Beginners problems ...

The Virtual Audio Mixer discussions and support...
Post Reply
art2work4
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2021 4:59 pm

Beginners problems ...

Post by art2work4 »

I installed VM Banana and the VB cable.(WIn10-64bit, build 18363)
I would like to retain the possibility to adjust the output sound levels when I select the Realtek Speakers as my playback device

I checked in Sound settings that always the same sampling freq. are used for oth the VM devices (in and output) and also the Speakers. Everything (except my on-board mic) are set at 24Bit / 48Khz.

In VM Banana the microphen works as expected. (audio is sent to A (speaker) and B outputs)
But i'm having troubles with playing any software sound from browsers, mediaplayers etc.
the audio is not sent to the virtual input (VM VAIO) and there is no sound from the speakers.

In the Soundsettings the Speakers are the selected Default device and I selected VM input to be the Default Communication Device.
What am i doing wrong?

I ran the VB Audio Device checker and it says that conclusion = ok (nothing bad detected). I also tried to uninstall Banana/reboot, uninstall Cable Driver/reboot, install Banana/reboot, installe cable driver/ reboot, but no luck ....

PS in VLC mediaplayer I can select the VM input VAIO and then indeed the audio is routed to VM Banana, However or browser sounds and other software i can't always select the output device. Is there a way to route all audio on a WIn10 PC to the VM Input VAIO of Banana and keep the option to use the slider of the Speaker level in WIn 10?
xcasxcursex
Posts: 173
Joined: Tue Feb 18, 2020 12:04 am

Re: Beginners problems ...

Post by xcasxcursex »

You've got almost all the right settings mate, good job. Just set the default device in windows sound settings to be the voicemeeter VAIO device and you're all set. Then, your apps will send sound to the virtual cable, and it will come out in voicemeeter and can be routed to your realtek device.

That's the basic config, but if you have any other tricks you need a hand with feel free to ask :)

Edit: Sorry, I missed the part about the volume slider. You will probably want to hook the volume controls to the A1 output in voicemeeter, rather than the 'speakers' device on your realtek card. To do this, in voicemeeter select 'Menu'... Shortcut Key (Hook)... Hook Volume Keys (for Level Output A1). Now, you will be controlling voicemeeter, rather than the realtek device, so leave the realtek device at 100% volume. Voicemeeter can take care of your levels in the same way.
art2work4
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2021 4:59 pm

Re: Beginners problems ...

Post by art2work4 »

Hi,
thank you so much for the tip. So I selected VM VAIO as default Playback device and indeed the signal was routed to VM VAIO input in Banana.

W.r.t. to you final suggestion (hook volume controls), I would actually want to achieve the opposite:
- I set VM VAIO as Deaulft Playback Device
- Now WIN 10 has the Volume control slider (lower righ corner / Taskbar) attached/connected to VM VAIO
- now the volume slider does nothing for my audible output via speakers etc. 0% = OFF and 100% = full. So I can't lower the volume of my speakers anymore

I would have expected that Banana is merely sending the signal to the selected hardware out (for example Realtek audio). And I would have thought that I could then still select the Speakers in the taskbar and lower or raise the audible speaker volume.
However whenever I select the Realtek speakers on the WIN taskbar in order to lower or raise the speaker volume, the audio is no longer routed to VM VAIO ... !!!

I find that really strange. Why would the hardware output at the end of the audio chain have any influence on the VM VAIO input?
Is this the way it is supposed to work?

Image
Image
xcasxcursex
Posts: 173
Joined: Tue Feb 18, 2020 12:04 am

Re: Beginners problems ...

Post by xcasxcursex »

Unfortunately, this is a 'feature' of that volume controll app, and yes, that is how it's supposed to work. When you select the 'speakers' device from the icon in the systray, not only do you now have the 'speakers' volume control present, but also, you have changed the default audio device to 'speakers'.... Which of course means that now your apps are not sending the audio to voicemeeter, but directly to the speakers device.

Because of this feature of changing the default device when you try to control the volume of that device, that icon really becomes quite useless for us. I actually disable it in windows settings.

However, the instructions I gave you above, will give you the same functionality, without having to click on the icon and then slide a slider, you can just use volume keys on your keyboard. If you have a keyboard without volume keys, you can use the other hook there (ctrl+F10,F11,F12 for mute, vol down and vol up) or you can even set your own keybindings and use the macro buttons app, to create your own volume controls out of any key you like, to control any of voicemeeters input or output devices.

If you are really attached to the idea of using a systray icon (sometimes it is nice to use the mouse, I understand), you *may* have some luck with this app: https://eartrumpet.app/ Basically it is a volume control icon on steroids. I haven't tried it, so I make no promises here, but I'm fairly confident that it will work like you hoped. If you do try it, if you would be so kind as to let me know how it works, that would be great. I'm rather curious, but I don't want to tinker with my system too much :)
art2work4
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2021 4:59 pm

Re: Beginners problems ...

Post by art2work4 »

Hi again thanks for the clarification ! Yeah sometimes features almost go hand in hand with bugs (in the eye of the user at least)

I will take both your suggestions in order to find a suitable solution.

Thanks for the great support !
art2work4
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2021 4:59 pm

Re: Beginners problems ...

Post by art2work4 »

Well, I installed the eartrumpet app and it works fantastic. Now I don't even need to hook the volume ! I am now able to manage the volume of each app or hardware individually. An added bonus is that if I have multiple sources that are directed to VM VAIO, that I can individually control the input level for VM VAIO individually !
It is a neat little program and so far I haven't had any stability issues and it is a native Win10 app via the Microsoft store

So thanks for the tip !
xcasxcursex
Posts: 173
Joined: Tue Feb 18, 2020 12:04 am

Re: Beginners problems ...

Post by xcasxcursex »

That's awesome, thanks so much for taking the time to let us know!
Post Reply