Subject:General volume control?

Posted by: AnthonyGA

Date:1/10/2012 3:23:08 AM

Is there any kind of general volume control hidden somewhere in Sound Forge that allows me to simply adjust the volume for monitoring with my headphones? The headphones I normally use don't have a built-in volume control and it's awkward to adjust volume for all of Windows just to adjust it inside Sound Forge. I was wondering if there might be a control for that (just for the headphone/speaker output, no effect on the sound file). I can't seem to find anything in the help files.

Subject:RE: General volume control?

Reply by: ChristoC

Date:1/10/2012 4:26:32 AM

Yes! - Look in View Menu = Hardware Meters - there's a fader next to these which just affects SF output to monitoring. There's also a little speaker+arrow icon button at top of the Hardware Meters window which dims output by -20dB.

Subject:RE: General volume control?

Reply by: AnthonyGA

Date:1/10/2012 5:41:06 AM

Thanks! I looked and looked for this, and it turns out that the hardware meters are only available on the Pro version of Sound Forge. I guess Sony wants to be responsible for any hearing damage suffered by users of the Audio Studio version.

Subject:RE: General volume control?

Reply by: Chienworks

Date:1/10/2012 10:12:15 AM

Use the Windows volume control. I normally have that open all the time while i'm recording or editing.

Subject:RE: General volume control?

Reply by: AnthonyGA

Date:1/10/2012 4:01:57 PM

Yes, I guess there's no other option. The problem is that you have to try to remember where it was and then set it back when you're finished with Sound Forge, and Sound Forge seems to have things set a bit higher than other applications. I can understand that some features would not be available in the inexpensive version of the product, but I'm surprised that a basic safety feature would be among them.

Subject:RE: General volume control?

Reply by: Chienworks

Date:1/10/2012 4:07:02 PM

Kinda strange. I've got the latest version of Sound Forge Pro, in fact all versions back to version 5, and several of the "studio" versions as well. I've never noticed any volume control feature, in fact never looked for one because it must be a recent addition. The old versions never had it at all so i've always used the Windows volume control. Since the Windows control is more than sufficient and even has input & output mixers, i never saw any need for Sound Forge to supply this function.

Subject:RE: General volume control?

Reply by: rraud

Date:1/10/2012 4:22:27 PM

I think SCS added the 'Hardware meters / Volume control' with SF-9.0, I never used it a whole lot either.

Subject:RE: General volume control?

Reply by: Geoff_Wood

Date:1/10/2012 8:59:24 PM

No. The output volume is easily controlled by the Volume Applet of yo soundcard.

Click the little speaker icon at the bottom-right of your screen.

geoff

Subject:RE: General volume control?

Reply by: Geoff_Wood

Date:1/10/2012 9:02:17 PM

"No other option" ? It is the first and obvious option ! Is this in some way difficult on your system ?

geoff

Subject:RE: General volume control?

Reply by: Chienworks

Date:1/10/2012 10:45:44 PM

I'm guessing his complaint is that he'd like to turn down the volume of just Sound Forge without adjusting everything else. I've never noticed Sound Forge (or Vegas/Acid/whatever) being louder than any other applications. Maybe he's got all the other applications that do have their own volume controls turned down.

Subject:RE: General volume control?

Reply by: AnthonyGA

Date:1/11/2012 3:38:20 AM

The issue is mostly that changing the Windows volume changes the sound level for every application on the machine, so if you don't have a separate control in each application, you must constantly play with the Windows control when going from one application to another.

The safety issue is one of ear protection. I switched to a better pair of headphones that has lower impedance, and so naturally they are louder. For whatever reason, Sound Forge seems to have a "built-in" sound level that is higher than other applications, so if I start it up and listen to something without first cranking down the Windows volume, the sound level in the headphones can be high enough to present a hazard.

Of all the features that you'd pull from the low-cost version of a sound editing program, it very much surprises me that a master volume control would be one of them. I mean, even Audacity has a volume control.

Subject:RE: General volume control?

Reply by: roblesinge

Date:1/11/2012 7:34:48 AM

What OS are you using? Windows 7 DOES have separate volume controls for each application.

Rob.

Subject:RE: General volume control?

Reply by: Chienworks

Date:1/11/2012 9:21:38 AM

Does it? I checked that out right away when this question first was posted. I only see controls for a very few applications. Then again, i've only got 7 Home Edition on my laptop.

Subject:RE: General volume control?

Reply by: AnthonyGA

Date:1/12/2012 9:27:58 PM

I'm running Windows XP.

Subject:RE: General volume control?

Reply by: Geoff_Wood

Date:1/13/2012 10:46:11 PM

In most mixers WaveOut has a separate control to System Sounds - try looking for an 'Advanced' tab.

Me - I prefer a real vol control - I have a 10K fader in a diecast box between my Line Out and speakers. My system soiunds go thru the cruddy mobo-sound, and my serious audio goes thru a separate soundcard. But this assumes analogue-driven speakers....

geoff