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Topic: One place to adjust the volume on my PC witrh external amp or powered speakers. (Read 3980 times) previous topic - next topic
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One place to adjust the volume on my PC witrh external amp or powered speakers.

Hopefully this is a simple question.  I'd like to be able to use an external headphone amp withe my computer and get the equivalent of line level out to the amp, so that the only place I can adjust the volume is on my headphone amp or a set of powered speakers.

I'm being told that if I use an external DAC, the volume setting on my PC will still lower the volume.

Is there an easy way to get one place to adjust my volume, without having to set it in two places:  the PC and the external device?

Re: One place to adjust the volume on my PC witrh external amp or powered speakers.

Reply #1 –
"I'm being told that if I use an external DAC, the volume setting on my PC will still lower the volume."

So whats wrong with using the windows volume control  then ?
Sven Bent - Denmark

Re: One place to adjust the volume on my PC witrh external amp or powered speakers.

Reply #2 –
There's nothing wrong per-se.  I would just prefer not to have to deal with it.

The PC is shared and I don't want to have to deal with everyone setting the volume differently.  I'd rather just adjust the volume on the speakers or amp to the setting I know I like and move on.

Back when I had an iPod, I bought the line out cable and would plug it into the car and be sure what the volume level would be.

It's just a personal preference, that's all.

Re: One place to adjust the volume on my PC witrh external amp or powered speakers.

Reply #3 –
Always remember people are idiots.  That's exactly what happens when multiple people use a single computer.

If you have a multi-media keyboard, get rid of it.

If you can hide or disable the speaker icon from all users to prohibit messing with those controls, do so.  Depending on the edition and version of Windows you might be able to make this setting in the group policy editor (not sure if there is a policy for that).

Re: One place to adjust the volume on my PC witrh external amp or powered speakers.

Reply #4 –
So is cranking the volume to 100% the same as having a line level out?

Re: One place to adjust the volume on my PC witrh external amp or powered speakers.

Reply #5 –
Quote from: apastuszak on
So is cranking the volume to 100% the same as having a line level out?

If the port says line out, front, etc it should be or quite close to it with those settings.  Typically it's labeled as Speakers in the modern Windows playback devices properties tab but not always.

Re: One place to adjust the volume on my PC witrh external amp or powered speakers.

Reply #6 –
It's a laptop.  Just has a headphone jack on the side.

Re: One place to adjust the volume on my PC witrh external amp or powered speakers.

Reply #7 –
Quote from: apastuszak on
It's a laptop.  Just has a headphone jack on the side.

Well, in this case just remember to check it before using it.  It's not usually worth locking down a laptop's sound settings.  People are going to change it whether you like or not and forcing otherwise is not a good idea.  If you were talking about a desktop computer then yes it's worth being clear cut with these things but not a laptop.

In the case of a laptop it may or not be line level @ 100% with the headphone jack at all.  It could easily be a lot louder or quieter than that.

Re: One place to adjust the volume on my PC witrh external amp or powered speakers.

Reply #8 –
Will an external DAC with laptop volume to 100% be line level?

Re: One place to adjust the volume on my PC witrh external amp or powered speakers.

Reply #9 –
Quote from: apastuszak on
Will an external DAC with laptop volume to 100% be line level?

Probably.  It depends.  I wouldn't bother with an external DAC, but it may help with retaining desired settings, if you're the only one that'll be using it and unplugging it when you're not using the laptop.

Also you probably don't even need it unless you're doing something crazy like turning your stereo system up to the max to barely hear anything when the sound card settings are 100%.

Re: One place to adjust the volume on my PC witrh external amp or powered speakers.

Reply #10 –
Each audio device, different outputs from the same device and each application have their own volume controls, some applications even have their own internal gain control as well. Your problem cannot be solved by adding any new hardware unless you buy yourself a separate computer so that other people will not be able to change your settings without you knowing.

Re: One place to adjust the volume on my PC witrh external amp or powered speakers.

Reply #11 –
Quote from: bennetng on
Each audio device, different outputs from the same device and each application have their own volume controls, some applications even have their own internal gain control as well. Your problem cannot be solved by adding any new hardware unless you buy yourself a separate computer so that other people will not be able to change your settings without you knowing.

What you just shown is easily solved by multiple users accounts.  Most applications save their settings in their respective user profile.  Windows itself does save individual preference for volume controls (to a degree).

Buying a separate computer for everybody would mean that everybody is free to mess up their own computer as much they like.

Re: One place to adjust the volume on my PC witrh external amp or powered speakers.

Reply #12 –
Maybe a separate OS installation if the computer has enough disk space.

Re: One place to adjust the volume on my PC witrh external amp or powered speakers.

Reply #13 –
On some Windows version you could remove the mixer device --> audio still worked but the output was stereo only and volume maximized.

You could install VB-Audio's Voicemeeter (Banana) and use it as output device for your use only (selecting ASIO (asio4all in your case) or KS driver in Voicemeeter would bypass system Main volume setting). As said already, volume control found in players usually works allways ... if shared software, keeping it at 100% might be difficult since one user may use that control instead of master output level control... .

http://vb-audio.pagesperso-orange.fr/Voicemeeter/banana.htm
 

Re: One place to adjust the volume on my PC witrh external amp or powered speakers.

Reply #14 –
I purchased a Micco Origen+ and configured mpd on my Linux laptop to do bit perfect audio.  When I play songs using mpd, the volume slider on my PC does nothing to adjust my volume.

So, I've managed to get to one place to adjust the volume on my PC, at least when I listen to music on my headphones.