The VideoLAN Forums

The sound gets completely distorted after 100%.
It's kind of annoying...

It would be nice if the volume bar went up to 100% only.
There are some threads on the subject but no solution. Is there a way to fix this 2.0?

I totally agree that this feature must be implemented. Why oh why do people want to distort the sound???
If the volume is to low in your laptop the issue is with your speakers and should not be amped up to distortion.
I can imagine that people are watching grandmas birthday video and want the volume to be stronger bat that is about it.
It creates a huge inconvenience if you output the sound to your stereo or similar, when raising the volume with the buttons on your pc/remote the sound goes into distortion.
The default should be max 100% and the 400% story (200% logaritmic) should be an option as this is just plain wrong!!!

Yeah, it would be nice to have an option to make the volume go from 0 to 100%.

It's possible to even change the colors of the volume bar!!! I'm sure limiting the volume is a reasonable configuration option to have.

I'm not sure what it completely is, but I have my computer's sound plugged into my Sterio, ( yee-uh! *Gangsign* ) and when I tune it up over 100% to 150% or 200% yes the sound distorts.. but I don't think it's the laptop speakers.

Maybe soundcard or the output frequency through the jack is going over it's limit..? Just assumptions here.. I have no idea what I myself and talking about but it's not the speakers that're built into the laptop.

yes bump for this feature. I find it annoying that when I scroll accidentially, meaning increasing volume over 100%, nearly --please stay polite-- my expensive speakers..

I'm not sure what it completely is, but I have my computer's sound plugged into my Sterio, ( yee-uh! *Gangsign* ) and when I tune it up over 100% to 150% or 200% yes the sound distorts.. but I don't think it's the laptop speakers.

There are two completely different ways that volume can be applied, software and hardware. On Windows, I think it is always done in software.

Basically, there is a piece of code that multiplies the audio signal by a certain gain factor. At that point the audio signal is normally represented with single precision (floating point numbers), so it can be multiplied outside the nominal value range of [-1.0,+1.0]. Then audio signal is passed to the audio device driver, which will convert to integer format, as required by the physical audio DAC. At that point any value outside the nominal range will be cropped to maximum amplitude and trigger distortion.

Distortion can never happen at or below a gain factor of 1.0, i.e. a VLC volume of 100%.The exact threshold where distortion starts to occur depends on the input signal though. Some audio recordings do not use the full amplitude range. For instance, if the recording stays within [-0.5,+0.5] (-3dB), then it can safely be multiplied by a factor of 2. The corresponding VLC volume would be the cubic root of 2, or about 126%.

I totally agree that this feature must be implemented.

Sure I agree that making it so easy to shoot yourself in the foot with a software volume above 100% is silly. Microsoft also agrees and none of its audio APIs allow amplification, only attenuation. As it happens however, some other VLC developers think that a number of VLC users insist on having volume above 100% and that would be a big differentiator for VLC against its competition. Go figure.

Why oh why do people want to distort the sound???

Firstly, some people might not notice the small distortions at say +3dB. That would occur be the volume range from 100 to 126% in VLC 2.0.x (or correspondingly 100 to 200% in VLC 1.1). Secondly, some poorly made records probably fail to use the full audio amplitude range. Then the sound can actually be amplified above 100% without distortion.

Of course, neither of those arguments are really good. To amplify the sound, you should turn the volume knob on the speakers and leave VLC at 100%. That just works.

If the volume is to low in your laptop the issue is with your speakers and should not be amped up to distortion.

To be fair, that is not entirely true. The problem can also be with the input stream having an incorrect replay gain, or with the master audio volume being too attenuated.

I can imagine that people are watching grandmas birthday video and want the volume to be stronger bat that is about it.
It creates a huge inconvenience if you output the sound to your stereo or similar, when raising the volume with the buttons on your pc/remote the sound goes into distortion.
The default should be max 100% and the 400% story (200% logaritmic) should be an option as this is just plain wrong!!!

To be exact, there is no logarithmic scale.
VLC 2.x uses this formula: linear gain = (volume percentage / 100) ^ 3
VLC 1.x used that formula: linear gain = volume percentage / 100

I think the amp feature is great, but the request was for an _option_ to have max volume = 100.

Really what small fraction of the user base is going to dig in the preferences to change the maximum volume? That's really not going to solve the problem. Either you understand what the volume control does above 100%, or you don't and you won't know to tweak the preferences.

I think anyone who has accidentally clicked above 100 on the volume bar with headphones on and their stereo turned up would know perfectly well where the option is.

Seriously, do you have nephews?

I think anyone who has accidentally clicked above 100 on the volume bar with headphones on and their stereo turned up would know perfectly well where the option is.

I don't follow that. Putting the volume above 100% will cause saturation: The maximum sound amplitude will remain the same as that of 100%. The sound will be ugly, but not really louder.

Still not a pleasant experience. How much work is it to add the option? If a lot I understand the reticence, otherwise not.

It's not about how much work. It's about how useless. We cannot expect users to know how to use options to fix problems. That simply does not work.

Rémi you're the boss but the majority of VLC options I've never touched and will never need to touch (therefore they are 'useless' at least to me), while I definitely would use the requested volume control if it existed in VLC. It's about configuration imo not troubleshooting.

That is pretty much my point. If the users need to change an option to make the software work, then practically the software does not work. And even you guys are exceptions: you came to the forum. Most of our millions of users do not bother with that.

If there was an option to cap amplification at 0dB, lots of users would still be frustrated by sound saturation above 0dB, or by the impossibility the amplify above 0dB, depending on the default setting. So an option really does not solve the problem. Something else is needed.

Something else is needed

Yeah. I'd love to have a way to reliable and easily readjust volume to 100%. While I am a big fan of VLCs gain possibilities (for all the reasons given in this thread), it drives me nuts that (speaking of the OSX interface here) I can not see how to go back to 'normal'.

So what about refining the volume bar? Think of it like a potentiometer/fader with a detent at 100% that tends to lock-in at that position. Add a visual clue and (at least) I would be happy... Btw: Interesting thread...

Yes imo and/or require a double-click or key combo above 100. Single-clicking anywhere over 100 returns the slider to 100.

Sure. Patch welcome...

Any shortcuts to the corresponding source files?

modules/gui/qt4/

The situation as it is is somehow horrible. I can't adjust the volume to exactly 100% without spending at least five seconds on this task.
There should definitely a feature to set the vlc volume to 100%.

Hi there, i really love VLC... drag and drop, everythings opens.... BUT not having the OPTION to set 100% as default really makes me crazy. i mostly use FLAC´s with my high-fidelity stereo (external DAC...). what i want to say... i can hear it if the volume is set to 101% ... it cant be that complicate to have this option in the SETTINGS, i really dont care if the default settings are like now (200%) BUT having an OPTION would make my day... by the way ALL my audiophile friends complain also about it.

Greetings from vienna (AUT)

You can do that in VLC 2.1.0. Take a nightly build.

I just downloaded the last nightly, I can't find the option

can you tell me where it is exactly ? thanks

edit : also if you know how to be able to use the mousewheel to ajust the volume where ever the cursor is, I would be happy to know

up !