System sounds are not loud enough

[Nisko]

My System Sounds are not loud enough and certainly noy as loud as in any previous Microsoft OS. Can this be "fixed?"

 

[zigzag3143]

My System Sounds are not loud enough and certainly noy as loud as in any previous Microsoft OS. Can this be "fixed?"

I think we need a lot more info before we can be of any help

What sound card, how much ram, is there a driver in device manger, etc

Ken

 

[Nisko]

I have a laptop and don't know how to tell you which sound card I have. I have 4 GB ram and there is a driver in Device Manage (it says "High Definition Audio Device (by Microsoft)" and another says " IDT High Definition Audio CODEC". The sound level from other sources seems acceptable (normal). It's just the System Sounds that are not loud enough (not nearly as loud as all my other past PCs and not as loud as the other sources on this laptop. I've tried all the possible settings (I think) and they're still not very loud. I've Googled this issue and it seems a lot of people have similar problems (but not the same) with Windows 7. My installation was from scratch on a new drive (the OS did not come from a Recovery Partition and it wasn't an upgrade). If you need any more information, just ask. I have no way of knowing what you need or if you're aware of this issue on other PCs. Thanks.

 

[Thorsen]

Windows 7 seems to be a little on the quiet side. You can look through your taskbar next to the clock and see if you have an audio program that has an equalizer. If you do, then move the sliders for each level up a notch and that should make it louder.

 

[Nisko]

Do You mean I would have to have this app running in the background all the time? Also, can you suggest an app that doesn't take much resources?

 

[Thorsen]

I haven't tried with mine. Mine was quiet, but had two different audio programs....

the regular Sound icon (which has hardly anything)
One for Realtek audio which has stuff like input selection etc.
And one for the Asus laptop-specific program which had an equalizer tab


Usually OEM's put lots of bloatware on the comp and it doesn't do much good. You might have the three above: your regular Volume Icon, a Realtek Audio Icon, and another sound program similar to it specific for HP Pavilions.

What is your HP Pavilion? I looked for "HP Pavilion KQ574AV", but Im not finding much for KQ574AV

 

[Thorsen]

Is this your computer? HP dv5t Series Notebook Computer - KQ574AV - Compare Prices, Price History and User Reviews at PriceSCAN

 

[Nisko]

Looks like it. I think you might have hit on something: What app plays the System Sounds and what app plays everything else? How can I find out. It seems like the app that plays the System Sounds is different - and has the volume turned down.

 

[valc]

Looks like it. I think you might have hit on something: What app plays the System Sounds and what app plays everything else? How can I find out. It seems like the app that plays the System Sounds is different - and has the volume turned down.

Did you ever get an answer to this or figure it out? I have the same issue with a new install of win 7 on a desktop and it is driving me crazy. All sound is fine except the windows system sounds that are so low I can barely hear them when no other sounds are playing and can't hear them at all when anything else is playing.

 

[Nisko]

Open up your sound controls (right click on the sound icon in the system tray (bottom right of the screen)). Open the Volume Mixer. One of the volume controls is for the System Sounds and is probably set too low.

 

[valc]

Thanks but that is one of the first things I tried. I've also disabled auto volume reduction. Guess I just have to keep my speakers up a little louder than I really like to so I can hear the system sounds.

 

[Nisko]

Please tell me what auto volume reduction is - I'm not aware of it. In the meantime, I'll try to remember what I did to fix my volume problem. It may not be the same problem you have - but I'll do my best to remember. Just check back here periodically. My memory isn't what it used to be.

 

[valc]

Sympatiize with the memory thing....too true. I appreciate whatever you can recall, I thought from the thread that you never got a proper answer here and hoped you found one somewhere else or figured a solution on your own.

Some posts suggested that the win 7 auto sound leveler was coming on sporadically and limiting the volume. Frankly, I think if it were the case windows update probably corrected it by now. But just to be sure I set it to "do nothing" and left it that way. Here's how: right click on the speaker icon on the taskbar; left click on sounds; left click on communications. You will see that it defaults to reduce volume by 80% when you "are using your PC to place or receive phone calls." I don't do that with this PC but, since that is the case, saw no harm in turning it off by checking "do nothing". It had no effect on my low system volume but I left it set that way.

 

[Nisko]

I really don't remember if I got an solution from the 'Web' or I found one on my own. In any case, I don't have the problem anymore. Have you tried to update your sound driver from the manufacturer? If not, let me know and I'll walk you through the "whole" process (or "correct" process).

 

[valc]

Thanks for your kind offer, Nisko---While I am new to win 7, I have been figuring out problems with computers, believe it or not, since before windows 3.1! (DOS wasn't so bad, actually). So I made sure to have all the latest drivers etc for my system when I installed win 7 on a second hard drive.

So guess I will google the low system sound volume from time to time and see if it gets attention on the web. Of course, if you have a brainstorm I will stay subscribed to this thread. Thanks for trying to help.

 

[Nisko]

It could be that your sound driver didn't install correctly. Delete the sound driver. Then, right click the top line ans Scan for Hardware changes. This will reinstall your sound driver.

 

[Jacee]

This may help if you haven't tried it yet http://www.sevenforums.com/sound-audio/21089-low-sound-volume.html#post234986

 

[valc]

Thanks Jacee---My problem was low sound only on the win 7 system sounds (i.e. critical stop, dings, error, start up/shut down wav etc). Luckily my sounds for all other uses was fine, dvd, cd, games, audio on sites, etc. All was fine for all audio file formats except the win 7 system sounds. Others have complained of the same problem.

After essentially giving up and deciding to just live with lower volume on the system sounds, I noticed that after a couple of updates to win 7 and reboots that the system sounds were pretty close in volume to all other audio. Hmm......That should not have worked!!

Been around PC's since my first home PC (a whopping Pentium 1 at 60hz). Blazing fast compared to the 286 I had at work.

Anyway I hate it when things don't work as they should, and also don't like problems that go away without me ever finding out what caused them.

One possibility that I have no way of checking: I installed ATI Catalyst Control Center on the drive that has win 7. I have HDMI audio as an option but use my SB Audigy speakers instead. Maybe the CCC install corrected something that was conflicting between the HDMI and Audigy audio. Don't know. Any thoughts?

Anyway, thanks for reading this.