Volume
Overview
There are multiple volume modes in Media Center.
You can switch volume modes using the Player > Volume Menu.
You can also click the little speaker to the left of the volume slider to access the same menu.
Mode Details
System Volume
System Volume controls the master volume of the entire system. It is equivalent to clicking the volume system icon and adjusting the slider.
Application Volume
Application Volume controls the volume of only Media Center. This requires Windows Vista and newer. It is not recommended for the best sound quality because of the addition of an additional volume layer.
Disabled Volume
Disabled Volume disables any volume controls. This mode is useful if you send audio to an external device with a hardware volume, and you want to avoid the complexity of two volumes.
Internal Volume
Internal Volume applies volume inside the 64bit JRiver audio engine. This is the highest quality possible software volume. More on 64bit processing here Audio Bitdepth.
Internal Volume is useful in cases when hardware does not offer a volume, which is common with high-end sound cards and DACs.
As with any audio processing, Internal Volume does not work when bitstreaming. It also does not work with web browser based playback like Netflix.
The decibel scale used for Internal Volume is detailed here (with some discussion that led to the scale): http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=69939.msg471528#msg471528
Recommendations
There is no best volume mode. The selection depends on your hardware and preference.
The most common choices are System Volume or Internal Volume.
Picking Between System Volume and Internal Volume
The determining factor in this decision is the type / quality of your hardware volume.
Sometimes turning up the hardware volume increases the noise you hear if you play silence (use 'Tools > Advanced Tools > Create Test Clips' to generate silence files to test with, and make sure 'Do not play silence' is not checked in Options > Audio). Test this by putting your ear right next to the speaker and adjust the System Volume while silence plays.
If the noise gets louder when you turn up the volume:
- Use 'System Volume' so that you don't turn up the System Volume (which we found adds noise) unless you have to
If the noise is unchanged when you turn up the volume:
- Use 'Internal Volume' and leave the System Volume at 100%. This is advantageous because you get a 64bit volume and also because it allows Media Center to have as much signal headroom as possible, which is especially important if you do processing (upsampling, room correction, bass management, etc.)
Volume Protection
Volume Protection is a feature to prevent unexpectedly loud output. It is useful in cases when you connect Media Center to a high-gain amplifier where unexpected output at full volume could damage equipment or your ears.
Volume protection does the following:
- Makes it so that it isn't possible to increase the volume by more than 5% at a time (so accidentally clicking 100% on the slider will not go to 100%)
- Makes it so that the volume can not be increased by more than 20% a second
- Makes it so that starting playback if nothing has played for 30 minutes sets the volume to 10% (unless the volume is already lower)
Volume Startup
In Options > Startup, there are a few volume related options under the header 'Startup Volume'.
Optimize volume for best sound quality This option maximizes the wave-out volume slider on startup. This prevents double volume and related sound quality issues on Windows XP and earlier. The option is harmless but unnecessary on Vista and newer.
Set volume This option will set the volume in Media Center to the specified level when launching the program.