Is your speaker distorting sound on high volumes? Are you tired of the crackling sound ruining your immersion while watching a movie or listening to a song? Well, we are going to show you a few ways through which you can fix that and enhance your listening experience.
How to Fix Speaker Distortion
There are several reasons why a speaker might start distorting audio at a high volume, like, the speaker being pushed beyond its limit, problems in its wiring, dust blockages, and so on. And this audio distortion does not only occur in stereos and other sorts of external speakers, but the speakers of your phones, cars, and even laptops are prone to it. Which is why we are going to show you how to fix speaker distortion in each of these cases.
How to Fix Speaker Distortion in Cars
If you’ve just bought a new car or a new sound system for it, then sometimes you might face some speaker distortion. This is because you are not familiar with the speaker’s limit, and so playing audio beyond the limit might cause distortion. Also, other components of the car like the signal lights, air conditioning, or wipers might be interfering with the audio of the speakers.
When dealing with the former problem, you need to turn your speakers down to 75% of the volume, which will ensure loud yet clear music. But even if the sound is still distorted, you need to make sure that the other components of the car are not interfering with the speakers. To do this, you need to first turn off all of them and only have your speaker on. If the noise is clear, then slowly turn the other components back on one by one. Through this, you can locate the exact component that is causing the interference.
Another way to prevent distortion is to avoid any sort of bass boosted music. This is because there are many cheap ways to add bass to music through various free programs. And so if the bass is added in the music unprofessionally, it will certainly cause a lot of distortion in your speakers at extreme volumes. If you still want to play the bass boosted audio, then to prevent distortion, you can simply turn down the bass in the settings of your audio player. The preferred setting for no distortion is +10 bass and -5 treble.
There are other ways through which you can prevent speaker distortion even at quite high volumes, like using high pass filters. These are usually the best option if the sound distortion is from the speakers installed in the door of your cars. This is because these filters let high-frequency signals pass through while making it difficult for low-frequency ones to pass. This basically means that these filters will block out the bass in the audio that is causing the distortion.
Also, you can eliminate audio distortion from your speakers by installing car amplifiers. This is because they supply a higher power output inside the speakers that results in a louder sound without any sort of distortion. And so, through amplifiers, you are able to enjoy clear music at quite high volumes.
One of the reasons why distortion occurs in car speakers is because cars do not exactly have the best acoustics. This is because there are a lot of elements inside cars that are sure to interfere with the way the audio is heard by you. These elements include glass windows and windshields, as well as the plastic interior that reflects the sound produced by the speakers. Also, the foam padding of the seats and the carpets on the floor have the ability to absorb sounds.
Therefore you need to install an equalizer in your car audio system to minimize all these factors affecting your audio and give you a clear sound. Equalizers also let you control the tone as well as the bass of your audio. Through which you are able to have the perfect settings for your audio for your optimum music listening experience.
How to Fix Speaker Distortion in Cell Phones
Over time many of us have experienced the audio from the speakers of our phone getting distorted. Usually, there are two reasons why this happens, the first is due to problems in the hardware, and the second is because of problems in the software. When it comes to the hardware, the reasons are mainly water damage and dust or debris blockage in the speaker.
Water damage to your phone can not only occur through accidentally dropping your phone in water but also through sweat and humidity. If your cell phone speakers have suffered water damage, then the first thing you need to do is turn it off and take out the battery if possible. Next, dry your phone using a dry cloth or tissue paper, or place it in rice. Once you are sure that your phone has dried completely, turn it on and check the audio of your speakers.
To locate dust or debris blockage of your speaker, you need to closely examine the speaker net of your phone. If you are able to see the blockages, then using a thin tool, like a needle, gently try to scoop out the debris from the speaker net. Once that is done, play an audio file on your phone to check if the distortion has subsided.
When it comes to speaker distortion due to the software, like the interference of third-party apps, etc, then the process to fix it becomes a little more complicated. This is due to the different operating systems for Apple and Android, because of which the fix for one might not work for the other. And so, we are going to show you what you can do to fix the audio distortion for each.
For Android phones, like Samsung, you need to restart your phone in Safe Mode. The exact method might vary for various android devices, due to which you might have to look up the method for your model. But one of the ways you can do this is by holding down the Power off option after pressing the power button and then selecting the Reboot to Safe Mode option. This will reboot your phone without restarting any third-party ads. And so there would not be any interference with your speakers.
If this does not work, then you might have to do a Hard or a Factory reset. Again this method is different for different android models, which is why you might have to look up the proper way to do it on your phone. It basically removes all the data from your phone and reverts it back to the way it was when you bought it. And so this also cleans up the software from any bugs or viruses that might be causing the speaker distortion. However, you have to make sure to create a backup for your data beforehand.
For IOS, if there is a problem in the software causing speaker distortion, then you need to restore your iPhone. This is basically the same as the Hard reset of the Android phones as it wipes your phone from all of its data and restores it back to factory settings. This is why you need to back up all of your data before restoring it so that you don’t lose it.
If the speaker distortion of your phone is still there after trying all these methods, then the speakers might be damaged beyond your ability to repair. And so the only way you would be able to hear clear audio is through taking your phone to a professional and getting the speakers fixed or replaced.
How to Fix Audio Distortion in External Speakers
The main purpose of external speakers is to produce loud and clear audio for your entertainment, which is why it is all the more disappointing when there is audio distortion. Therefore, to save yourself from the irritating static noise from your speakers, there are a few methods that you can try before spending money on a professional to take a look at them.
First of all, you need to make sure that you know the limit of your speakers. If you try to push beyond those limits, then the sound distortion is inevitable. For this, you need to check the maximum volume that your speakers are able to produce without distortion and try to stick to that volume limit. The best option for this is around 75% of the total volume of the speaker.
If the audio is still distorted despite being 75% or less, then you need to make sure that the connection of your speaker to the audio system is fine. In the case of non-wireless speakers, you need to check if they are plugged into the system properly and the pin connection is not loose, and that the wire connecting the two devices is not damaged. In the case of wireless speakers, make sure that the speaker is connected only to your device and no other device. Otherwise, there might be interference that might cause distortion.
If the connection is fine, but the speaker is still producing distorted audio, then there might be a problem with the audio system that is connected to the speaker. Try to adjust the different sound modes on the system to find the most compatible one that produces the least distortion. You should also try to remove the audio device and connect your speaker to a new one to check if the source itself is not faulty.
If all this fails, you need to check your speakers for any sort of damage in the wiring or the circuitry and try replacing any old or worn-out wires. You can find the replacements either online or in a hardware store for a cheap price. If this still does not fix the audio of your speakers, then you might have to take your speakers to get fixed by a professional.
How to Fix Speaker Distortion in Laptops
Laptop speakers are quite susceptible to audio distortion due to the speakers being small and not usually good quality. And so on really high volumes, audio with a lot of base is bound to produce crackling and scratchy noises. Therefore the first step to fix the audio distortion is to lower the volume of your laptop. But if this step doesn’t work or if your laptop has recently started giving out distorted audio, then there are a few things that you can do in order to fix this problem.
The first method through which you can fix the audio is by troubleshooting the speakers of your laptops. For Windows, you need to open up the troubleshoot settings and select the ‘playing audio’ option. Then click on ‘Run the troubleshooter’ and follow the instructions given to you. Or you can right-click the speaker on your taskbar and select the option labeled ‘troubleshoot sound problems’. And so your laptop will find out the problem with your speakers.
For Mac, on the other hand, you need to restart your laptop, and while it is restarting, you need to hold down the ‘d’ key. This will open the Apple Diagnostic, showing you a progress bar as your laptop looks for any problems in the system. After that is done, it will inform you of any problems that your speakers may have. From here, you can either proceed with restarting your computer or turn it off.
You can also adjust the sound format of your laptop to one that produces the least distortion. For Windows, you need to right-click on the speaker option on your taskbar and select ‘Open Volume mixer’. Then you need to click on ‘Speakers’, which will open up speaker properties. Next, click on the ‘Advanced’ option on the top and change the default sound format from 16 bit, 48000 Hz to 16 bit 44100. Then click ‘Apply’, and your sound distortion would be considerably lower than before.
To do this on a Mac, first of all, you need to go to the Apple menu and select System preferences. After that, you need to click on ‘Sound’ and from the options, select the equalizer. When that is done, you will have two options through which you can adjust the audio; you can either choose a preset option or change the separate elements of your speakers using the sliders.
FAQs
What causes speaker distortion?
There are many reasons for speaker distortion, but the most common one is by pushing the audio of the speaker beyond its limit.
How to fix speaker distortion in mobile phones?
You can fix speaker distortion in mobile phones by physically cleaning the dust and debris out of the speaker net or rebooting your phone.
Wrapping up
Speaker distortion can be extremely annoying when you are trying to relax by listening to some music or immersing yourself in a movie. Not only this, speaker distortion in cell phones can make it extremely difficult for you to understand someone over a call. Which is why it is important that you learn how to fix this problem yourself so that unless your speakers are seriously damaged, you are saved a trip to an electronic technician.
