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
    2010-02-01T18:22:18+00:00

    Thanks for the reply, Matt.  However, I'm not using Windows Media Player.  I use Winamp for my music, and Zoom Player for all my video and DVD's.  This normalization that windows is doing is something universal.  It does it with all players and all sounds.

    Something like this can't be an accident.  It had to be programmed intentionally.  It should not be that difficult for Microsoft to figure out what's causing this, and release some kind of fix or update that will allow us to turn it off.

    I absolutely love Windows 7, but this is so disheartening.

    Any other ideas?

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-01-28T12:22:27+00:00

    Jerry,

    I have discovered that for some reason this is due to the use of the graphic equalizer in WMP12 (and furthermore Windows Media Centre), I imagine you are also using this to improve your experience of that epic phill collins track. I tried contacting the Microsoft support team for directions on how to remove this effect from the graphic equalizer and was redirected to a man whom, although polite and helpful in many respects, clearly did not speak english as his first language. So I simply could not reiterate the problem to him in the first place.

    In your case if you are using an external amplifier, as I assume that you are for a home theatre system, I reccomend that you turn off/reset the Graphic equaliser in Windows and instead use what EQ settings you have externally. This may be an annoyance, but it did resolve the problem for me with regards to my personal enjoyment. However, for others reading this post, this is not likely to be a solution for those who are having the same problem on other applications, such as certain audio/video editing software, as they do not tend to rely on Windows Media Player 12 for playback, unlike Windows Media Centre. 

    You may also want to try downloading alternative players. For example, I was able to diagnose this as a problem with WMP12 when I downloaded and confirmed that Windows Media Player Classic did not have the same trouble although, being older software, the playback quality was not so good. Saying that, there are many other options for media players.

    Best Regards,

    Matt

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  3. Anonymous
    2010-01-27T16:51:43+00:00

    Add one more to the list.  I am also experiencing the same exact problem.  I'm running Windows 7 Professional (64 bit) on an Alienware M17x.  I'm using a Soundblaster Xtreme Audio Notebook with 5.1. 

    This system is my home theater as I also have it hooked to a 42 inch LCD HDTV. 

    This automatic volume Leveling issue is very annoying.  Here's an example…  Everyone knows Phil Collins, right?  Everyone knows his song "In The Air Tonight".  It has a very long buildup with no drums until several minutes into the song.  Then the drums kick in with a loud thunderous explosion.  It's awesome.  I always test my sound systems with the song, among others.

    However, with windows 7, as soon as it gets this point, the volume cuts back as if it's trying to regulate the volume and normalize it.  It's terrible!  I have looked through every windows setting I can find, as well as the drivers and applications for my sound card.  I can't find anything to turn this on or off. 

    I really love Windows 7, but this is an extreme disappointment.  Microsoft, please tell me you're aware of this problem and working to fix it. 

    Thanks,

    Jerry

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  4. Anonymous
    2010-01-01T15:45:01+00:00

    Hello Shekhar,

    I am having similar issues to pablo, audio output on my motherboard seems to have somewhat annoying automatic leveling. I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, and operating on an Asus p5q pro turbo motherboard. So far, I have attempted your reccomendation and I have also tried...

    -downloading the most recent sound driver for my motherboard from the Asus website

    -disabling the enhancements in the 'speakers properties' section of the 'sound' settings in the control panel (including Loudness Equalisation)

    -looking for and disabling any automatic functions in Windows Media Player that might create such an effect e.g. Auto Volume Leveling

    All of which have had no effect.

    Thankyou for your time, I look forward to reading any suggestions you may have.

    Matt,

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