[SOLVED] Weird audio troubles

[User Name Noob]

All of a sudden - for some unknown reason - the audio levels on all my games is 2-3 notches lower than it was. the sound levels on YouTube are nomal. Most of my games are on Steam...except for Guild Wars 2, but all are affected. Anyone know anything about this strange anomaly or what might be causing it?

 

[Metal Messiah.]

Try this.

You can use the Volume Mixer to change the volume level of apps individually. First check what all apps/games are having a different volume. I suggest you first start the game, then ALT+TAB to come to the desktop, and check these settings.

This is useful when you want to increase the sound level of one program, then turn the volume down for another app. For example, you can get full audio experience from the game you’re playing while still hearing the notifications from Skype sufficiently. You can access the Volume Mixer by following these instructions:

1. Go to the bottom-right corner of your taskbar, then right-click the Volume Control icon.
2. Select Open Volume Mixer from the options.
3. A new window will pop up. Here, you will see the running applications and their audio levels. You can move the slider up or down for each app if you want to adjust their volume. When you change the sound levels for one app, you won’t affect the audio for the other programs.

 

[User Name Noob]

Try this.

You can use the Volume Mixer to change the volume level of apps individually. First check what all apps/games are having a different volume. I suggest you first start the game, then ALT+TAB to come to the desktop, and check these settings.

This is useful when you want to increase the sound level of one program, then turn the volume down for another app. For example, you can get full audio experience from the game you’re playing while still hearing the notifications from Skype sufficiently. You can access the Volume Mixer by following these instructions:

1. Go to the bottom-right corner of your taskbar, then right-click the Volume Control icon.
2. Select Open Volume Mixer from the options.
3. A new window will pop up. Here, you will see the running applications and their audio levels. You can move the slider up or down for each app if you want to adjust their volume. When you change the sound levels for one app, you won’t affect the audio for the other programs.

Just did that...all were at 100%.

 

[Metal Messiah.]

Okay....I'm not sure what would be causing this issue then. Maybe check the in-game Audio settings instead ?

 

[Metal Messiah.]

BTW, Microsoft has listed an audio bug in the Known Issues section of the latest Windows 10 version 1903 update (KB4515384). I'm assuming you are using Windows 10 ?

The bug can result in audio being quieter in certain games, and MS has provided a workaround which involves disabling multi-channel audio in the game(s), as well as disabling multi-channel/virtual surround audio in any third party audio control panels, until a fix can be issued later this month.

Microsoft has also released an Update that addresses a problem with USB audio 2.0 multi-channel microphones. If Windows detects that you have such a device, the Update will download via Windows Updates.

 

[User Name Noob]

BTW, Microsoft has listed an audio bug in the Known Issues section of the latest Windows 10 version 1903 update (KB4515384). I'm assuming you are using Windows 10 ?

The bug can result in audio being quieter in certain games, and MS has provided a workaround which involves disabling multi-channel audio in the game(s), as well as disabling multi-channel/virtual surround audio in any third party audio control panels, until a fix can be issued later this month.

Microsoft has also released an Update that addresses a problem with USB audio 2.0 multi-channel microphones. If Windows detects that you have such a device, the Update will download via Windows Updates.

Sorry for the late reply. I discovered something concerning this audio anomaly...all the audio settings that were maxed out were the only ones affected by this "bug". The sliders that weren't maxed could be adjusted to higher levels...but then they would surpass the ones that were maxed out. So, for example: in Fallout 4 I had the master-slider maxed, along with the slider for the voices...during a rainstorm (controlled by the SFX slider) I noticed that I couldn't hear any of the NPC's at all...and when I adjusted that SFX slider it became very loud.

I haven't had time to mess with it, but I'm going to try to make adjustments to the ini files of some of my games...see if that helps. Hopefully this is that MS bug and it'll be soon be fixed.