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I have a pair of Bose QC2 headphones and the volume is WAY too loud in windows on all jacks:

I have tried the following jacks:

  • speaker out on back of motherboard
  • headphone out
  • external USB sound card (Sabrent Aluminum USB External Stereo Sound Adapter)

In each case, even a windows volume setting of 1/100 is too loud. Using the same headphones on my macbook pro the lowest volume is MUCH lower.

Is there any way to reduce the volume levels? I'm debating purchasing a more expensive external sound card that has a volume knob that is independent of the windows system volume.

bradforj287
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    The system may have several volume controls. Look for a "mixer" application program for the sound adapter. That will provide level control for sources as well as outputs. – sawdust Mar 23 '16 at 19:11

3 Answers3

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I had the exact same problem with my DT 770 Pro headphones. I could maximum have Windows' volume on 2/100.

I use this software to lower the volume: https://sourceforge.net/projects/equalizerapo/

I installed it and set the gain to -20 dB.

Now I can use the whole range from 0–100, which makes it a lot easier to set the volume correctly.

Bjarte Aune Olsen
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    Values lower than the software's suggested minimum of -20 dB cause distortion issues, but it works well enough at -20 dB to use headphones that are normally too loud at volume level 2 (of 100). – Michael Brandon Morris Jul 07 '18 at 22:09
  • awesome! I have more than 5 devices and it was terrible to have different sound levels! – Dominic Jonas Dec 19 '18 at 15:46
  • It works. But this is completely ridiculous that it's needed at all, especially at -50 dB. – Eric Duminil Jul 16 '20 at 13:03
  • It works! You have to configure de config.txt on C:\Program Files\EqualizerAPO\config , delete all the text, and write Preamp: -15 dB – Artificioo Dec 08 '21 at 12:57
  • Same problem with my headphones, where I could only really use them at volume level "6" and lower, and since Windows adjusts in increments of 2 from the keyboard, I basically had three levels to choose from. Often, one was too quiet but the next one up was too loud. I used this program and set it to -20 dB from the GUI configurator, and it seems much better, I can use the headphones comfortably up to around volume level "40" with much more granular volume control. – Truisms Hounds Sep 25 '22 at 16:01
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Does the problem only occur with these particular headphones? It's possible the headphones have their own volume controls, although I can't imagine it being that loud at level 1.

Try a pair of plain earbuds and see if the problem persists.

Another thing to keep in mind is that sometimes there are multiple volume controls on windows depending on what's installed. The sound card itself may have its own set of volume controls, so check for any programs related to the sound card.

user573968
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  • It's because the soundcard increases the volume and the Impedance of the headphones is not high enough. As already mentioned by Bjarte, this is one of the best solutions - just lower the volume systemwide by setting it to a negative gain – CodeBrauer Aug 15 '17 at 10:32
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I have the exact same problem with usb headsets and it's been there for years. I don't expect a fix from windows any time soon. A workaround I use is to get a program called 'equalizer pro', which allowed you to adjust base volume up or down. This way, you can set it to -20db simply in notepad and the volume will be much lower for every program, making you effectively erase the issue.

Rob
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