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[Aimhere]

Hi,

Using MC 21 on Windows 7 64-bit. I have both Realtek onboard motherboard audio and a Plantronics USB headset (which is its own sound card). I also have a Logitech G710+ keyboard with media-control keys and a volume scroll wheel. All drivers are up-to-date.

If either MC (the main interface) or Media Server are running, I find that whenever I switch audio devices (e.g. plug in or unplug the headset), the volume scroller on the keyboard stops working. But if I then switch back to the original audio device, the volume control works again. Basically, the volume control only works on whatever audio device was active at the time MC and/or Media Server were started up.

The Plantronics headset has its own volume controls... which ALSO fail to work if the motherboard audio was previously active/selected at the time MC/MS were launched.

If I quit out of both MC and Media Server, then I can switch audio devices at will and the volume controls will always work correctly. It's only when MC and/or Media Server are running that I have problems.

I've tried playing around with the Volume Mode setting in Tools/Options/Audio/Volume, but that just muddies the water further. For example, if I set it to "Application volume", then the volume controls affect the volume in MC (and only MC), BUT only while on the "original" device (the one active when MC/MS are started). If I switch devices while MC is using that setting, I can see the volume bar within MC changing as I move the controls, but the volume does not actually change.

If I set MC to "Internal volume" mode, then everything kind of works... the volume control affects MC's playback even after switching devices... but in this mode the controls only affect MC's volume, not the system volume, and I would rather have them affect the SYSTEM volume at all times. MC's not the only software that might issue sounds, after all. (Also, in this mode, the system volume does not change even after closing MC, because Media Server is still running in the background... system volume control does not return unless I also close Media server.)

If I set MC to "Disabled", then the volume controls don't work at all, obviously... even after closing MC, because again, Media Server is still running. The controls work again after closing all JR software.

Note that, at all times and in all configurations, the Windows volume control (in the System Tray) DOES WORK to change overall system volume... but this means I have to click on a tiny icon, then click-and-drag an even tinier scroll bar, in order to change the volume. I would much rather use the bigger, more intuitive volume wheel on my keyboard!

To reiterate, the main issue is that, with MC set to "System volume" (which is what I want), the volume controls stop working when the audio device changes. And this only happens while MC or its Media Server are running.

Am I overlooking something here? Is there any combination of settings that will allow the hardware volume controls to work as expected, and control the System volume at all times, regardless of which audio device is selected or how many times I change devices (and whether or not I have Media Server running in the background)? Or is this just an outright bug in the way MC interacts with the hardware volume controls?

Aimhere

[Arindelle]

sorry I've got to run so I can't get into detail.

Audio devices and Volume control Options are configured by zone. You might not have the same set-up for both your secondary sound card and the device running off of your motherboard/

So what you probably want to do is set up at least 2 zones. One for your realtech, and one for your head set sound card and toggle the zones from within JRiver.

Now there is also the choice (basically for best audio,  its recommended) to use JRiver in exclusive mode. This sometimes is not viable if you are running a DAWs or midi interfaces for home studio recording etc. Also the system volume mode does not by pass the Windows mixer, which generally you want to do for the best audio quality. (usually disabled or Internal volume is what is recommended. Application is pretty specific.)

There is also the possibility of using the WDM driver for all audio playback outside of JRiver (streaming especially, but other software too). This can be a big improvement. But again it depends what you are doing on your PC. Might not be the best for DAWs and gaming etc.

But you could also set up a zone switch rule, where anything outside of JRiver could run using system volume I guess too.

Anyways, I think you want to set up separate zones to deal with the fact that one of your audio devices is not always available unless it is plugged in, depending on what other programs you use (and whether or not you should be using exclusive mode or not). Ideally you want system volume set at 100% and control of the volume via JRiver or a preamp.  Hope this gives you some ideas.

Otherwise, at least it bumps your post

[Aimhere]

sorry I've got to run so I can't get into detail.

Audio devices and Volume control Options are configured by zone. You might not have the same set-up for both your secondary sound card and the device running off of your motherboard/

So what you probably want to do is set up at least 2 zones. One for your realtech, and one for your head set sound card and toggle the zones from within JRiver.

Now there is also the choice (basically for best audio,  its recommended) to use JRiver in exclusive mode. This sometimes is not viable if you are running a DAWs or midi interfaces for home studio recording etc. Also the system volume mode does not by pass the Windows mixer, which generally you want to do for the best audio quality. (usually disabled or Internal volume is what is recommended. Application is pretty specific.)

There is also the possibility of using the WDM driver for all audio playback outside of JRiver (streaming especially, but other software too). This can be a big improvement. But again it depends what you are doing on your PC. Might not be the best for DAWs and gaming etc.

But you could also set up a zone switch rule, where anything outside of JRiver could run using system volume I guess too.

Anyways, I think you want to set up separate zones to deal with the fact that one of your audio devices is not always available unless it is plugged in, depending on what other programs you use (and whether or not you should be using exclusive mode or not). Ideally you want system volume set at 100% and control of the volume via JRiver or a preamp.  Hope this gives you some ideas.

Otherwise, at least it bumps your post

So, I finally got around to experimenting with Zones in MC. I now have one zone for my onboard Realtek audio, another for my Plantronics USB headset. And if the zone is set to match the audio device in-use, then the volume control works the way I would expect.

Trouble is, the zone does not change when the audio device changes (e.g. I plug in or unplug the headset). I always have to go into MC or Media Server and select the zone to match. The "ZoneSwitch" feature doesn't help, it only switches zones based on what is currently playing (matching tags), not what device is in-use. And if I have the wrong zone selected, I still have the problem of the system volume not responding to volume-wheel movement (volume remains at whatever it was the last time that zone was selected).

So, is there any way to have MC automatically switch zones when the audio device changes?

By the way, I really do want my hardware volume controls to control the System volume, at all times. If I set MC Volume Mode to anything but System Volume, then my volume scrollwheel and mute button have no effect outside of MC, and I lose control over the volume of any other apps that might happen to play audio while MC is running.

I also looked at Exclusive Access (using WASAPI drivers) but it's not for me. Maybe it gives better quality, maybe it doesn't, but I want to be able to hear audible alerts from other software and the Windows system... Exclusive mode cuts them all off, as far as I can tell.

Mind you, I also use this PC with yet another audio device, an LG HDTV via HDMI (audio device is "Nvidia High Definition Audio" using my video card). This adds another wrinkle to the whole MC-versus-keyboard-volume-controls issue. BUT, in this case the Nvidia HD Audio is always automatically set to maximum volume when I switch to it, and the TV is used to control its own volume via remote control, so it doesn't matter that the keyboard volume controls are nonfunctional if I fail to switch MC zones. I just wish the volume controls could be made to work as expected using the other audio devices (onboard and headset), without this whole zones thing complicating matters.