Wilstar

Q: Volume fluctuates during playback

I've noticed over the past few weeks that on my iTunes 11.04.4 the volume fluctuates, soft then loud then soft again, on some songs. I've re-downloaded the songs and the same thing happens. I've played the songs on Windows Media Player and the volume is stable. I've checked the forums and this seems to been a recurring problem with iTunes at least since 2009. New versions of iTunes fix it for some people but not others. The only thing I know is that a lot of people have this problem but no definitive solution has ever been posted that I can find. So I decided to post the problem myself on a new forum topic. Any ideas?

Windows 8

Posted on Aug 13, 2013 6:39 AM

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Q: Volume fluctuates during playback

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  • by matt00,

    matt00 Aug 15, 2013 8:54 AM in response to Wilstar
    Level 5 (4,015 points)
    Aug 15, 2013 8:54 AM in response to Wilstar

    Hey Wilstar,

     

     

    Thanks for the question. It may be worth a shot to see if Sound Check improves the quality of your playback volume:

     

    iTunes: About Sound Check

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2425

     

    How it works

     

    When Sound Check is on, iTunes scans the songs in your library and computes characteristics of their playback volume. As new songs are added, iTunes computes this information in the background. This data is stored in either the "normalization information" ID3 tag or the iTunes Music Library database. The audio data in your music files is never changed. If you encode or "rip" a song with iTunes, the sound check level is stored in the song's ID3 tags. For songs that were encoded with iTunes 1 or iTunes 2, or another application, the sound check levels are stored in the iTunes Music Library database.

     

    It may also be good to check to make sure your songs are not set to different volume adjustments:

     

    iTunes 11 for Windows: Adjust the volume

    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH12333

    Adjust the volume of a particular song or video: Select it, choose File > Get Info, click Options, and drag the volume slider. iTunes uses this setting each time the song or video plays.

     

     

    Thanks,

     

    Matt M.

  • by Wilstar,

    Wilstar Wilstar Aug 15, 2013 10:08 AM in response to matt00
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 15, 2013 10:08 AM in response to matt00

    No, your proposed solution applies to volume variations from one song to another. My problem is that the volume fluctuates WITHIN a song while playing it. It happens only on Apple iTunes on my Windows 8 computer. It is a software problem within iTunes itself. Consider this message more as a report of a problem in iTunes software more than a help request as this requires the attention of Apple programmers to fix. Thanks.

  • by DLStorey,

    DLStorey DLStorey Aug 19, 2013 2:32 AM in response to Wilstar
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 19, 2013 2:32 AM in response to Wilstar

    Hi, I've had this very problem.

     

    I have found that I had Sound Enhancer checked and so I have turned it off to see if that helps. So far it seems to be working but I'll keep an ear on it for the next few hours.

     

    Hope this helps

  • by flamingbomber,

    flamingbomber flamingbomber Jul 20, 2014 3:09 PM in response to Wilstar
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 20, 2014 3:09 PM in response to Wilstar

    I have the same problem with my ear buds and speakers, but no problems with my USB head set. 

  • by AppleBlowsBalls,

    AppleBlowsBalls AppleBlowsBalls Jan 23, 2015 11:36 AM in response to matt00
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 23, 2015 11:36 AM in response to matt00

    So does Apple have any plans to address this as a bug as this has been reported for multiple versions of ITunes and is associated purely as an ITunes playback bug? This DOES NOT happen when playback is from an IPod or any other playback software that is not ITunes!!!

     

    HOW is this not a priority for Apple???? YOUR PRODUCT is flawed and broken. It fluctuates throughout playback of most songs. However you take the exact same file and play with another piece of software (Windows media player, Winamp, etc....) there are no issues.

     

    Please take some pride in the product you support and fix this. It is pathetic that your customers can not reliably use the software you supply for your products and they are forced to use other means.