ProMedia 2.1 R. Ch. cuts out (rarely) on YT talking-only videos, comes back to life with bassy music

[TwoCables]

Ok, this is a strange issue that's difficult to explain, so please read all of this. I apologize for its length. My thread title is bad and that's because this is hard to pin down. So, here's what I've been noticing in the past several months:

 

Three times now in the past several months, the right channel died on me in such a way that sounded like I had a loose connection that someone was messing with more and more and more until finally just severing the connection (like, a brief cut-out, then a longer cut-out, then a longer one, then a longer one, and then finally nothing). I checked ALL of my connections, but no, everything is perfectly secure.

 

The first two times it happened, it somehow came back to life. I mean, I don't have a clue how it happened or how I did it or when it happened. Just, within like 5 minutes of it dying, I had it back. I don't know what brought it back, but I think I do now because it happened again today and this time I suddenly had the right channel restored the EXACT SAME INSTANT I accidentally played something that had a punchy bass drum at a somewhat-loud volume. The exact same instant it had to play that bass drum, the right channel came back to life. It was like the right channel was asleep and I woke it up by making it play that.

 

Now, I've played hours and hours and hours and hours and hours of music, games and movies and I've never had an issue. So far, it seems like it only happens when watching a talking-only YouTube video, and even worse, I've watched countless hours of talking-only YouTube videos. So, I can't predict when it will happen next.

 

Have you ever heard of such a thing? What could the problem be? Could it be the fuse in my right satellite speaker? Roughly 10 years ago, I had to replace the fuse in a friend's PM 2.1 satellite because his died on him and until we discovered the culprit (the fuse in the satellite), we had no idea why it died. We picked one up at the nearby Radio Shack, put it in and presto, the right channel was restored.

 

I'm listening to music right now and the sound is BEAUTIFUL and STRONG - just as it always is. The same is true for movies and games, but those 2 or three times in the past several months with talking-only YouTube videos, the right channel started cutting out intermittently (just as though they had an audio problem when making their video) and then died completely. In fact, the first time it happened, I ignored it because I thought that it was just a part of the video, technical difficulties. Then the right channel cut out completely. When the video ended, I clicked a link and the "click" sound only played in the left channel. I soon discovered that I wasn't getting sound out of my right channel.

 

Oh, and restarting the computer doesn't help either, so it's definitely either the speaker system or my sound card (the X-Fi Titanium HD) experiencing some sort of hardware failure of some kind. I guess. I don't know. lol Sheesh. I'm confused. I need help.

Edited February 1, 2016 by TwoCables

[TwoCables]

Is my original post too long? I'm just curious. Or is it that the person or people who know the answer haven't read it yet?

 

I'm only curious. Please don't take this as impatience. I don't know the speed of this forum at all.

[TwoCables]

Bump to the top.

[Coytee]

I'm not a techie....but the PM had (has?) a known issue with the DIN cord.  What happened (with three out of three units for me) is it seems the plug part of the DIN comes apart internally.  It's hard to see.  My units finally stopped working.  

 

Radio Shack isn't around any more (online?) but someone had a Radio Shack DIN cord that they figured out the color scheme so if you took "yellow" on the Klipsch unit to "Red" on the RS unit, and "Red" on the Klpisch unit to "Green" on the RS unit....  the pinnout would be the same.

 

I did that and it worked like a charm.

 

Later, I just ordered a new replacement DIN from Klipsch.

 

My understanding is, if you have a DIN plug that comes straight out of the unit, you might want to investigate it further.  If you have a DIN plug that is a 90 degree plug, it might be the newer design.

 

If that's not your ultimate problem, then I'm lost.

[TwoCables]

Thank you for your reply.

 

It never moves, so it might not be. If I have this problem again while watching a talk video, then I'll check to make sure the cable is secure and I'll update this thread with the results.

Edited February 1, 2016 by TwoCables

[Coytee]

Mine never moved either....it was sitting in the corner.

 

I think what happened (in my case) is some kind of glue that was internal, simply dried out and let go.

 

I'd go wiggle your DIN a little bit and see if you get any static in the system.  If you do, then I'm putting my bet on a defective plug.  If not, then I have no idea.

[TwoCables]

Hmm, nothing bad happened. I wiggled and I even pulled on it a bit and pushed it in but nothing bad happened.

[Kyle_N]

I have this exact same issue... except mine is the left channel and not the right. I also get the mids cutting out (seemingly randomly), which sounds like what the OP described.

 

Wiggling the audio cable (from the computer) usually resolves it, but not always. The cable has been bent up quite a bit, so it's reasonable to believe it's broken on the inside. While this makes sense for resolving the left channel issues, I can't see how this would affect the mids.

 

I assume the DIN is the connector from the control pod to the amp on the sub? It seems fine, but I'll check that next. Mine are about ten years old, so they're the original design.

if it is the DIN plug, can it be repaired or replaced? I see it on Klipsch.com, but I'm in Canada, so there doesn't seem to be a way to get it here.