Audigy 2 Value left channel stopped working *complete

Question

Sony Vaio pcv-rs530
P4 3.2 Ghz
Gb Ram
All-In-Wonder ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 28mb
Windows XP Home Edition v02' Service Pack 2
Logitech Z-5300e 5. Speaker system
I've had my audigy 2 value for about two months now. I managed to install it after a huge adventure of wiping my c: dri've after my first failed installation which ended me with no sound and no hope of restoring it back to normal, except the wipe, of course. It worked for a while, two months, but then I was having issues with my video card, possibly due to overheating because my audigy 2 value was one empty slot away from it and the circulation of air was not enough to keep it cool.
I stopped getting video related crashes after I put my sound card to the last slot, effecti'vely taking out my fax/modem, which I never used in the first place, in order to put the audigy 2 in the last slot, farthest away from my ATI AIW Radeon 9800 Pro. That little modem was blocking the last slot, making it impossible to put my sound card there. Then I noticed a few days later that my front left speaker was not working. I switched the speakers around, and everything worked except for the speaker plugged into the green line ouput, more specifically, the left front speaker never worked.
I'm currently using Logitech's z-5300e 5. speakers system, and they worked fine up until recently where the front left channel will not work. I tested it out on my xbox, and the speakers work fine. Both left and right speakers were okay. I took out my old desktop speakers that came with my vaio and plugged it into the green line output, and even then the left speaker didn't work. The same thing happened when I plugged my headphones in. The left earphone never worked. Both the old and new speakers and the headphones work properly otherwise (when not plugged into the audigy 2). I'm thinking my line output left channel has stopped working on the sound card itself.
I noticed that if I pushed the speaker plug into the outlet halfway, the front left speaker worked, but when I tested the calibration -- the voice matching said "front right" through the front left speaker. Even with all the speakers connected in any configuration, there was never a mention of a "front left" speaker. I concluded that the front left channel on the audigy 2 has stopped working.
Is this assumption correct? If so, wow. How would I go about fixing this? Does it have something to do with the slot switching? I reinstalled the drivers and programs for the audigy 2 after I switched. Although it did not seem to have a problem with me switching the slots even when I didn't uninstall anything. It detected the hardware switch, and everything worked fine. Should I try switching back to the other slot and hope my video card doesn't become one with my motherboard? The warranty has expired on my audigy 2 value, and I don't think I'll be compensated if I have no warranty, correct? All the drivers are updated, and it <EM>has</EM> worked before.
I've heard of other people's audigy 2 values that have had other channels just fizzle out in a few months. Am I one of them? Any information would be really helpful! Thanks.Message Edited by Paulie on 05-2-2005 06:30 AM

Answer 1

If you're sure noone was funny and turned down the left channel in advanced tab of Surround Mixer for instance, perhaps the connector loosened on the board or the soldering went bad; since your warranty expired (check with the store first!) I'd have someone who knows his way with electronics and soldering irons have a look at it.
PS I have the Audigy 2 Value as well; so far it works good but had I known it was treated like the ugly little kid in the Creative family that noone really likes to deal with i'd have gotten the ZS.Message Edited by Marco on 05-2-2005 0:2 PM