Hi,
I have been using MC 18 and previous versions for a number of years and have always used the 'disabled volume' setting and adjusted the volume using my NAD C352 stereo amplifier. The sound travels from the computer through a USB DAC (Audio-gd NFB2) to the amplifier.
Today I have been experimenting with the volume settings and the loudness button and I have a couple of questions.
I have calibrated the volume using the method recommended in the wiki using an SPL meter app on my phone. I used the Sound Meter Lite App. I am guessing this may not be accurate and I should really buy (or borrow) a real meter – does anyone have any views on this?
In order to calibrate the volume I turned the volume on the amplifier up to about 40% on the amplifier, which in ordinary circumstances is extremely loud. I then set the system volume to 100% and calibrated using the internal volume of MC getting a reference volume of 91. Is there a recommended range of reference volume that we should be aiming for to avoid clipping etc? (I am only using replay gain and the loudness function at the moment, no room correction etc)
The sound is working well in MC now. The only trick is that I needed to turn down all of the other commonly used applications in the Windows mixer to about 15% (eg. For anything playing through the web browser) to reduce the risk of blowing up the speakers or annoying the neighbours if I switch to another application that uses the system volume, which is set at 100% for MC. Is this the best way to manage this or is there another simpler (foolproof) way to do this?
Happy to provide more info if needed.
Thank you in advance for your assistance. Looking forward to the release of MC 19 in the coming weeks.
Thanks
Stuart