Volume is usually low on my laptop, is there a software/driver way to add +20dB to the output?

Compared to previous laptop computers I had, I've found that the different Thinkpad T*** series I have, have a low or at best "medium" output loudspeaker volume (that's normal: they are not designed for this purpose, and the reason is probably that the hardware loudspeaker has a low power).

In some situations, it could be useful to have a louder volume.

I've already:

set max volume in my application
set max volume in the Windows 7 mixer
checked the possible device audio "Enhancements", but none of them really adds volume

Question: is there a generic audio driver that could replace the Conexant 20672 SmartAudio HD driver, that has a volume boost feature?

Note: even if not 100% guaranteed to work, I think it could be worth trying another driver: laptop's built-in soundcards often have a generic Realtek or similar chipset that meet the AC97 standard)

Basj

Posted 2018-09-07T09:35:26.390

Reputation: 1 356

@n8te I'm already using hardware solutions in some situations (sometimes external loudspeakers, and I also use a pro external USB audio interface when I work on audio), but here I'm specifically speaking about the cases where I can't bring a hardware solution, thus I'm looking for a software solution. +10dB or even +5dB would already be ok, if not more is possible. – Basj – 2018-09-07T10:10:21.533

Answers

If you're watching/listening something on your PC, VLC media player got the option to increase the volume to 200%.

Alternatively try 3rd party apps such as:

See also:

Increase volume of PC?

kenorb

Posted 2018-09-07T09:35:26.390

Reputation: 16 795

Yes, I already sometimes use this for VLC or Media Player Classic (there is a boost in the options too). I'll test Boom, SoundPimp and Viper4Windows.

– Basj – 2018-09-07T11:04:30.710

1Viper4Windows looks very promising, it seems to use a very cool thing: Microsoft's Audio Processing Object Architecture, i.e. more or less DSP directly on the general output. – Basj – 2018-09-07T11:05:22.453

Thanks one million times @kenorb, Viper4Windows is great! Maybe it's even possible to do the same (for Volume boost only) in a few lines of code, using Audio Processing Object Architecture, I'm sure the Microsoft SDK has probably a demo about that around here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/audio/audio-processing-object-architecture ? The longest will probably be to build it, etc.

– Basj – 2018-09-07T13:20:27.203

Maybe @kenorb you will have another idea (I have this problem since 10 years, I'll probably post another question): would there be a low-latency replacement driver for standard built-in soundcards (for Win7)? The only thing I know is "ASIO4ALL" but it's not multi-client (i.e. if music production software uses it, no other software using sound can be used at same time). – Basj – 2018-09-07T13:32:10.187

idk about on Windows, but the Mac version of Boom 2 is a well-known kernel panicker & speaker killer. – Tetsujin – 2018-09-07T13:33:59.593

Glat it helped. Unfortunately, I won't help with the soundcard's driver issues, I'm in general a macOS/Linux user, now temporary on Windows 10. – kenorb – 2018-09-07T14:59:53.723

Though this is, in theory, quite simple to do - if you boost a signal already at 0dB by 20dB all you will get is hideous distortion.

If the device doesn't have a powerful enough amp in it, nothing is going to make it any louder. Driving it to distortion will also seriously affect the life of the built-in speakers.

If you want to test my theory, try something like Voicemeeter Banana

Tetsujin

Posted 2018-09-07T09:35:26.390

Reputation: 22 456