Very low volume on Windows 8 x64 WMC

I am getting really low volume on my Windows 8 x64 Windows Media Center edition.

Before I installed Windows 8 I used Windows XP x32 WMC and as far as I can remember I just enabled an AC3 boost and the volume was good enough.

Ever since I installed Windows 8 a few months ago I now have files that play at such a low volume I can't hear the dialog even with both Windows and the tv set to 100 volume.

Today I installed K-Lite Codec Pack Basic 9.7.0 and K-Lite Codec Pack 64-bit 9.7.0 but no luck...

I've installed both using the advanced options but without changing any of the settings.

After trying it and seeing no changes I used the Codec Tweak Tool to change the ffdshow audio decoder settings (both x32 and x64) to change both the Volume and Mixer options.

I also changed the LAV Audio Decoder settings.

Nothing had any effect whatsoever. It's also strange that the system tray icons do not show up even though I enabled them for both.

To reiterate: I'm playing files using Windows Media Center on my tv but after many attempts the volume is still super low and most files these days (both .mp4 and .avi) are so low that I can't hear the dialog unless I'm right next to the tv.

I hope someone has a solution to this.

Thanks!

My setup: Asus V3-M3N8200 HTPC attached via DVI and 3.5mm jack to a LG M227WD tv/monitor.

You need to configure your speaker settings in the Windows Control panel. Set it to Stereo. You also need to configure the speaker settings in Media Center. That has an additional setting for it.

Media Center uses the AC3 decoder from Microsoft by default. That is why you don't see the decoders from the pack. It is possible to disable it with Win7DSFilterTweaker tool, but it should not be needed. The voices should be audible if the speakers are configured correctly. If it is still too low for your liking, then you could disable it.

An alternative solution would be to enable volume normalization in Windows:
Control Panel > Sounds > Speakers > Properties > Enhancements > Loudness Equalization

I have set it to stereo in both the Windows Control Panel and Media Center. It still doesn't help. :/

Note that recorded tv in Media Center plays at a better volume; I don't need to set the colume to 100 to hear that, 50 is enough; it's only most downloaded media files (.mp4, .avi, .mkv) that have this issue.

Loudness Equalization on or off also doesn't help.

Updating your audio driver might help.

What exactly do you mean?

I've installed the VIA drivers and set the volume to 100% everywhere that I could find.

try go to option
then go to audio switcher under internal filter
checkmark Normalize option and move the Boost slider to a considerable amount
hope this help

I am not using MPC; I'm using Windows Media Center. So your suggestion won't help I'm afraid.

are_nep89 wrote:try go to option
then go to audio switcher under internal filter
checkmark Normalize option and move the Boost slider to a considerable amount
hope this help

Which ones should I disable? There's quite a list.

Admin wrote:Media Center uses the AC3 decoder from Microsoft by default. That is why you don't see the decoders from the pack. It is possible to disable it with Win7DSFilterTweaker tool, but it should not be needed. The voices should be audible if the speakers are configured correctly. If it is still too low for your liking, then you could disable it.

Win7DSFilterTweaker > MS Codec Tweaks > Disable Microsoft DTV-DVD Audio Decoder

When I do this FFDShow is used for the audio on recorded tv shows (and the volume increase works) but unfortunately not on downloaded files (which I play via the Video Library) where I really need it.

Admin wrote:Win7DSFilterTweaker > MS Codec Tweaks > Disable Microsoft DTV-DVD Audio Decoder

What format do those downloaded files have?

MediaInfo tool can show you the details.

They are mostly .mp4 (H264/AAC) and .avi (Xvid/MP3).

Admin wrote:What format do those downloaded files have?

MediaInfo tool can show you the details.

On the Media Foundation page enable the checkboxes for MP4 and AVI.
On the MS Codec Tweak page disable the Mpeg4s decoder DMO.

I've done so for both x32 and x64 but nothing changed. The volume is still the same and FFDShow is not used (if that was the intention).

Admin wrote:On the Media Foundation page enable the checkboxes for MP4 and AVI.
On the MS Codec Tweak page disable the Mpeg4s decoder DMO.

Disable the Microsoft DTV-DVD Video decoder.

You can safely experiment with all the options in Win7DSFilterTweaker. Everything can easily be reverted.

I've finally managed to fix the problem.

I disabled the Microsoft DTV-DVD *Audio* Decoder. That did the trick.

I kept Media Foundation disabled for .avi and .mp4 (I haven't tried .mkv yet). I've put everything else back to default.

In the FFDShow Audio Decoder options all I did was enable the Mixer and set it to 2/0/0 - stereo; I did not need to increase any volume sliders.

It seems to me that for some reason Windows Media Center keeps setting the speakers to some other setting (hence the low volume) even though I explicitely select 2 speakers during the setup phase.

Many thanks for all the help!

Admin wrote:Disable the Microsoft DTV-DVD Video decoder.

You can safely experiment with all the options in Win7DSFilterTweaker. Everything can easily be reverted.

In case other people run into the same issue: .avis that have mp3 audio won't use ffdshow by default so you will have to use the Win7DSFilterTweaker to change it under Preferred Decoders.