Some members of MTH are back under the name The Keys... ►

◄ Yet more BargainHost problems... smegging hell...

I never knew girls existed like you... but now that I do I really wanna get to know you... I'm only livin' one time, and I want you... she is beautiful, she is beautiful... I ain't got nothing to lose, gonna throw it away and talk to you... smeg, I put Andrew WK on what seems like five minutes ago, and the album's over half the way through... ah well, lather, rinse, repeat play... it's being a good few years for music, I feel. And I finally got around to balancing my speaker output and all of the Windows volume levels. Don't laugh... this is slightly trickier than it sounds. Sounds, geddit? ;) *swishes hand*

Seriously, there are so many sound volumes in so many programs that finding a consistent level involves the recognition of a few key principles. So, gather round if you've ever found yourself constantly adjusting multiple sliders...

This is partly the fault of my MS Natural MultiMedia keyboard, the volume controls of which affect the overall Windows level rather than the wave portion. This, coupled with a scrollmouse and a Winamp slider which tends to grab its input and throw off the default 25% output I work with, can be annoying. To further complicate things, programs such as DivX Player work as a percentage of the wave output, which is in turn a percentage of the overall volume. Confused? What's needed is one set of hotkeys for everything.

To cut a meandering story short, the following volume controls are fixed: my speakers at just under 50%, the Windows wave volume control at 25%, the Winamp volume control has been disabled (which you can do via Preferences), all sub-wave controls in individual programs can be left at maximum, and the hotkeys on the MS Natural can control everything. Phew. Such a friendly system for beginners to pick up, isn't it? :p

Incidentally, there are plenty of freeware gadgets out there with which you could duplicate the effect even if you don't have a keyboard with extra hotkeys... assigning Ctrl-PgUp / Ctrl-PgDn, for instance, wouldn't be too hard. Just a thought... :)

💬 Comments are off, but you can use the mail form to contact or see the about page for social media links.

BLOG  MORE  ABOUT  MAIL