volume super quiet every morning

[ClintJCL2]

This is the same problem many others have complained about:

Windows 7 adds the feature of individual volume sliders for every application you run.

Windows 7 then lowers the volume of winamp to about 20%.



For most people with this problem, the problem is that Control Panel->Sound->Communications has the checkbox "diminish volume of other applications when communications are detected".

Thing is - I never had that on in the first place. I turned it off months ago and have verified that it's definitely off.



I don't even use a microphone to communicate -- even my FB chat and gmail chat are disabled. But it doesn't matter because the communications setting is turned off.



And it STILL happens. Sometimes more than once a day. Usually when I am asleep and not even using the computer. I go to bed with the music at the right volume and wake up thinking the power has gone out because the music is so quiet I can't hear it over the traffic outside.



And no, I can't switch from DirectSound to WaveOut because I use both with different soundcards / different rooms.

(Nor would I want to take away winamp's separate-volume capabilities. Music is way louder than movies, and if you want to switch between the two without making your friends jump out of the couch, music needs to be lowered in volume when switching between.)



So what do *I* do?

As far as I can tell, even though I've been using it since the 1990s - Winamp can no longer meet my needs because of this. Really it's Windows 7's fault, but Winamp is the only app that's getting lowered to 20% all the time. No others are. Just winamp. Every. Night.



I am at wit's end here. I haven't owned a cd player for over 5 years because winamp has always met my needs. My needs expanded, i have 3 stereos in 3 rooms, and winamp controls them all.

Now my needs aren't being met (because of Windows 7, which is fixing many other things that were broken for me).

Is there a fix here?

I will happily provide more information. If someone would just respond...

[ClintJCL2]

Did I ask my question incorrectly somehow? I thought Winamp had support here?

[DrO]

there's never a guarantee anyone will reply to any posts made, especially considering it's the holiday period and a lot of people are not around / posting at the moment.

other than providing http://forums.winamp.com/showthread....161361#plugins the only thing i can think off is it might be down to the output plug-in being used as nothing in Winamp should be natively dropping the volume to 20% (though as you say you're using out_ds, then that should be even less of an issue).

unless it's related to your soundcard driver but as something i've never personally seen on a large number of Windows 7 machines i've had access to, something specific has to be going on to cause it and i'd have to guess at a 3rd party plug-in being involved.

-daz

[Batter Pudding]

So... if the PC is left on and running through the night, the sound still drops? That is weird. I assume you would get the same drop if you leave the PC on all day?

What other software is running that could be interfering? As this does not happen to other people there must be something "odd" with your setup which is making it different to an standard install. Hence the need to see pluggin lists.

Do you have anything like "Skype" installed that could be checking for an update? What else is starting with the PC? Do you ever check your msconfig list?

Also check your screen saver and maybe change it.

[Aminifu]

Hi ClintJCL2,

Just another WAG (wild a** guess).

Try turning off the volume control options if they are selected in your wave and directsound output plugins. The volume control option for the directsound plugin is on the "Other" tab of it's configuration dialog box.

If that does not help or these options are already turned off, you really need to provide the info on your hardware and software as requested in the sticky DrO indicated.

[ClintJCL2]

I already stated I am not willing to drop volume functions


Strangely, this forum never emailed me about any of your responses -- or I would have cut you off. I think I found the solution on my own!

I looked into my hidden system tray icons and removed some volume mixer that came with my motherboard, and set it to not start with windows. I falsely assumed that it's a good idea to run the software that comes with my hardware. HAHA!

Since then, so far, the volume has not lowered. I won't believe it until I go a few weeks, but, I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!!!!!!

[DrO]

unless it's related to your soundcard driver

so i was about right then, heh.

-daz

[Batter Pudding]

I looked into my hidden system tray icons and removed some volume mixer that came with my motherboard, and set it to not start with windows. I falsely assumed that it's a good idea to run the software that comes with my hardware. HAHA!

As suggested above, other programs often interfere. And most of these programs that come with hardware are a waste of time. Cameras, Printers, all of them. All you want on the computer are the drivers - everything else is often of debatable quality. And as you have seen in this example - the installed utility probably had not been updated for Windows 7.

Hopefully other people will spot your post and get answers from it now. Would be nice to know which soundcard that is in your PC (As I assume that signature mentioning the 900Mhz Athlon is an old one. And there was a good example from the past as to why you should never install all the crud that comes with your hardware. Some of the stuff with the classic SB Live was just awful )

[ClintJCL2]

Indeed, I think the SBLive's non-compliant SPDIF output discovered by German hackers(IIRC) was responsible for the downfall of my $1000-in-1997 receiver. (Since replaced for free via Freecycle.)


Lesse, here's the stats:
CPU: Intel Core2 Duo E6750, LGA775 Pkg, 2.66GHz, 4M L2 cache, 1333MHz FSB

MOTHERBOARD (which provides my sound): ASRock P43DE3 LGA775 Intel P43 ATX Motherboard / 4x240pin ram (DDR3 1600/1333/1066/880mHz supports XMP) / Audio:VIA VT1708S(8ch),1xOptical,1xCoaxial out,6 headphone jacks / Gigabit lan / 6 SATA / 1xPCI Express 2.0x16, 3xPCI Express x1, 2xPCI / Northbridge: Intel P43, Southbridge: Intel ICH10 / supports Core2Extreme/Quad/Duo / FSB 1600/1333/1066/800mHz / hyper-threading/untied overclocking/EM64TCPU / max ram=16G / PATA=1xATA133 2DevMax / 6 USB + 2-3 extra headers / ATX form factor / 12"x8" / 24pin power / 1xTMP header / supports Intelligent Overclocking Tech, Instant boot, instant flash, OC DNA, smart bios, ASRock OC Tuner, Intelligent Energy Saver, EuP Ready ($75)