Changed Audio Source, Now Very Quiet

Changed Audio Source, Now Very Quiet

in Audio

Posted by: Valandil Dragonhart.2371

Valandil Dragonhart.2371

As the title suggests, I went from my standard digital optical audio cable back to the normal 5.1 channel 3.5mm stereo jacks.

Some background on my system.. the sound system is a Logitech Z5500 (older equivalent to the more modern Z906) and can take either optical audio or stereo jacks. The motherboard is an ASUS Crosshair V Formula (ROG edition) which uses the standard Realtek HD onboard sound interface.

The reason I changed over the stereo jacks for the optical cable is because the stereo jacks were sometimes problematic and didn’t want to behave, but the sound from the optical audio just isn’t the same (lacks a lot of bass punch that the stereo jacks delivered in spades). So I’m trying to make the best of the stereo jacks while they’re working properly again.

So the sound I would regard as normal on my digital optical output, is now very quiet on my stereo jacks (after being setup again and having allowances for room correction, etc.) Everything else I play on this PC (Winamp, Youtube vids, etc.) all seem to be thundering through, but the character select menu on GW2 startup is not the same as it was. I changed over the source audio device via the F11 menu to the one I’m currently using, and still no dice. Master volume is up full, music volume is at half, like what I normally have it at, but it’s just so much quieter.

Can anyone assist with this problem please?

The old-school Arrow-Key warrior.
“Obtaining a legendary should be done through legendary feats…
Not luck and credit cards.”

Changed Audio Source, Now Very Quiet

in Audio

Posted by: Cody Crichton.7516

Cody Crichton.7516

Sound Designer

Out of curiosity, what does your OS level volume mixer say for the Gw2 application?

For Win 7, for example, right-click the speaker icon in the taskbar in the lower-right corner, then select “Open Volume Mixer.” Does it look something like the attached picture?

Also, have you ensured that your playback device at the OS level is configured for stereo?

In the same menu that “Open Volume Mixer” lives, select “Playback Devices” and check your active device and ensure that it’s not configured for surround sound if you’re expecting stereo.

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Changed Audio Source, Now Very Quiet

in Audio

Posted by: Valandil Dragonhart.2371

Valandil Dragonhart.2371

Hey, thanks for the quick reply. I think I might have solved this one by myself actually, but for the sake of others who might do the same thing, this is what I did:

  • Right click Sound/Speakers icon
  • Open Playback Devices
  • Click on the source (mine was “Speakers”, before it was “Digital Optical Audio”
  • Check all is good in the Levels tab
  • Go to the Enchancements tab, and I clicked on Speaker Fill and Loudness Equalisation, which is the trigger to fixing this problem
  • I also went along to Room Correction which reduced the boominess of the speakers because the standard setting is something like 15ft away, and mine are about 3ft away at the fronts, 2.5ft away at the centre and about 9ft away for the rears. This helped bring the sound down to an appropriate level after putting the Loudness Equalisation on.

The volumes were all at appropriate levels so there was no issue there, but I agree and I have been caught short on that one before, so thanks for that heads up.

The old-school Arrow-Key warrior.
“Obtaining a legendary should be done through legendary feats…
Not luck and credit cards.”

Changed Audio Source, Now Very Quiet

in Audio

Posted by: Valandil Dragonhart.2371

Valandil Dragonhart.2371

I also noticed that most of the sound effects are in the rear stage now, but I can’t remember how it was before when I had the stereo jacks in. I’m so used to everything being in the front stage (ie. front/centre speakers) from the digital optical setup.

Most of the sound effects (ie. selecting stuff in inventory, opening bags, that click noise, etc.) are now to be found in the rear stage. Not sure if this is normal or not.

The old-school Arrow-Key warrior.
“Obtaining a legendary should be done through legendary feats…
Not luck and credit cards.”