How to lower the audio below 1, but above 0

[inkyvoyd]

Hi,
My audio jack recently broke, so I'm using a USB "sound card", which basically converts a USB port into an audio jack. Everything's working just fine, the problem is that it is way too loud. I'm using a pair of ear buds and VLC media player to play my music, and both are set to 1%, but the music is still much too loud. When I set both to max, I can literally use my ear buds as an external speaker. I would like some sort of way to decrease my audio output by like 99%, because it's just about 100 times too loud.

 

[IshmumR]

You cant. Simple.
try making windows default volume to 1% and then vlc volume to 1% too, see what happens

 

[inkyvoyd]

You cant. Simple.
try making windows default volume to 1% and then vlc volume to 1% too, see what happens

Right now Windows volume IS at 1%, and VLC volume is at 3%, because I can't click it lower. Thing is, it looks like they are quadratic, so lowering VLC by 2% wouldn't be much of a volume difference.

 

[DavidE]

If the USB device is listed in Sound / Playback, you could try going to the Properties / Enhancements.

Select the Equalizer and set all the sliders to minimum.
Make sure "Loudness Equalization" is NOT checked.

Maybe consider headphones with an in-line (physical) volume control?

 

[inkyvoyd]

If the USB device is listed in Sound / Playback, you could try going to the Properties / Enhancements.

Select the Equalizer and set all the sliders to minimum.
Make sure "Loudness Equalization" is NOT checked.

Maybe consider headphones with an in-line (physical) volume control?

I tried that, but at the minimum volume, it actually becomes quite louder. I have external speakers at home, which have another (lol) controller, so that would probably be 3 speakers at near minimum. That will definitely work; unfortunately they are actual big external speakers, and I can't just carry them around. Ear buds with in-line volume control are a good idea, but I can't afford to get them right now (I'm actually in Taiwan, where electronics are both more expensive and harder to find.)
OT: Yes, "How can you not afford a pair of 40 dollar headphones if you can afford a super high end laptop?" No comment.
EDIT: I have a solution, but it lowers the audio quality by about 40%. It turns out that I have another external speaker, which are the tiny USB "box" kind. It happened to have an audio jack, so I just plugged it in, and turned the volume down. In other words, I'm using triple volume control just to get what I want done. The problem is, unless I turn the volume up, the quality is terrible. No, my ears are not that sensitive. It's just that the volume is way too loud, and when I try to lower it, I lose too much audio quality.
EDIT 2: Can you guys please help me? I think I'm getting permanent ear damage here from accidentally having the volume up too much.