[мistrєss]

It's a bug, an issue !!! Not a setup in winXP, vista or 7.
They have to fix that to reequlize the sound balance ingame.

[Nuno Castro]

I have SB Live! 24 bit..

Is that what you mean? My sound card?
I checked and it has had no updates on drivers since 2007 or something?

Yeah...Creative svcks for support. I'm not even sure if they have Windows 7 drivers for the SB Live! 24-bit, instead making you rely on generic Microsoft-provided drivers.

[Vincent Joe]

I thought it was quite odd that the driver was so old.. Maybe I'll buy a new sound card at some point.. Is realtec the better brand?

-edit-

Spoiler

Driver

http://support.creative.com/Products/ProductDetails.aspx?catID=1&subCatID=206&prodID=10315&prodName=Live%21%2024-bit&subCatName=Live%21&CatName=Sound+Blaster#
Filesize : 44.15 MB [img]http://support.creative.com/images/icon_download.gif[/img] http://support.creative.com/downloads/download.aspx?nDownloadId=10964
[img]http://support.creative.com/images/icon_showdetail.gif[/img] http://support.creative.com/Products/ProductDetails.aspx?catID=1&subCatID=206&prodID=10315&prodName=Live%21%2024-bit&subCatName=Live%21&CatName=Sound+Blaster#

Release date : 2 Jul 09
This download is a driver providing Microsoft? Windows? 7 and Windows Vista? support for Creative Sound Blaster? Live!? and Audigy? series of audio devices. For more details, read the rest of this web release note.
File Name : SB24_PCDRV_LB_1_04_0090.exe


This download is a driver providing Microsoft? Windows? 7 and Windows Vista? support for Creative Sound Blaster? Live!? and Audigy? series of audio devices. For more details, read the rest of this web release note.

This download supports the following audio devices only:

• Sound Blaster Live! 24-bit
  
• Sound Blaster Audigy Value/SE/LS
  
• Sound Blaster 5.1 VX

Requirements:

• Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit, Windows 7 32-bit, Windows Vista 64-bit with Service Pack 1 (SP1) or Windows Vista 32-bit with SP1
  
• Sound Blaster audio devices listed above

Notes:

• This driver is only for the Creative Sound Blaster audio device listed above.
  DO NOT install this driver for other Sound Blaster audio devices.
  
• To install this driver
  
  • Download the file onto your local hard disk.
    
  • Close all other Windows applications.
    
  • Double-click the downloaded file.
    
  • Follow the instructions on the screen.

http://support.creative.com/Products/ProductDetails.aspx?catID=1&subCatID=206&prodID=10315&prodName=Live%21%2024-bit&subCatName=Live%21&CatName=Sound+Blaster#
Filesize : 63.39 MB [img]http://support.creative.com/images/icon_download.gif[/img] http://support.creative.com/downloads/download.aspx?nDownloadId=10125
[img]http://support.creative.com/images/icon_showdetail.gif[/img] http://support.creative.com/Products/ProductDetails.aspx?catID=1&subCatID=206&prodID=10315&prodName=Live%21%2024-bit&subCatName=Live%21&CatName=Sound+Blaster#

Release date : 9 Jul 07
This suite of drivers and applications has been updated and combined for your convenience. It installs the following applications to control your audio device's settings. For more details, read the rest of this web release note.

[Prohibited]

Question: the low volume, is that with all kind of speakers? I mean, I have normal stereo speakers, no surround or whatever and I have the same overall low volume.
Do people with surround speakers have the same volume problems or is it only people with 2 and 2.1 channel who are having these problems?
I ask because it really starts to look that they have optimized the game for 5.1/7.1 but forgot that there are lots of people with 2 / 2.1 speakers ....

[meg knight]

Question: the low volume, is that with all kind of speakers? I mean, I have normal stereo speakers, no surround or whatever and I have the same overall low volume.
Do people with surround speakers have the same volume problems or is it only people with 2 and 2.1 channel who are having these problems?
I ask because it really starts to look that they have optimized the game for 5.1/7.1 but forgot that there are lots of people with 2 / 2.1 speakers ....

It seems to be an issue if you don't have a sound card. Most people who have this issue just have a Realtek integrated sound chip.

[Tina Tupou]

Lots of people are saying "fix the sound volume" when the volume itself is fine. It's the Positional Surround aspect of Skyrim that's broken on PC. And you can't change Skyrim to Stereo to let your chipset upmix through DSP, making it worse.

Skyrim uses XAudio2, which I had know had problems in the past (2010) with Realtek chipsets and properly giving 5.1 surround sound in Windows Vista/7 (not Windows XP). I'll double-check.

[P PoLlo]

I've been experiencing very low volume since I bought the game on 11/11/11. Before I play the game, every time I must set my desktop volume to almost the maximum. And still, the low chanting of the introduction music isn't easily audible for at least 15 seconds. It's pretty lame. I've also adjusted the relative volume levels to my liking now, with the music volume much lower than the default settings, yet still there are lots of times where I can't hear a word an NPC is saying over the background music. It's quite annoying actually, because I'd really like to have the music volume louder in general and then automatically get much softer during NPC speech. Is that too dynamic?

Note: I've already submitted my DXDiag to the general diag thread.

However, though this issue has been annoying for a while I'm actually getting used to it. I'm sorry to say it, but there are so many other more important issues now - especially quest bugs. For example, I'm totally stuck on the main quest line right now due to a bug. To me, sound is definitely lower priority now.

[Stacey Mason]

It is too low for me as well. I just bought Fallout 3 GOTY on the steam sale and it is much louder.

[Sammie LM]

Totally agree with this. Comparative sound volume is too low.

Another sound issue is the way the closest voice causes voices further away to have their volume reduced. Like you listening to an NPC conversation, and another NPC walks up and says something, causing the volume of the original conversation you were listening to, to be suddenly reduced.

[Chica Cheve]

It seems to be an issue if you don't have a sound card. Most people who have this issue just have a Realtek integrated sound chip.

Having just read through this entire thread.

that assessment isn't exactly accurate.

Considering the majority of people are going to have onboard audio... it doesn't seem to matter if you have external or internal or onboard/add-in audio device.

Recently i talked to my friend with a USB headset that has the same issues... the headset has it's own audio chip.

Realtek is a common onboard audio chip. WAY WAY better than the hunk of garbage soundmax/ADI

It appears that the most likely cause of this is one of several things.

1: User error.... this just can't be avoided.... it happens...
2: Codecs or other software installed that may impact audio in some way
3: Bug in the game in which if specific settings are used may cause these symptoms.
4: Non Powered Speakers/headphones....

Personally I've ran skyrim on about 20 different machines now. Some of them with soundmax/realtek/ia AC'97..some with the various types of HD audio be it via/realtek/soundmax audio Some of them with the audigy 2 through to the X-FI almost all of which are running vista/7 as xp is a dead OS and i refuse to touch it. And i have not experienced any problem.. so i haven't been able to reproduce this issue.

It's quite apparent this issue is broad based and not specifically a "realtek" issue at all.

[Silvia Gil]

I have a separate sound card and I noticed on day one that the overall sound volume of Skyrim was well below that of any other game that has ever been installed on my computer. This problem was easily solved, however, by turning up the volume when playing Skyrim. I haven't encountered any of the specific issues reported in this thread, such as not being able to hear music or footsteps. I agree that the master volume shouldn't be as low as it is, but because I haven't had any problems after turning up the volume on my speakers, I can't say this is serious issue compared to the other things that should be of much higher priority to Bethesda. On-board Realtek audio controllers are notoriously unreliable and known for their poor quality. Asking Bethesda to expend a lot of resources supporting this is perhaps not the best use of their time. Investing in a quality sound card will be the surest way to improve the situation for those with issues on Realtek hardware.

[Quick Draw III]

It seems to be an issue if you don't have a sound card. Most people who have this issue just have a Realtek integrated sound chip.

I indeed don't have a soundcard. But my MB has the integrated VIA VT1708S sound and that too has the too low volume.

[The Time Car]

where do people get there information about realtek audio ontrollers being "notoriously" unreliable?

[Brian LeHury]

Maybe they just installed crappy pre-release drivers from motherboard driver CDs and got BSODs or no audio.

Back in the DirectSound 3D days Realtek was prone to causing issues by declaring features their driver barely implemented at all, but so did many other devices. DS3D hardware support was always glitchy unless you happened to own the same type of device Creative bribed the game devs with. At least that stuff is over with now that Vista/7 mostly made DirectSound 3D obsolete.

[Ben sutton]

Have people found this issue cropping up lately? I just noticed very low overall sound volume (much, much lower than the rest of my Windows sounds) - problem is, before yesterday IT WAS FINE and just as loud as any other application. What would cause it to change like that all of a sudden? I checked Settings and all audio sliders are turned all the way up. Thanks.

[Nomee]

Did some other application touch your audio output settings?

At least on my ASUS Xonar the Skyrim in-game volume is really low unless I manually set Windows to treat my audio setup as 5.1 and then make the Xonar driver mix it into headphone stereo. Whether I do this or not does not seem to make a difference in any other program, so Skyrim's most likely doing something wrong.

It could be just making some silly assumptions while setting up XAudio2. Maybe someone will have to make a wrapper for that next...

[Queen]

I also have the low sound issue. It's annoying because I have to change everything around every time I want to play Skyrim.

[Kate Schofield]

where do people get there information about realtek audio ontrollers being "notoriously" unreliable?

I don't know about skyrim, but they interfere with Oblivion in someway. This is probably where it's notoriety came from.

[Ria dell]

Playing on a laptop with built-in speakers... Voices are so quiet that they're hard to hear even with the volume turned all the way up. When I connect my laptop to my TV it's the same way but at least I can grab the remote and crank up the main volume. But when I forget to turn it back down the sound of drawing my sword blows me away....

I turned voice volume to 100% and effects volume to about 25% but it doesn't seem to help. I'm out of ideas.

[Francesca]

me and all my mates have this problem. we all have sennheiser PC360 and creative titanium fatal1ty pro sound cards. low volume and low quality. instead of having my master volume at 60 i have to have it at 90 to make it sound even half decent. adding loudness eq or svm won't make this problem go away either as all your doing is making all the sounds the same volume and your hear the game get quiter and then louder when you do different things that make sound.

[Enny Labinjo]

I have this issue as well on my PC. I use a Realtek HD integrated audio device.

[Ludivine Poussineau]

Issue is present wth a CL X-fi Xtreme Music card.

[Paula Ramos]

I solved my low sound problems with the game. I moved my headphones from the jacks on the motherboard to the headphone jacks on the front of the PC. That's all it took and now the volume is strong in the game. Windows 7 would only recognize the audio device as 2.1 speakers when I had them plugged into the motherboard. On the front jacks it recognizes them properly as headphones and this seems to have made the difference in volume strength.

[NeverStopThe]

I solved my low sound problems with the game. I moved my headphones from the jacks on the motherboard to the headphone jacks on the front of the PC. That's all it took and now the volume is strong in the game. Windows 7 would only recognize the audio device as 2.1 speakers when I had them plugged into the motherboard. On the front jacks it recognizes them properly as headphones and this seems to have made the difference in volume strength.

Problem is some don't use headphones...

I hope Bethesda solves this issue, as it's so general. Affects a huge part of the game.

[cutiecute]

Problem is some don't use headphones...

I hope Bethesda solves this issue, as it's so general. Affects a huge part of the game.

I understand, but earlier in the thread I was blaming the game when it was my own hardware/OS setup.