So when I listen with my headphones now, they only play the background music (if that makes sense). The music is almost echo-y and sounds far away. I rarely get the main music/singer, and if I do hear that, it also sounds distant and echo-y.

If you can hear the music in your PlayStation 3 (PS3) but people speaking sounds faint and echoed, there are a few things you can try to improve the sound quality:
1. Adjust the audio settings: Go to the PS3 menu and select "Settings" > "Sound Settings" > "Audio Output Settings." Choose the appropriate audio output settings for your system and TV or monitor, and make sure that the correct input channel is selected.
2. Check your connections: Make sure that all of your cables are securely connected to the PS3 and the TV or monitor. If the cables are loose, this can cause poor sound quality.
3. Check the game or movie settings: If you are playing a game or watching a movie, check the audio settings within the game or movie to ensure that the sound is optimized for your TV or monitor.
4. Adjust your TV or monitor settings: If the sound quality is still poor, adjust your TV or monitor settings. You may need to adjust the bass, treble, and other audio settings to improve the sound quality.
5. Use headphones: If none of the above solutions work, consider using headphones to listen to the sound from your PS3. This can provide better sound quality and reduce background noise and echoes.
If you continue to experience problems with the sound quality on your PS3, you may need to contact Sony customer support for further assistance or repair.

Take care and have a great day! -Alex

that might be feedback through microphone

start button

control panel

speaker icon(sounds)

adjust level of mic and see how that works

Does it happen with headphones in as well? If not, do you have a built-in-microphone? Sometimes the sound coming of the speakers can be picked up by the microphone, resulting in an echo sound. Make sure that the microphone is off (or test it by covering it up while playing some music), and quit out of any applications that are using it.
If you hear it in the headphones as well, it could be a sound card problem, which means it would need replacing. If you don't hear it in the headphones, but hear it in the speakers and don't have a mic, it's either your speakers, or (more likely) your computer just doesn't get along with whatever software you're using to play movies/music.

It's because the TV's audio is stereo and the dialogue is mono split between two channels. When dialogue hits your headphones the majority of the mono signal gets cancelled. Try a different set of headphones or watch true stereo channels... IE movie channels

It sounds like you have a faulty connection between the headphones and the music device. Try fiddling with the port of your computer, iPod, or whatever else you use to listen to music. If the headphones do this on more than one device, it's a problem with them. Fiddle with the cord while you listen and see if you can target the bad area of the cord. If you can manage to listen to the headphones successfully while tweaking the cord, you might be able to use them still, if not they're probably blown or dead. Hope this helps =]

this problem is the same with me! i dropped my iPod, but it cracked the screen and i'm pretty sure i haven't dropped it on the jack because im very careful with it!!!

try not pluging it in all the way

get a real ipod, these usb  have to many problems.

Make sure center speaker is connected.Look in owners manual to reset, unit might be in an incorrect surround mode.If listening to a stereo source, take it out of surround.

Wacky.  What headphones are they and what player are you using?  If you somehow were gifted with grados, you might need a headphone amp; but as it is, it sounds like the settings on it are messed up; reset the equalizer and headphone-bass-expansion, maybe flash the unit's firmware, and see if things change.