post.

My sound card is apparently a Realtek one that came with my Motherboard. After plugging the headset into the rear audio jacks, disabling ALL the settings in Realtek, then applying them, then reactivating them all and applying them, the headset is working fine. I'm not sure what exactly this is triggering but all I know is that the stuttering in the left ear will come back eventually. Getting this to happen involves a lot of guesswork and I'm relieved that I can go listen to some music for the time being.

The issue is not solved yet as this is only a temp fix so I would still appreciate help.


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

Hi Crozarius and welcome to TSF :wave:

As the headphones are new and you've proved it's a fault with the headphones, you've 2 choices.

1}- Return the headphones for replacement/refund, or....

2}- Attempt to repair them yourself, if you feel confident enough to attempt it. It would seem that there's either a faulty bit of wire or a connection in the 'volume-control' box.

You'll need to open the box to examine the solder-joints and/or see if anything appears loose - Whilst it's open, see whether it has a 3 or 4 strand cable, it might have a 'common-ground/earth' wire for both channels or a wire for each channel, along with the signal-wire for each channel.

Depending on the actual plug, you might be able to open it by just unscrewing it or you might need to replace it with a new one, if it's moulded together.

Then it's just a matter of unsoldering the faulty cable and soldering the new bit, wire by wire.


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