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Sound from headphone jack extremely quiet

Posted: Sun 19 Aug 2018 16:41
by suaviant
Just as the subject says. Plugging in headphones cuts off sound to the main speakers (as expected, good) but the sound from the headphone port is super quiet. It is definitely there though.

I have hunted for a setting but can't find anything. Have tried a pair of earphones and a pair of headphones. Both have remotes attached (and so have three rings on the plug), I have nothing without a remote to test with, though I've never had this issue with any other piece of gaming hardware.

I wonder if this is hardware or software. Anyone else have this problem?

Using ROPI Slim 4.2.

Re: Sound from headphone jack extremely quiet

Posted: Mon 20 Aug 2018 09:12
by Admin
Does others have the same problems?
Have you increased sound to 100% in the emulationstation menu?
I'll check about this problem.

Re: Sound from headphone jack extremely quiet

Posted: Mon 20 Aug 2018 10:55
by suaviant
Thanks for the reply. I have upped the volume to 100 percent in the system menu, and the physical volume dial is all the way to the top too.

Sound without headphones is nice and loud.

Nobody else has confirmed they have the same problem though I did see one chap in the kickstarter comments asking if "anyone else's headjack wasn't working".

Re: Sound from headphone jack extremely quiet

Posted: Mon 20 Aug 2018 13:52
by Akira
suaviant wrote: Mon 20 Aug 2018 10:55 Thanks for the reply. I have upped the volume to 100 percent in the system menu, and the physical volume dial is all the way to the top too.

Sound without headphones is nice and loud.

Nobody else has confirmed they have the same problem though I did see one chap in the kickstarter comments asking if "anyone else's headjack wasn't working".
Hello together,

i have the same problem with my retrostone. Sound is loud and clear without headphones.

When i put the headphones in there seems to be no sound at all. So no. You are not alone with the problem and I also need help.

Re: Sound from headphone jack extremely quiet

Posted: Wed 22 Aug 2018 13:46
by Admin
I am investigating this problem with Retrorangepi developpers, we are not sure yet if it's hardware issue or software problem.
I just realized the unit I have with me in holiday have the same problem, but the headphone I carry are rubbish so I am not sure if that's not my headphone the problem.

Hope it's not a hardware problem on all RetroStones or it will be a really big problem...

Re: Sound from headphone jack extremely quiet

Posted: Wed 22 Aug 2018 14:49
by suaviant
Just to quote our e-mail exchange for everyone to see...

I have tried...
- booting the system with earphones in
- trying earphones with the speaker disconnected
- cleaning the jack with alcohol

None of those three worked. Hope for everyone's sake this is software ☺️ Good luck!

Re: Sound from headphone jack extremely quiet

Posted: Thu 23 Aug 2018 00:51
by Bradlydb
I too am having this issue. I would normally just email direct but since this seems to be a widespread issue I will just reply here. I have one set of headphones that seem to work. When I use my Bose QuietComfort headphones with the audio gain on the headphones set to "HI" then audio is there. It is still low and does not seem to vary in volume when using the volume wheel. The speaker does seem to function correctly as well as the volume control wheel on the speaker. I have tried 4 pairs of headphones and I only get an output on the Bose with the built-in amplifier.

Re: Sound from headphone jack extremely quiet

Posted: Thu 23 Aug 2018 15:09
by Admin
Oh that's sounds bad, for the test of prototype I used headphones (that do not have audio gain after double checking the model) but that have very loud volume all the time, so maybe I could hear the volume with them but it might be too low for regular/small headphones such as the free airplane headphones that I have now on holiday.

So it means maybe the audio filter that I added to improve the sound quality reduces volume too much..

I'm currently still in holiday and don't have access to a solder iron, can someone who has one test to remove R82 and R86 seen on the following picture and bridge these resistors with solder (so that it's same as replacing them with 0R resistor) and report if it solves the problem? (I'll extend your warranty if you damage something while doing so of course.)

Image
Image

Re: Sound from headphone jack extremely quiet

Posted: Thu 23 Aug 2018 16:46
by fraenksn
Received my Retrostone yesterday and I really really love it!
Pluggin' in on HIFI, it works fine, even on very low HIFI volume, but for headphones the output seems way too low. (Powered speakers should work fine) Its OK for me personally, as I wont use headphones anyway.

Re: Sound from headphone jack extremely quiet

Posted: Fri 24 Aug 2018 01:45
by suaviant
Admin wrote: Thu 23 Aug 2018 15:09 I'm currently still in holiday and don't have access to a solder iron, can someone who has one test to remove R82 and R86 seen on the following picture and bridge these resistors with solder (so that it's same as replacing them with 0R resistor) and report if it solves the problem? (I'll extend your warranty if you damage something while doing so of course.)

Thanks for the update. I will try this on Sat morning or Sunday if no one else does first.