Sound Problems

[Thunder]

Suddenly I appear to be having problems with the speakers on my VAIO PCG-Z1XSP. Even though all settings are set full volume, the volume is massivly reduced. You can still hear it but it's probably at half the volume it used to be. Same thing happens with earphones.

Any idea for cause and repair anybody?

[Twisted-Rizla]

Sure you haven't got the mute on?

[Thunder]

Very sure. It's not muted, there is still sound coming out but much weaker than before. Can't figure out why.

[scottx]

It happens with all sound or only when you see a movie?
In this case could be the ac3 volume that is very low..

[Thunder]

It happens with all sound. It's like the output of the speakers has been halved.

Any ideas what to do to rectify?

[scottx]

In that case I don't know..
Try checking your options in BIOS, or updating your sound card drivers..
Or, if you have it, try booting with a live linux cd/dvd (any distro) that detects your sound card. Then you should play any sound in linux to check if remains low. If the problem persists even in linux, the problem is in your hardware and you should contact sony.
Only my opinion

If you don't have any linux live cd/dvd, try Knoppix
http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html