Automatic volume leveling during audio playback

I have a very similar issue.. I don't have the variable sound levels during playback (thank God), but I do have an issue where the volume control (the actual slider in the mixer) will randomly drop to about 8 or 10 or so with no action on my part. This makes it quite hard to monitor my live audio stream at times..

 

How do I fix this?

 

Anyone else seen anything like this before?

 

HELP US..

Microsoft, FIX THE AUDIO IN WIN7!

Windows 7 is nothing but a collection of automated annoyances that can't be disabled.  From the hostile networking to the maddening Windows Explorer quirks to the traitorous multimedia, Microsoft has delivered a one-size-fits-none OS.  If you can get ahold of a copy, Windows XP 64-bit is your best option.  It was XP that could see more than 3.2 gigs of RAM, and that's as good as it gets in the Windows world.  The only limitations are the inability to use a few programs (like most Norton software),  or if you have a very new AMD video card (like a Radeon 6800)  the AMD Catalyst drivers are broken and Windows Update doesn't have new ones yet.

**FIX for Automatic Volume Levelling!**I've had my new PC for only a few days, and although I am liking Windows 7 enormously, the volume fluctuation mentioned in this thread was really aggravating. It isn't random - it's like some sort of automatic volume normalisation. It is especially noticeable when listening to classical music, as the quiet parts become almost as loud as the genuinely loud parts. If you have the same issue I did, here is an obvious symptom to check: playing system sounds while listening to some music causes the music's volume to drop suddenly, then slowly increase over the next few seconds to where it was once the system sounds have finished.

Anyway here is the fix... I have a Realtek soundcard & drivers, but I expect it is similar for other cards.

1. Right click on the volume icon !\[\](http://kona.kontera.com/javascript/lib/imgs/grey_loader.gif)in the System Tray
2. Select "Playback devices"
3. Double click on "Speakers"
4. Click the Enhancements tab
5. Check "Disable all sound effects"
6. Click OK
7. If you are playing any sound/music, close down WMP / Winamp, wait a few seconds, then try again.

This took me no less than 9 hours to find... I had tried this option before temporarily, but unlike all the other buttons, the change wasn't instant, so I hadn't realised it would work. You do actually have to close down WMP/Winamp, wait a few seconds and restart it before playing music again to notice the change. What is also nasty is that even if the box of enhancements has nothing selected, you still need to check "Disable all sound effects". It would appear that there is some other normalisation effect that is going on in the background which you can't see in the list of options. (The last option is marked "Loudness Equalization" - this sounds like it is the culprit, but it isn't. Leaving it unchecked doesn't make the problem go away (unless you have checked "Disable" above), and checking it just makes the problem even worse.)

Hope this helps a number of you,

Bluto

This issue comes up when graphic equalizer used in WMP of Win7 for me though. Ie. VLC plays every song fine even with it's equalizer on with unchanged  windows sound options. So it MUST be a WMP problem.

I don't think Shekhar understands the question, or he's avoiding the obvious issue. Either way his answer is nonsense. Auto leveling has made it impossible for me to use windows for nearly everything that involves sound, as it refuses to allow me to set the volume to a level I can hear. It's a lawyer driven thing. If Microsoft hobbles your audio system they can't be sued for injuring your childs hearing. Once again all suffer so lawyers can profit. Microsoft will not help you with this.