Volume not loud enough - how do I bypass volume limit?

I recently installed 7x64 to play Deus Ex Human Revolution. Booting between 7 and XP there is a definite volume drop in 7. This is dual boot on the same hardware - Two alternate sound cards and alternate sound drivers per card (7 default, card manufacturer and for the onboard the mainboard manufacturer).

Along with others in this thread I use headphones with no external amplification so Human Revolution was unplayably quiet.

I boosted the volume using the win7 equalizer. - I assume to keep perfect quality microsoft deliberately reduced the default decibel output so that boosting in the equalizer causes no distortion.

Playback devices -> Right click speakers -> properties -> enhancements -> equalizer -> drag all sliders to top position -> save

I didn't notice any distortion so I assume this trick just raises the dbs back up to 0

I recently installed windows 7 32bit on my hp pavillion dv6 3120us and the volume is very low.Whenever I use external speakers the volume is ok though.It has the IDT high definition audio codec.I have tried reinstalling my drivers,updating them and so on but nothing seems to work.The only thing that helps is vlc because it can be turned up to 400%.Whenever I check the loudness equalisation in the enhancements menu the system sounds get like they are supposed to be and that is the best I can get from it.Please help me it is really annoying.

Sometimes low volume can be the result of inadvertently reducing volume in your media player (easily done with mouse scroll in Winamp), or by media keys on your keyboard that are too easily hit.

One of the first things to check is the Volume mixer: While your media player is running, right click Volume icon in notification area > Open volume mixer and adjust the sliders for your output device and media player. It may also help to mute System sounds - click on the icon at the bottom of the slider. A shortcut to the volume mixer is: Run > sndvol

Another simple setting may help. Go to Sound > Communications tab: Under "When Windows detects communications activity" select "Do nothing".

When you use speakers better than little desktop ones:
Sound > Playback tab > Configure button: select your configuration, then hit "Next" button and select an option under "Full range speakers"; then "Next" button; "Finish".

For sure, if you really want quality sound you need a decent sound card. If you want to go beyond that you need to think about a dedicated music computer, and taking digital output from soundcard to a really good dac, then into a good amp.

Try changing to different settings in 'sounds' menu (rt click screen spkr icon in bottom menu)
Hz/48,000 16/24bit (studio quality) etc etc
in Sounds > right click digital or speakers > 'properties' > 'advanced'

(You normally have to restart your pc each new setting change to make this work properly)[/QUOTE]

I have tried everything with relations to that and it doesn't work.Other threads say its an issue with windows 7.I don't think it can be fixed,I even used my recovery dvd and it doesn't work.My best bet is to install windows xp and I cannot or atleast its very hard since I can't find the sata drivers for this laptop.

Loudness equalization will (in most cases) decrease your volume, which is not needed. Disable all enhancements! If you have headphones, use the designated headphone jack that is connected to the front panel headers on your motherboard, as headphones (both in drivers, and in windows) usually allow for more volume. This is because there is less power required for headphones compared to speakers. If you have a multi-speaker capable motherboard/sound card, you will have lower volumes without an amp because your mobo/sound card is dividing the current between the multiple outputs. There is really no way in windows to do anything. If your motherboard/sound card has the ability to change power settings, you may be able to get away with pumping more current (amps) through your connections. I have not seen anything like this, nor have I ever had a high end sound card. I have always just used an external amp, or the headphone options. As stated in an earlier post on this forum, it definitely depends on your motherboard, as different motherboards have different standards for power, in terms of how much current can be put through a terminal.

Simple tips that may help others when looking into audio/electronics.
-Amps (short for amperes) = current measurement, proper terminology: amps go THROUGH a leg, branch, connection, etc.
-Volts = electric potential difference. Voltage is tricky for many so pay attention. Voltage is the potential energy, it is the energy required to move current. It is in essence, like pressure in a water line. Since this is not a physical/atomic being like current, it doesn't go through anything, it goes ACROSS, or OVER a leg, branch, connection, wire, etc.
-Watts = power, the rate in which work is done. The more work needed to be done requires more watts/power. When your speakers are vibrating, the larger the speaker, the more power needed. The more bass, the more a speaker needs to flex, and the faster it needs to flex. This all requires more power (faster work). The proper terminology is watts is as is basically. You will normally see watts when power requirements or consumption is being discussed. So, another example would be, the more powerful components you have in your PC (that top of the line processor, that massive video card, etc), the more wattage is needed. That is why you get a higher wattage rating power supply.
--Last but not least Ohms = resistance. Think of speakers as a water faucet, the lower the resistance, the more current that can get through. If you have a high performance sub-woofer, you will have a lower resistance, as the woofer will need that current and power to produce that big low bass sound, and it will also need it more or less for those thuds, (which if you have researched enough, you will find for those short spurts of bass, or "thuds" as I call them, smaller/mid-size sub-woofers are better than larger ones).

-That is all you really need to know, there are other values such as Siemens (conductivity measurement), and Coulombs (electric charge measurement). While those are important, they are not commonly spoken about, nor that important for audio device consumers.

--Hope this helps!

I have been having the same volume issue and actually went out and bought some aftermarket speakers thinking that this would fix the issue. It didn't. I have tried many of the above postings to fix this to no avail. What did fix the problem was after I accessed the 'control panel>sound>default speaker' I noticed that there was a tab called 'levels.' I clicked on the 'balance' button next to the volume level and found that the default setting for my left and right speakers was a '12' on a scale 1-100. I immediately changed this to 100 and now my speakers (the new ones or the old ones) sound remarkably louder. I recommend this to everyone to try.

I just did the realtek HD audio driver update and my headphone/earphone got really 2x louder! It works like a magic! Here's the link to the website

Realtek

Download it, install, restart and Tada! 2x Louder sound!