*  Make sure that the AA Micro is plugged DIRECTLY into your Powered Speakers 
   or Receiver / Sound System. Do NOT use a USB 2.0 hub. They do NOT work!

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Poor Sound Quality 1:
Q:  Just installed the cute little bugger on my Fujitsu laptop to replace
    broken headphone jack.
      - Low level audio is distorted.
      - Quiet sounds are gravely.
      - Louder sounds are very good.
        Volume controls on the control panel as well as the applications 
        (Rhapsody, Real Player, etc. are all turned down very low, just above
        cutting out in order not to have the sound be too loud in headphones.

A:  That's where the problem is. You need to have a good balance between
    the various Apps in order to achieve the best possible 'Signal-To-Noise
    Ratio' as they call it in the Audio world. Extremes at either end 
    (high or low) are never a good idea. So, start with the level lowered
    all the way and gradually insrease it until it sounds about right.    

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Poor Sound Quality 2:
Q:  -  The unit is painfully loud with headphones and I have to turn the
       volume from the control panel almost all the way down to get an 
       acceptable output level. Even with the speaker type set to headphones.
    -  Audio quality is very poor.  Lots of noise and many pops/clicks.
       This seems to be the case regardless of Surround/Environment effects
       and Performance settings from the advanced audio properties.

A:  The Audio Advantage Micro amplifies the volume level with a better 
    "Signal-To-Noise" Ratio than any built-on the motherboard Sound Chip. 
    Headphones 'Impedance' varies from model to model, yielding different 
    amplitude (level) with different Headphones. If you are used to the 
    previous Settings, you would need to adjust to the new Settings.  

    A good balance between the multiple Windows Apps that we use nowadays 
    may be required. Please remember that a lot of current Media Players 
    force their own settings to the Sound System in our Computers. The same
    is true with some Internet files; once you play them, they may adjust the
    level of your Sound.         
    
    If the Headphones are low quality, there is a very good chance that they
    cannot handle the level produced by the AAM, resulting in distortion
    or poor quality. The nature of Audio Sound is such that it is dependent 
    on a series of Components in the Audio chain and not in one item. 

    Often times, upgrading one Component in the Audio chain, (i.e. Speakers)
    that are capable of delivering more details with better accuracy, you get
    the opposite results: You may wind up with sound quality 'poorer' than 
    before, since all the artifacts and 'undesirable' details previously 
    'masked' by the poor quality are now audible.  

    If a poor quality CD is played on your 'boom box' speakers, you may be 
    able to 'live' with it. Try to play the same CD in a System costing a 
    few thousand Dollars and it will be 'painful'. Sorry, this is the nature
    of S o u n d besides being a very subjective issue, since ears are made
    different, and so is the perception of what and how we hear it.  
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