Windows Volume Mixer new 'channel' for every sound played?

[Maxxx]

When I play a sound through VA (using playsound or play random sound) it shows up as an additional application in the Windows Volume Mixer

This means I can't use the Volume Mixer to adjujst VA volume (as each one opens with its own volume)

And also I worry that this may be using up resources over time as the additional devices never seem to be released...

Should I worry?

(image attached if I did it correctly!)

[Gary]

Wow - never seen that happen before with VA (or with ANY app for that matter).   

I'm not able to reproduce this here, unfortunately (tried different output types, different output channels).  What version of VA are you using, and what do you have selected in Options > Audio > Audio Output Type?   Also, do you have any kind of other software running that may be routing audio in some way?


Worry?  Probably.  You may also consider running a system file scan, as that's really not normal:  https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4026529/windows-10-using-system-file-checker


Hope that helps some!


Edit - Make sure your drivers are up to date.  Also make sure a certain file format is not mucking thins up with your driver (try .ogg, .mp3, .wav and see if it makes a difference).

[Maxxx]

Hi and thanks for the quick response:

VA v1.7.5
Windows 10 Pro Insider Preview (6.2.9200.0, en-GB)


Options > Audio > Audio Output Type is "Windows Media Components"

** AHA! **
I changed it to Integrated Components and the problem goes away!

Of course, I didn't do this until I'd uninstalled and re-installed again!!!

so - looks like that setting is causing the issue - I dpon't understand what the difference is but presumably it's ok just to switch back to Integrated Components? (I hadn't deliberately changed it to Windows Media Components so assumed it was the default.

Anyway, thanks for your help, and for a great product.

[Gary]

Glad to hear you got it sorted out! 

Just a heads up - I'm thinking it's not so much the setting as much as there's something up in your system with Windows Media.  You'll probably still want to do a scan to see if there's something that can easily be fixed, as this has not come up before in the years that that feature has been available.  If you don't use Windows Media for other things, you'll probably be fine unless it's indicative of a deeper issue - the scan doesn't take too long (and should be done periodically, so, no time wasted).