very low volume

[peekaboo]

i got back home yesterday after 6 weeks and reconnected my computer.
the audio volume is very low.
i took the speakers from another computer and the sound is nice and loud there (speakers are fine) but on mine it's super low.
i have the system volume and the wmp volume at the maximum and i can barely hear anything.
What could be causing this?
the computer was fine when i turned it off 6 weeks ago.

my motherboard is an asus a8ne.

[TwoRails]

I'm sure you have, peekaboo, but just for a double check, did you set the individual wave, midi, etc. volumes up?

[peekaboo]

yup.

i connected the speakers to the laptop and the sound seemed to be very low there too.
so i took them to my lab (university) and tested them on my computer there. sound seemed low but not super low.
i took home the ones from the lab and tested them and the sound seems ok now but i'm not sure if it's because my speakers are faulty or because the lab speakers (very basic) have volume control.

[glc]

Sounds like the amplifiers in the speakers themselves took a hit and they are running as passive units.

[Panama Red]

yup.

i connected the speakers to the laptop and the sound seemed to be very low there too.
so i took them to my lab (university) and tested them on my computer there. sound seemed low but not super low.
i took home the ones from the lab and tested them and the sound seems ok now but i'm not sure if it's because my speakers are faulty or because the lab speakers (very basic) have volume control.

Reading the quote I highlighted makes me think your speakers from home don't have a volume control. Is that correct? Do these speakers have a separate power source to plug into a wall outlet? If not, you probably need powered speakers instead of the old passive ones.

[peekaboo]

i had powered speakers with volume control that were giving me trouble for a while. every once in a while i would lose sound and it would only come out of one speaker and sound like i was overhearing someones earphones. jiggling one of the input plugs would fix the problem.

when i plugged that speaker system into my computer now, i couldn't get it to work properly so i connected a pair of basic (passive) speakers that i had lying around and they too sounded earphones that are not in the ears. so i figured the problem was likely to be with my motherboard and not the speakers but now i'm thinking it's probably the speakers.

[peekaboo]

i think i'm going to buy the logitech x230 speakers.
does anyone have any suggestions before i do?

[TwoRails]

I've recently seen them recommended here in the forums by a couple of folks, so I bought a set as a present for someone else. Retail stores are selling them for about $60 but Newegg.com has them for $32 with free shipping!!

[peekaboo]

Thanks.
i'm in canada so newegg is no good for me.
i'll buy them from ncix for 44 CAD.

[TwoRails]

DooH! Sorry, I didn't notice. I didn't convert, but 44 CAD sounds like a good price, too.

[peekaboo]

bought the x230 and i'm very satisfied.