Win Low audio issue
#1
Question 
Hi,

Im relatively new to XBMC, i migrated from Boxee after that last version didnt work on my PC at all.

Love XBMC so far, i am using the default confluence skin and its beautiful. Using it exclusively to play my extensive library of 720P movie files, mostly MKV format but with some MP4 and AVI thrown in as well

everything works great except for volume. On some movies its ok, but on a lot of them the volume is WAY too low. like i have to turn the volume on my TV up to 65-70 (on a scale of 100) which is simply unheard of for me using any other inputs. Its up so loud i start to hear hissing and all kinds of static noise which makes dialogue difficult to hear

Whats really strange is if i play these movie files outside of XBMC on the SAME pc (via windows media player OR VLC player), the volume is very loud, crisp and clear. like i can have the same movie playing at volume 15 or 20 on my tv with no problems and no background sound.

So i know its NOT the video files. However i guess i assumed that XBMC was just a frontend for playing the video files through windows media player and some codecs, so i dont understand why the volume would be different

checked the settings screen and nothing looked like it would help

i do go into volume settings in XBMC while playing the video file and the audio decibel level is set to the max

any other settings im missing or reasons for this discrepancy?

thanks!
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#2
What sort of speaker set up have you got? If it's 2 then you'll need to make sure that it's set correctly in both windows and xbmc, In XBMC go to System->System->Audio.. if you just have 2 speakers make sure it's set to 2 and 'Boost volume level on downmix' is enabled. You can increase the volume boost in advancedsettings.xml too (tho you shouldn't need to)
i.e
<audio>
<!-- Amount of gain (dB) to be applied to AC3 streams that have been mixed-down to 2 channels. Default is 12.0. Valid values are: -96.0 to 96.0. -->
<ac3downmixgain>12.0</ac3downmixgain>
</audio>

Can't really think of any other reason.. debug log might help if everything looks fine in the speaker setup.
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#3
Also please give us some details of your setup - soundcard or GPU, connection method, analog or digital and DirectSound or Wasapi.
System: XBMC HTPC with HDMI WASAPI & AudioEngine - Denon  AVR-3808CI  - Denon DVD-5900 Universal Player  - Denon DCM-27 CD-Changer
- Sony BDP-S580 Blu-Ray  - X-Box 360  - Android tablet wireless remote - 7.1 Streem/Axiom/Velodyne Surround System
If I have been able to help feel free to add to my reputation +/- below - thanks!
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#4
ok thanks guys!

its analog audio 2 speaker setup (rca cable to tv PC input from speaker output jack on PC)

ill check those settings and grab the rest of the info you need once im home tonight, im not currently at my PC

one thing i noticed is when movie is playing and i go to audio/subtitle settings, the decibel level is set to 0, and i can lower it to negative numbers, but cant bring it ABOVE 0

is that normal?

thanks
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#5
It is normal as 0db means no gain, or max level upper limit. You can use the slider below it (volume amplification) to boost quiet tracks, in essence amplifying them up to the limit of 0db which is digital max. There is an anti-clipping feature built in to help avoid hitting 0db, but be careful not to amplify too much with that slider as it will create some distortion and boost noise levels as well.
System: XBMC HTPC with HDMI WASAPI & AudioEngine - Denon  AVR-3808CI  - Denon DVD-5900 Universal Player  - Denon DCM-27 CD-Changer
- Sony BDP-S580 Blu-Ray  - X-Box 360  - Android tablet wireless remote - 7.1 Streem/Axiom/Velodyne Surround System
If I have been able to help feel free to add to my reputation +/- below - thanks!
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#6
@Valkyr47-

If you haven't update your GPU driver, you might want to update it. XBMC work better with the latest GPU driver.

When you playback movie, you can click the speaker to increase "volume amplification" to match the real time volume of your Windows volume and set it to "default for all movies"......
>Alienware X51- do it all HTPC
>Simplify XBMC configurations
>HOW-TO Bitstreaming using XBMC
I refused to watch movie without bitstreaming HD audio!
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#7
(2012-03-25, 16:21)vexation Wrote: What sort of speaker set up have you got? If it's 2 then you'll need to make sure that it's set correctly in both windows and xbmc, In XBMC go to System->System->Audio.. if you just have 2 speakers make sure it's set to 2 and 'Boost volume level on downmix' is enabled. You can increase the volume boost in advancedsettings.xml too (tho you shouldn't need to)
i.e
<audio>
<!-- Amount of gain (dB) to be applied to AC3 streams that have been mixed-down to 2 channels. Default is 12.0. Valid values are: -96.0 to 96.0. -->
<ac3downmixgain>12.0</ac3downmixgain>
</audio>

Can't really think of any other reason.. debug log might help if everything looks fine in the speaker setup.

ok so i just checked and its 2 speaker setup is correctly chosen in audio settings. Boost volume level on downmix is also checked

pressed the + button on the numpad and made sure volume was all the way up

im going to try editing that xml file and see what happens. should i do a little at a time? like if default is 12.0 maybe bump to like 20 or 30 and test?

thanks again!
(2012-03-25, 16:56)DDDamian Wrote: Also please give us some details of your setup - soundcard or GPU, connection method, analog or digital and DirectSound or Wasapi.

its using the onboard built in speaker out jack, not some add-on sound card so i assume thats what you mean by GPU?

connection method is an RCA audio cable from the audio jack on the PC (green) to the RCA audio input on my PC hookup on the TV, so i assume thats analog?

not sure what you mean by directsound or wasapi though

thanks!
(2012-03-25, 17:45)bluray Wrote: @Valkyr47-

If you haven't update your GPU driver, you might want to update it. XBMC work better with the latest GPU driver.

When you playback movie, you can click the speaker to increase "volume amplification" to match the real time volume of your Windows volume and set it to "default for all movies"......

during movie playback if i click small speaker icon i get the menu with decibel level and subtitle options... nothing that i see called "volume amplification" or anythign that indicates matching the real time volume of windows

thanks!
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#8
Okay, yeah things are a little different in analog. Make sure your main Windows volume is up as well,

If you use the advancedsettings.xml tweaks noted by vexation do fairly small steps. In the decibel scale every 6db approximately doubles the perceived volume.
System: XBMC HTPC with HDMI WASAPI & AudioEngine - Denon  AVR-3808CI  - Denon DVD-5900 Universal Player  - Denon DCM-27 CD-Changer
- Sony BDP-S580 Blu-Ray  - X-Box 360  - Android tablet wireless remote - 7.1 Streem/Axiom/Velodyne Surround System
If I have been able to help feel free to add to my reputation +/- below - thanks!
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#9
(2012-03-26, 02:25)Valkyr47 Wrote: during movie playback if i click small speaker icon i get the menu with decibel level and subtitle options... nothing that i see called "volume amplification" or anythign that indicates matching the real time volume of windows

thanks!
I'm using XBMC RC2 and analog audio, and all the options are there (as shown in my screen shot below)...

Image
>Alienware X51- do it all HTPC
>Simplify XBMC configurations
>HOW-TO Bitstreaming using XBMC
I refused to watch movie without bitstreaming HD audio!
Reply
#10
(2012-03-26, 19:10)bluray Wrote:
(2012-03-26, 02:25)Valkyr47 Wrote: during movie playback if i click small speaker icon i get the menu with decibel level and subtitle options... nothing that i see called "volume amplification" or anythign that indicates matching the real time volume of windows

thanks!
I'm using XBMC RC2 and analog audio, and all the options are there (as shown in my screen shot below)...

Image

ok i see that same exact screen. are you saying "audio offset" is a volume control? i always assumed it meant offset for the audio track to fix latency and stuff
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#11
Yes, you're right, but we're referring to the first two sliders. Think of the first one as "overall scale" and the second one as "boost"
System: XBMC HTPC with HDMI WASAPI & AudioEngine - Denon  AVR-3808CI  - Denon DVD-5900 Universal Player  - Denon DCM-27 CD-Changer
- Sony BDP-S580 Blu-Ray  - X-Box 360  - Android tablet wireless remote - 7.1 Streem/Axiom/Velodyne Surround System
If I have been able to help feel free to add to my reputation +/- below - thanks!
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#12
gotcha

ok heres the thing, i dont have that second slider with the decibel value, only the first

so do i have an old version or do i need to edit some setting in an XML file to display that? or is that for only digital?

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#13
You need to grab the latest version - sounds like the one you're running is before that was added.
System: XBMC HTPC with HDMI WASAPI & AudioEngine - Denon  AVR-3808CI  - Denon DVD-5900 Universal Player  - Denon DCM-27 CD-Changer
- Sony BDP-S580 Blu-Ray  - X-Box 360  - Android tablet wireless remote - 7.1 Streem/Axiom/Velodyne Surround System
If I have been able to help feel free to add to my reputation +/- below - thanks!
Reply

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