Volume Control

[ferrisdrums]

I use LOR in a band and we use it for playing sequences as well as playing music videos while we play, all of course while controlling our stage lights.  The audio for the videos and mp3 are adjusted in Audacity to peak at 0db and are then verified in MP3Gain to assure that they are all the same.

 

When I play MP3s through Light O Rama sequence editor, it reduces the volume greatly.  It does not do this with Videos (I use AVI format).  I switch frequently between videos and audio sequences and do not want to have to adjust the volume on the mixer to correspond.  When I play the MP3 through Windows Media Player, the volume is correct.  When I then load the same MP3 through LOR, it is reduced by about 10-20%.  Is there a way I can adjust this?  I can not increase the volume on the MP3 files because they are at 0db and I do not want any clipping.  I use MP3gain already to make sure they are all the same.

 

Thank you for your help.

[Orville]

I don't do what you do, but I too have noticed a big difference in volume when an MP3 Sequence is played in the LOR SE {a lot lower} than if played directly in WMP or any other program I use to play or edit an MP3 file.   It only gets the volume lowered in the SE.   And I have never really understood why that is either.

[viennaxmas]

Have you checked the Windows volume mixer? Audio sequences and Video sequences may be played out by two different applications and Windows now allows to set levels per application. Maybe your LOR is set different than the LOR Video Player...

[Orville]

All my volume mixers are set at full volume.  But the LOR SE still has a lower volume than any other MP3 player/editor used outside the SE.    Wish I could use Sonique instead of WMP as it plays my MP3's much louder and better than WMP.

[Eric Roberts]

Hello, I realize that this thread is a little old.... but has a fix been found for the lower volume yet?  I am having a similar issue with volume noticeably lower from the SE as well.

Thanks!

[Orville]

What I don't get is if the WMP is set at full volume, why does the SE lower it if it supposedly is married to WMP to play the MP3 files?   The MP3 played in WMP without SE = louder, but within SE and using WMP volume is anywhere from 5-10% lower.

 

Is this because SE does not have an internal player and possibly memory constraints within WMP and SE being used at the same time creates this issue?   Or is it something entirely different that creates the lower playing volume within the SE?     As I know the SE does not have any volume settings to allow for any such discrepancies, but I have yet to see a fix or workaround for this issue within the SE software.

 

Personally I'd think a built in Audio player into the SE would stop this, as well as the lag times that sometimes occur wen playback occurs, but can't say for sure.

[Dave Batzdorf]

If you need to increase the volume, use Audacity.  It can do a whole bunch of different effects.

[LOR Staff]

This is for Windows 7.  Other OS's may be different:

• Press START, then in the 'Search Programs and Files' box type 'Volume'
• Click on 'Adjust System Volume'.  The Volume Mixer will pop up.  LEAVE IT UP.
• Start the Sequence Editor, load a Musical sequence, and PLAY it.
• Look at the Volume Mixer application -- you will now see that the Sequence Editor is shown.
• Adjust the volume slider for Sequence Editor to the TOP

 

Next, ensure you don't have Volume Ducking turned on:

Start/Control Panel/Hardware and Sounds/Sound.  On the 'Communications' tab, ensure that 'Do nothing' is selected.

 

Please note that while we use Windows Media Player internally, we don't expose the controls, and use the defaults.  For us that means that the Sequence Editor (and other programs in the suite) all have the same ground rules.

 

However that also means that certain options you have turned ON or OFF when playing media through the Windows WMP interface may not be in effect when the same media is played through the sequence editor.  That includes things like external plug ins, graphic equalizers, bass boost, 'loudness', 'quiet mode', Dolby Digital effects, etc.  Any of those (and more) can make the volume levels different when playing the same media in the Sequence Editor vs the Windows Media Player interface.

[Orville]

Thanks for the info DevMike, but I have already done all that on all my computers, laptop with Win 7 and Desktop with Win XP.   And I even went back and checked to be sure nothing had changed and to be sure everything is as you stated in your message.

 

  LOR SE still is lower than when I use WMP directly or another MP3 Player outside the SE software and none of the criteria changed, everything remained just as your message says to do.

 

Now I'd love to use Sonique for my MP3 Player, and wish we had the option to choose which MP3 player we prefer, mainly because there are quite a few out there and much better than WMP!  

 

But not sure just how feasible that would be in the LOR Suite.

 

But thanks for the info, it may help some, but for some reason on my computers the volume from SE still remains slightly lower than when playing an MP3 outside SE in WMP or other MP3 players.    And my laptop is just slightly over a year old, the desktop about 4 years old, but that shouldn't have anything to do with the volume levels as long as they had been set as outlined in your post.

 

Kind of weird, as I was hoping maybe something was set incorrectly on my system, but when checked, were just as you stated.

 

So may have to look for something else or some other way to fix this on my systems.

[Santas Helper]

If you need to increase the volume, use Audacity.  It can do a whole bunch of different effects.

 

The OP mentioned in the first post that he uses Audacity already.

[Eric Roberts]

I really appreciate the info.

 

After performing the steps, I'm afraid I still have a slightly lower SE volume.

 

Its not really a huge issue for me, I just wanted to know if there was a way to play at maximum level thru the SE.

 

Thanks!

 

BTW, I'm running Windows 7 Starter Edition on a netbook... but it was replicated on the Windows 7 Pro on my laptop as well.