When I play MP3's and WMA's from Windows Media Player through my 828MKII, it's always VERY LOUD. Even when I have it turned down on my mixer, it's 10 times louder than when I play my Cubase projects and stuff through it.
I have Media Player turned down almost all the way, and it still blares. Anything I can do to get it down to a reasonable level?
Windows media VERY LOUD!!!!
Moderator: James Steele
Forum rules
Discussion related to installation, configuration and use of MOTU hardware such as MIDI interfaces, audio interfaces, etc. with Windows
Discussion related to installation, configuration and use of MOTU hardware such as MIDI interfaces, audio interfaces, etc. with Windows
First of all, sorry for the late answer.
My first recommendation is to ditch Windows Media Player.
Personally, I use foobar2000. In addition to ASIO support, which I truly recommend, it also has a "Replaygain" function which allows for scanning songs for peaks, and adjust the output (per album or per song) accordingly to maximise dynamics and avoid clipping. Since most CDs these days are recorded just a tad too loud, because loud sells better, I find that replaygain does wonders, sometimes making a ripped MP3 sound better(!) than the CD it's ripped from. In those cases, the reconstructed signal from an MP3, adjusted down in volume, can be a better approximation of the waveform than what the clipped CD waveforms give. If you want volume, the amp is where you should add it, not the signal.
If sticking with Windows Media Player, there's a couple of tricks that can help with the sound:
First, beware that a couple of the effects are turned ON by default. File->View->Show Enhancements, then step through them one by one and turn them all off. Especially the SRS WOW Effect is horrible: it bumps up the bass loudness, adds artificial echo to the treble, and artificially "moves" sound away from near the center to create a "wide" effect -- in other words, it kills all details. I'm sure it pleases the masses who set their equalizers to a V shape and salt their food before tasting it.
Also in Windows Media Player, go to Tools -> Options, select the Devices tab, select "Speakers", and hit "Properties". Check the box stating "Use 24-bit audio for audio CDs". The description there is wrong -- enabling 24-bit will use 24-bit also for 16-bit sound. Why is this important if your sound source is 16-bit? In short, to help reduce clipping. You have more headroom with 24-bit, and it allows for extrapolated waveforms that would clip with 16-bits. You still won't get higher resolution than the source, but you'll get more headroom.
But honestly, give foobar2000 with the ASIO drivers a try. It may not look as nifty as Windows Media Player, but the sound quality is, in my opinion, much better.
My first recommendation is to ditch Windows Media Player.
Personally, I use foobar2000. In addition to ASIO support, which I truly recommend, it also has a "Replaygain" function which allows for scanning songs for peaks, and adjust the output (per album or per song) accordingly to maximise dynamics and avoid clipping. Since most CDs these days are recorded just a tad too loud, because loud sells better, I find that replaygain does wonders, sometimes making a ripped MP3 sound better(!) than the CD it's ripped from. In those cases, the reconstructed signal from an MP3, adjusted down in volume, can be a better approximation of the waveform than what the clipped CD waveforms give. If you want volume, the amp is where you should add it, not the signal.
If sticking with Windows Media Player, there's a couple of tricks that can help with the sound:
First, beware that a couple of the effects are turned ON by default. File->View->Show Enhancements, then step through them one by one and turn them all off. Especially the SRS WOW Effect is horrible: it bumps up the bass loudness, adds artificial echo to the treble, and artificially "moves" sound away from near the center to create a "wide" effect -- in other words, it kills all details. I'm sure it pleases the masses who set their equalizers to a V shape and salt their food before tasting it.
Also in Windows Media Player, go to Tools -> Options, select the Devices tab, select "Speakers", and hit "Properties". Check the box stating "Use 24-bit audio for audio CDs". The description there is wrong -- enabling 24-bit will use 24-bit also for 16-bit sound. Why is this important if your sound source is 16-bit? In short, to help reduce clipping. You have more headroom with 24-bit, and it allows for extrapolated waveforms that would clip with 16-bits. You still won't get higher resolution than the source, but you'll get more headroom.
But honestly, give foobar2000 with the ASIO drivers a try. It may not look as nifty as Windows Media Player, but the sound quality is, in my opinion, much better.