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[davidr123]

My default volume level in xbmc is very low relative to my TV/tuner and other sources. I read the XBMC FAQ and found the following:

The volume level in XBMC is down really, really low – I can't hear anything!
The right thumb stick (push up or down) alters the volume level. Sometimes a second controller is tucked away and could be lowering the volume

Ok, so I used the rigtht thumb stick to adjust the volume but it was already at the highest setting 0db.

Is there something I can do to normalize the volume of XBMC with the other componants I have so that I am not always having to increase the tuner or TV volume when I go into XBMC and so I don't blow out my speakers when I go back to using some other source and forget to turn it back down?

The low relative volume on XBMC is pretty much consistant with all of the movies which were pulled from many different places so I am thinking this an XBMC issue versus the movies having been encoded with a very low volume.

[Stefan Leroux]

I'm not so sure this is an XBMC issue so much as an XBox issue.  I've been having the exact same problem, but also so does my 360 (semi-related I believe).  I've taken to assuming that it's the scart connections are doing it for me, as the Wii works fine on a different port.

Of course I may be wrong, but to check just put a game/dvd in the drive and find out if the volume still needs to be increased.  If it does then it may be an XBMC problem which might need fixing, but otherwise as I suspect its not really an XBMC issue, although some form of volume-boosting may be added which would help accomplish this for you, although that would be at the discretion of the developers.

[Bomb Bloke]

I find XBMC at max volume is softer then X-Box games. Not so much so that switching between them endangers my speakers, but enough that I have to mess with the volume control each time.

For whatever reason SSX games seem to be especially loud.

Edit: For what it's worth I use composite cables. Yes, I know, but it's either that or a coax cable.

This post has been edited by Bomb Bloke: Feb 12 2008, 04:36 AM

[Stefan Leroux]

Fair enough Bomb-bloke.  I wasn't sure, because mines needs a huge amount of volume changing.  My Wii is a lot louder than my XBMC or 360 even at a quarter of the volume, but like I said I assumed this to be a scart issue (both boxes use a scart switcher on AV1 while Wii is on AV2).  It's bloody annoying to be completely honest, but the larger issue is mainly with the 360 which I use to watch TV.
TBH I'm kinda glad to hear it may be XBMC's issue, because nothing surpriss me regarding the 360, and I'd prefer that I don't need to recable stuff again.

[Bomb Bloke]

A trick I found one day when the remote was just out of reach is to go into the audio settings page while playing a video and mess with the volume amplification setting.

I'm not sure exactly what it's supposed to do (it used to be "dynamic range compression" but I dunno if it does the same thing now), but long story short you crank it up and XBMC gets louder.

[davidr123]

I think I found the fix in a few other posts. Its like the person above said. Play a video, and hit menu. This brings up that sort of cross shapped remote control onto the screen (I think that is refered to as the OSD). Use the up down arrows to position on to the speaker icon and this will bring you into a menu with audio settings for video. The 2nd from the top is an amplification related (I guess this is the dynamic range compensation mentioned above) slider bar that scales your volume up some. You can then choose a selection at the bottom of the screen that says to use these settings on all movies.

This corrected the issue for me. I am able to switch between TV source and xbox and volume is fairly close now depending upon the individual video I was watching. Hope this helps others.

[Silent88]

QUOTE(Bomb Bloke @ Feb 12 2008, 05:27 AM)

A trick I found one day when the remote was just out of reach is to go into the audio settings page while playing a video and mess with the volume amplification setting.

I'm not sure exactly what it's supposed to do (it used to be "dynamic range compression" but I dunno if it does the same thing now), but long story short you crank it up and XBMC gets louder.

This may or may not correct your issues, but with this setting, be VERY careful. You're amplifying the audio signal into a clipped signal, which in turn can damage your speakers. (Notice when you go to high, you can hear the distortion, that's actually called clipping.) The signal it amplified too much to where the signal is basically flatlining. The signal comes from being a WAVE into being a a much more angled signal (Kind of like a block, or a trapezoid) These signals will create more heat than what they should be, so they can cause premature failure to your speakers. Using it to slightly amplify the signal (No more than +2.0dB) probably won't hurt your speakers too bad, anything above that, don't do it, just turn the volume up on the receiver, not the source unit (Xbox). If you have the ability to turn up the receiver's volume, do so. Just a little tip if you don't want to harm your setup.  (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[jmarshall]

The "Volume Amplification" setting is softclipping, not hardclipping, so it's not all that bad.  It uses a sigmoid curve if you are interested.

Generally you are playing at lower volumes on the receiver if you have to use it anyway, otherwise just turn up the volume on your receiver.

Cheers,
Jonathan