Automatic volume leveling during audio playback

Anonymous
2009-11-05T13:16:13+00:00

This is really annoying:

Quiet sound is amplified to sound at a reasonable level. Then when a loud part of the song comes on the level automatically drops making the quiet parts sound annoyingly loud & the loud part annoyingly quiet... Sorry that's the best way I can describe this... again:

Only happens when its had a few seconds on silent (eg. pause) - at that point the system starts to "think" for itself creeping the base volumes up. Then when the song begins again you are treated to loudness that is quickly quietened when the system realises there is a higher level of sound coming through...

This is very frustrating because I use my computer to record & as such need to have the audio playing at its proper level - not the level the computer thinks it should be playing at...

I have combed through the settings looking for an "auto off" option, and have spent a long time searching for an answer online. 

Any help you could offer would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Music, photos, and video

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Anonymous
2009-11-05T22:23:05+00:00

Hi pablo647,

Welcome to Microsoft Windows 7 Answers Forum!

We would like to get a little more information from you to help troubleshoot your issue.

Are you using any Sound Card on the machine?

You can try playing the same song to a differnet Headphone or the Speakers.

I suspect it could be a problem with the sound card drivers.

You can update the drivers for the sound devices and try after that.

  1. Click Start and then click Control Panel.
  2. Click System and Maintenance, click System, and then click Device Manager.

Note If Control Panel is in Classic View, double-click System, and then click Device Manager.

  1. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow.
  2. In Device Manager, expland "Sound Video and Game controllers", right-click the "Sound Video and Game controllers" and go to properties.
  3. Browse to the Update tab and then click on update driver.

You may also check on the Sound card manufacturers web site and verify if they have any updated drivers for Windows 7 and try to install it.   

Hope it helps.  

Thanks and Regards:

Shekhar S - Microsoft Support.

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  1. Anonymous
    2010-02-22T09:13:51+00:00

    Hi Guys,

    This is going to make me sound terribly inexperienced, however I found that the answer to my conundrum was the actual amplifier the sound was running through post DA conversion.

    ie. it was not Windows causing the volume fluctuations, it was my amplifier - more specifically, my pre-amp.

    Through my tedious study of the Windows 7 operating system as a professional recording platform, I have come to a decisive conclusion: XP SP3 is a much more "tweak-able" platform.

    I have rolled back to XP now & I'm happy as!

    Dont get me wrong, it was difficult leaving the auto size windows & those glorious desktop widgets, but it XP for me!

    Sorry to have started this issue then bolted!

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-02-19T06:24:49+00:00

    Hello, I'm running windows XP but I've had a similar problem today. After searching the internet (and microsoft help was useless as usual) I finally found my solution, this website was one of the places I searched and since you didn't seem to have an answer yet I will try to help.

    1. Start Windows Media Player
    2. Right-click anywhere on the edges to open up the tools
    3. Click on Options...
    4. Devices tab
    5. Highlight speakers
    6. Click properties
    7. Where it says "Audio device to use:", select some other item on the list rather than the one selected.
    8. Apply, Ok and restart Windows Media Player. If there still is a problem with the audio select another item on the list from step 7.

    Unfortunately this does not fix the problem for other media players. However, most media players have adjustable settings just like this so you are capable of fixing it if you look in the right places.

    Hope that worked for you.

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  3. Anonymous
    2010-02-11T02:58:13+00:00

    Same thing here.  On board audio and SB audigy card do the same thing.  This is really making me angry.  And I know if I go out and get a nice expensive card, it'll just do the same thing.  I'm running an ASUS P5N-T board with a Q9400 processor     

    The only thing I can do to get around this (but it isn't a fix) is to max out the speaker level, and reduce the level of the audio player (like iTunes)  to 33% in the volume mixer settings.  That lowers the volume considerably to where I have to crank my speakers, and naturally quality is lost from the sound.  So what does that mean, and how could you possibly fix that?

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  4. Anonymous
    2010-02-02T20:12:53+00:00

    Hello

    I have exactly the same problem, I tested 6 totally diferent machines, old, new, desktop, laptop, and all present the same behavior, I think that is a Windows issue.

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