WMC 7 sounds effects loud

[rldev]

I feel stupid asking this. I just setup a win 7 64bit htpc. I noticed recorded and live tv are much lower in volume than the media center sound effects you hear when bringing up the guide, etc. This is very annoying when I am done watching a show. Any ideas?

[rldev]

I have temporarily turned off sound effects as I can't figure this out. I would think someone has run into this before.

[IownFIVEechos]

Are you using a receiver on this box? Have you lowered the windows volume or checked those settings? I don't know if the windows volume is directly related to the WMC volume? If you have a receiver connected it is probably set in there, otherwise I would mess with the windows sounds. Good luck.

[rldev]

Yes I am using a receiver. What do you mean by set in receiver? What does my receiver know about wmc sound effects volume? Thanks for the tip on windows sounds. I will check it out.

[IownFIVEechos]

Yes I am using a receiver. What do you mean by set in receiver? What does my receiver know about WMC sound effects volume? Thanks for the tip on windows sounds. I will check it out.

When I did a quick google I saw a lot of MAC users with the same type of issue, they resolved it with the receivers settings. Some mentioned a 'night' setting etc.. If you search it you will see what I am talking about. But hopefully its your windows settings. I would connect direct to the tv and see if it acts normally. Than you know its the receiver etc..

[rldev]

System volume doesn't effect windows media center. This issue only occurs directly off the htpc. If I use an extender like xbox connected to avr, there is no issue.

[newfiend]

I found a nice balance by lowering the volume in WMC to 25. When you install the drivers for your video card (NVIDIA in my case) it maximizes the volume to 50. If you lower the WMC volume (use a mouse in wmc lower right corner click the - or + to decrease/increase the volume). Lower it to 25 from 50. You may have to increase the volume of the AVR to compensate a bit for the volume level, but for everything else in WMC this seems to work best for me. WMC sounds are good, if you FF a show (one click on ff) you will notice that the volume will jump up as it switches from DD to PCM as well as speeding up the video, this trick also levels that out so there isn't a huge volume difference, along with the MC sound effects being at a reasonable volume.
HTH,
newfiend

[rldev]

Yes that is a big issue I failed to mention. when it switches from DD to PCM it drives me crazy. The sound level is so much different. I will try this and report back.

[rldev]

Lowering wmc volume to 25 did the trick. Why doesn't this effect DD volume? IS it bypassed because of the hdmi handoff? Thank you so much.

[newfiend]

Lowering WMC volume to 25 did the trick. Why doesn't this effect DD volume? IS it bypassed because of the hdmi handoff? Thank you so much.

Glad it worked for you. Volume fluctuation can occur because of the way different audio signals are processed or because volume levels are changing at the source devices. (ever notice how when you are watching a TV show the volume will jump up when it cuts to a commercial? It changes audio signals and the volume will jump up, this trick will help level that out too. Commercial volumes are supposed to be regulated now so they match the volume of the TV show. This was a large complaint amoung TV watchers and is now supposed to be regulated.. afaik) Lowering WMC's volume allows the DD signal to closely resemble the volume of PCM, thus you don't notice such a huge volume jump when switching between audio signals.

I don't know all the specifics of why it works as I am not an audio engineer, but this trick can also work for Set Top Boxes that have their own volume control as well. It's finding a balance of volume across all the connected devices that allows for a comfortable listening experience yet negates audio distortion that your looking for,. By lowering WMC's volume it's a more even balance and more comfortable for the end user..as I am sure you noticed.

[rldev]

Thanks again. It was driving me crazy.

[newfiend]

Thanks again. It was driving me crazy.

No problem