Solved Vista audio acting bizarrely

[Elen Sila]

I got new headphones a few weeks ago because my old ones didn't have a long enough cord. My new headphones have been working fine since I got them. All of a sudden, yesterday or so, my headphones started acting strangely. When the jack is pulled out slightly, I get perfect sound on Windows Media Player, and I can hear Windows' default noises just fine, but other programs are all muted, and the headphones icon on the bottom right corner of the screen says I don't have any audio output devices connected. When I push the jack in all the way, I get sound from everything, and Vista registers that I have an output device connected, but only noises of certain pitch are perfectly audible, and everything else is extremely quiet. (For example, in certain Youtube videos, I can hear the high pitched noises but not the low pitched ones; other Youtube videos are completely silent; and songs on Windows Media Player play the low pitched noises, but the high pitched sounds are almost impossible to hear.) I thought at first that maybe there was some mechanical problem with my headphones, but I've inspected the cord and the jack, and there appears to be no damage. What might the problem be? Should I try returning the headphones and exchanging them for a different pair? I still have the receipt, but I'm not sure if that's still an option. If it isn't the headphones, what might it be?

 

[Elen Sila]

EDIT – I just tried out my old headphones, and they work perfectly. So actually this isn't a problem with Vista; it's a hardware problem. I guess I'll just go try and exchange the new headphones. I can't seem to figure out how to delete this thread, so I guess I'll just mark it as solved.