Music playback issues

[Darlos]

Alright, so I got a used laptop (a ThinkPad R32). It's kinda crappy, missing a key, the onboard speakers don't work... hey, it was 250 bucks, and it gets me on the internet and lets me do various things (I'm studying abroad in Japan and didn't have the luxury of bringing my PC with me, nor am I loaded).

Well, the oddest problem I've come across with it is when it tries to play certain video game music formats (primarily SNES, Genesis, and GBA). I can only describe the problem as how it sounds: its like the relative volume levels of the different instruments in a song are reversed. So, the stuff thats supposed to be quieter and in the background of a song is louder, and the main melodic parts are quieter. It really sucks when the harmony drowns out the melody.

This happens both when running games in an emulator, or just playing the music files back with a player or winamp plugin. I've tried messing with the computer's sound settings, winamp settings, plugin settings, and emulator settings, but with no luck.

Does anyone have any clue what could be causing this? This certainly seems to be an issue related to emulation, though I'm sure it's caused by the computer. Still, I don't know where else to go...
<P ID="signature"></P>

[sweetkool_ind93]

Yeah, it may be your computer, because I got a Dell OptiPlex GX1(made 8 years ago<img src=smilies/banghead.gif>), running with a very sh*tty onboard Crystal Semiconductors card(yet again, all of it was manufactured 8 years ago), and everything sounds alright. <img src=smilies/erm.gif> I'll look into it, see if I turn up anything.

Hold on, what winamp plugin are you running? I'm running SNESAmp 3.20.
<P ID="signature">"Now serving number 67." ~Sam Fisher</P><P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by sweetkool_ind93 on 02/28/07 10:02 AM.</FONT></P>

[The 9th Sage]

> Well, the oddest problem I've come across with it is when it
> tries to play certain video game music formats (primarily
> SNES, Genesis, and GBA). I can only describe the problem as
> how it sounds: its like the relative volume levels of the
> different instruments in a song are reversed.

Hmm...very strange. Have you tried stuff like reinstalling DirectX to see if that fixes it? (though I don't know if the program you are using is utilising DirectX)
<P ID="signature">http://www.xanga.com/ZeldaDDhttp://xc4.xanga.com/a19a76323353179582401/z54103151.png
In the post there is a cow...</a></P>

[sweetkool_ind93]

Are you using the equalizer?
<P ID="signature">"Now serving number 67." ~Sam Fisher</P>

[Darlos]

I'm using SNESAmp as well. As I said, though, the problem crops up in ZSNES as well, while actually playing games. So, I think the problem lies outside of winamp plugins and emulators, even though it seems to be related to them.

Also, I tried re-installing DirectX a while ago, but I don't think thats the issue. And yes I've put the winamp equalizer to use, but that was in response to the problem. It wasn't on before, and it doesn't really help anyway, as it can't seem to affect the volume levels of individual instrumental parts of the music, just bass and treble and such.<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Darlos on 03/01/07 05:04 AM.</FONT></P>