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
    2013-09-28T21:42:50+00:00

    Thx dude!

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-09-25T06:56:26+00:00

    Just so everybody knows. There's 2 lists of things that you have to do to stop the auto EQ in Windows 7 & 8.

    1. RIGHT CLICK YOUR SPEAKER ICON
    2. CHOOSE "PLAYBACK DEVICES"
    3. RIGHT CLICK YOUR SPEAKERS (MAIN AUDIO DEVICE)
    4. CLICK THE ENHANCEMENTS TAB
    5. MAKE SURE THE "DISABLE ALL ENHANCEMENTS" BOX HAS A CHECK MARK
    6. CLICK ON ADVANCED TAB
    7. MAKE SURE "ALLOW APPLICATIONS TO TAKE EXCLUSIVE CONTROL" HASNO CHECK MARK
    8. CLICK "APPLY" OR "OK"

    Now after you have done the following proceed to the next list.

    • WINDOWS 7 USERS GO TO THE CONTROL PANEL BY PRESSING THE START ORB AND CHOOSING CONTROL PANEL.
    • WINDOWS 8 USERS GO TO THE CONTROL PANEL BY MOVING YOUR CURSOR TO THE TOP RIGHT CORNER, THE CHARM BAR SHOULD APPEAR, CLICK ON SEARCH AND TYPE IN CONTROL PANEL.
    1. IN THE CONTROL PANEL CLICK ON PROGRAMS
    2. CLICK ON PROGRAMS AND FEATURES
    3. *FIND ANY SOFTWARE THAT MEET THIS CRITERIA LISTED BELOW AND UNINSTALL IT/THEM*
    • PRE-INSTALLED SOFTWARE (PROGRAMS THAT WERE INSTALLED BY COMPANY OR SELLER)
    • ANY SOFTWARE THAT HAS THE COMPUTERS BRAND NAME
    • ANYTHING THAT SAYS "HD" OR "AUDIO" BESIDES YOUR PLAYBACK DRIVER
    • ANY "ECO" / "POWER SAVING" SOFTWARE THAT MIGHT BE INSTALLED
    • NOW RESTART YOUR COMPUTER AND PLAY THAT SONG, IT SHOULD BE LOUD AS EVER!

    IT IS BEST IF YOU RUN YOUR COMPUTER POWER PLAN AT HIGH PERFORMANCE, ANY POWER SAVING UTILITIES WILL EQ THE VOLUME TO BE LOWER TO SAVE ENERGY. HOPE THIS HELPED!

    IF YOU ARE WILLING TO GO THE EXTRA MILE, PRESS THE "WINDOWS START KEY" AND "R" AT THE SAME TIME, THAT WILL OPEN UP THE RUN WINDOW THERE YOU CAN TYPE IN "MSCONFIG" WITHOUT THE QUOTES, THERE YOU CAN CHECK THE "STARTUP" AND LOOK FOR WHAT YOU DO NOT USE, IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS AND YOU DISABLE IT AND YOUR COMPUTER MALFUNCTIONS YOU CAN ALWAYS GO BACK AND ENABLE IT OR IT MIGHT JUST ENABLE ITSELF IF ITS THAT IMPORTANT!

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-07-19T22:09:28+00:00

    Hello Everyone! 

    I have been tremendously frustrated by this problem for many hours since I got my new laptop yesterday, and I finally found the solution after trying and trying again these suggestions to no avail! I created a Microsoft account just so I could share this solution with everyone who still has the problem despite trying everything other people have posted. I realize this conversation is from several years ago, but hopefully this solution works for a few more of you who still have the problem.

    FYI I have a brand new Dell Inpiron 5521 with Realtek HD Audio sound card and Windows 7 (paid an extra 100 bucks to NOT get windows 8 :) )

    The problem is such: a general compression on every sound the computer makes - ie, the louder sounds are made quieter and the quieter sounds are made louder - a horribly annoying feature which kills dynamics and makes listening to music a dreadful rollercoaster of fluctuating volumes. This occurs with EVERY sound the computer makes - it is not limited to iTunes, or WMP, or whatever - it affects everything.

    I tried all the suggestions here:

    sound drivers are updated,

    sound - communications - when windows detects communication activity - set to "do nothing"

    sound - playback - speakers properties - enhancements - all boxes unchecked (and for some reason I do not have the mentioned "disable all sound effects" box

    but none of these worked.

    Then, after a much frustration, in the system tray (in the hidden icons no less) I found a sneaky **** of an icon: "Dell Audio." Opening this, i find a window with a completely different graphical interface (non-Windows) with several tabs and a few volume sliders. In this window I see some kind of equalizer called "MaxxAudio4" and it is ON! I turn it off and the problem vanishes!!

    So for me at least, the problem was not Windows 7, Realtek sound card, audio drivers, or Media Player, or whatever. It was DELL! I don't know what exactly this "Dell Audio" is - some kind of peripheral, additional audio control separate from Windows - but the problem was here. I realize that not all of you have Dell computers, but for those who do, hopefully this solves your problem. For the rest, I would not be surprised if different manufacturers also included their own audio controls which you probably weren't even aware existed - and perhaps these controls have built-in equalizers or compressors which cold cause a problem such as this.

    I hope this information helps one of you who is still struggling with this problem!

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-07-13T05:13:55+00:00

    usually,I use ddvideo hd video converter gain to convert and normalize my video and musics at the same sound level.very great for me.I like it very much.

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