Virtually silent audio in editing

Help/How To
1

I have exactly the same problem as rangsk, here > Shotcut preview audio is quiet. Unfortunately, there was no conclusion to the thread.

There is sound, but it’s very quiet. I’ve tried all the suggestions in the string, including installing the different version of the DLL. This provided no improvement.

The volume is tied to the Speaker volume. If the Speaker volume is turned to max, the volume in Shotcut is good, but any Windows Speaker sound blares out.

I see there are posts regarding a similar problem. Did this ever get resolved?

OS Win 10. Shotcut version 24.08.29.

2

There are multiple places for volume control:

  • physical speaker’s amplifier volume
  • Windows System volume
  • Windows Volume Mixer app-specific volume
  • the volume control in Shotcut’s player, the last icon in this toolbar:
    image
  • any Shotcut audio filters that can be applied in multiple places:
    • clip
    • track
    • Timeline > Output
  • the level of the audio in the file

As you can see, there is no single solution but rather multiple sources of possible trouble.

3

Thanks for the quick reply.

With respect, this in not a Windows problem, nor a problem with the file. And the Player is maxed out at 0.0db. The matter is the low volume of Shortcut across the board. It’s a quiet program.

However, I see the Gain/Volume filter is set to a default of 0.0db. Pushing that to 24.0db (max) gives equal parity to the level set for the Windows Device/Speaker volume. This suggests the program is set 24db below the Windows Device/Speaker volume.

As a workaround, in order to hear the audio track while editing, I can raise the volume using the Gain/Volume filter, but I need to remember to remove the filter before saving. It’s a faff.

Is there a means for users to modify the default volume of Shotcut, so the general program audio can be 24db louder?

4

Shotcut does not have code that arbitrarily reduces the volume of anything, neither intentionally or as a bug. I do not have the problem on any of my 8 systems across three operating systems, and neither it is a common complaint.

the Player is maxed out at 0.0db

That is not the maximum; it is 5.

Is there a means for users to modify the default volume of Shotcut,

Yes, using the player volume control as already explained.

so the general program audio can be 24db louder?

You can change the source to have a higher maximum for yourself only.

5

Could you share a screenshot of your project? Maybe there is something else tricky going on. For example, maybe there is a filter on your Output track that is reducing the volume.

6

Maybe one of the Audio API options in the Settings menu makes a difference.

Please test and troubleshoot by NOT loading a project. Simply open a media file in the Shotcut player. Try different kinds of files. For example, a lot of music has something called Replay Gain metadata that tells a player how to adjust the volume for this file to be at a normalized level. Shotcut does not recognize and use that. So, compare a few different videos from different video sources rather than music.

7

If you play it in some other media program (VLC or Media Player) - is it loud enough?

I have no problems with volume in Shotcut - Since the start of COVID, I’ve used a cheap video camera a metre+ away from a preacher at 2 Church services a week. One soft-spoken speaker, I have to add 2dB, but most are not needing adjustment. Hymn singing I cut, generally -3 or -4.

The other question - is your source device (camera?) setting low? Mine is just the default setting.