Thinkpads Forum

I recently got a X60 Tablet with a Ultrabase with the DVD ROM (not the burner). One of the reasons I got the Ultrabase was so I could watch movies in planes while on business trips. However, this last week the volume on the thing was un-bearably low. It was as if it was on half volume the entire time.

Before any one says "Hey, look at the volume settings!", I went and adjusted the following locations:
1) the volume mixer in the system tray (including the one that sets volume for windows media player)
2) the volume settings on the actual sound cart it's self for the CD-ROM drive to 100
3) the volume setting within Media Player it's self.

If you are watching a DVD and go to the system tray to see the output, you'll notice that it does not go over 50% the entire time (at least on my machine).

I had to turn on subtitles to watch the movies when my Dell Laptop died (the movies sounded great on that). So I am farily certain I'm not hard of hearing if the other computer had over a 50% improvement in volume.

Has anyone had the same problem? This happened to my friend's Toshiba laptop running Vista as well, and we couldn't figure it out.

Are you using headphones?

Also the three volume adjustment keys in the top row of the keyboard, have you tried those? I think that volume is independent of the Windows volume.

Yes, I'm using noise cancelling headphones and the volume control on the laptop (the keyboard one) is maxed out. Sorry I forgot to include that.

jimc wrote:Also the three volume adjustment keys in the top row of the keyboard, have you tried those? I think that volume is independent of the Windows volume.

Actually, the top three volume buttons control Windows' "Master Volume."

Is it possible there is a mixer setting not visible...like "CD Player?" In volume settings, you can go to file -> properties to see if there are any other volume controls hidden.

Which Media Player are you using?

I'm using Media Player 11 with Vista Business.

I have the mixer setting in Vista for Media Player maxed out, there is no "CD Player" setting like there is in XP.

It's a workaround, but does WM11 still have the Graphic Equalizer? You could boost that at all levels and maybe that would makeup the difference.

Is the sound level problem across all audio functions on the machine or just WM11 or just WM11 with DVDs?

Do different headphones make a difference (maybe your headphones require a stronger signal strength than the laptop supplies)?

Tried three different types of headphones, and plugged in directly to the ultrabase and also directly into the laptop to see if that would make a difference.

It's only when using the DVD Drive. I can hear everything else on the system fine. System noises and test sounds are twice as loud as the DVD that's playing. I'm thinking it's a driver for the DVD Drive or something to do with the sound card, but I can't narrow it down or find any new drivers for the drive.

Hmmm.

Have you tried a different DVD playback program to see if it's WM11?

I think intervideo has a free trial...
http://www.intervideo.com/WinDVD/

Hmm, well it appears it is a Media Player problem. It sounds great with WinDVD. :shrugs:

This is stange.

Well, at least you know where things are going wrong. WinDVD isn't bad, and if you wait until your trial is up they'll probably send a coupon code to entice you to purchase.

You might also contact Microsoft or see if there's a WM11 update out there that you need.

Yeah, I have WinDVD on all my other laptops, but it was usally pre-installed as part of the drive. Oh well, I guess I'll need to pony up and buy it outright.

Thanks for the troubleshooting.

ewebb02 wrote:Yeah, I have WinDVD on all my other laptops, but it was usally pre-installed as part of the drive. Oh well, I guess I'll need to pony up and buy it outright. :)

Thanks for the troubleshooting.

I'm surprised you don't have WinDVD included with the ultrabase+DVD...I thought it came pre-installed if you bought an X60 with a base. Even if you bought the base separately, you might want to contact Lenovo and see if they can hook you up with a copy.

I think it's because WMP playbacks AC3 sound unmodified, that is found in other DVD software players like Intervideo WinDVD. Thus the volume is always soft, as it expects you to be using powered speakers.

Alternatively, you can always download codec packs like the K-Lite codec pack, which installs the ac3 codecs and has an option to boost the volume of the ac3 playback in WMP.

That's a good observation, Comage. I've always noticed how AC3 volume is very low by default, and always used the AC3Filter (downloadable separately or as part of the K-Lite Codec Pack) to tweak it.