Windows 10 Audio Calibration Issue with Your Silence Detector

[pirauser]

Hello Jan,

I have found your Silence Detector app extremely useful for quite a few years.  I have been using the app for both silence detection and audio volume calibration.

I have been using my quite old Dell D610 laptop running Windows XP, streaming different online radio stations unattended via a micro transmitter in my house to a couple of radios.  Since the various streaming radio stations have very different audio volumes, the calibration feature is  essential.

I recently purchased a somewhat old Dell E6420, and I am testing your Silence Detector for calibration under Windows 7.  Again, your app is working perfectly.

Eventually, I would like to upgrade to Windows 10.  Testing on the same Dell E6420 under Windows 10, however, is working for silence detection, but not calibration.  The Silence Detector app always shows the same volume regardless of the sound card volume.  Even if the sound card volume is set to zero, the calibration does not change.

At this time, I have no plans to upgrade to Windows 10, but eventually Windows 7 will become obsolete.

I just wanted point out that there is a problem with your silence detector on Windows 10, at least on my Dell Latitude E6420.  Whether this calibration is a problem on other computers, I don't know, but I just wanted to bring this to your attention.

Thanks again for this very important app!

[pirauser]

I just wanted to add that I have tried both versions 1.2d and 1.4d of the Silence Detector app.

[Jan]

The indication does not respond to the output volume just for the simple reason that the sound card driver provides values from the signal point before the volume adjustment. Sometimes, this can be solved by selecting another recording channel (for example Stereo Mix), sometimes it cannot be solved at all.

[pirauser]

Problem solved...

First of all, I had already tried selecting other recording channels, which did not work.

What did work was purchasing a USB Audio Adapter (very inexpensive) with audio and microphone ports.  Windows 10 drivers were not needed to be installed as (generic?) USB drivers were automatically installed after plugging in the USB adapter.

Monitoring the now available USB speakers port with Pira still had the same problem of not being able to calibrate the audio.

What did work was plugging a splitter cable into the USB speakers port and then connecting the outputs to both the USB microphone input port and a headset.  The headset had audio and the calibration worked perfectly with Pira monitoring the now available and visible USB microphone port.

One final note...  Pira 1.2d wasn't able to see the USB microphone port, but Pira 1.4d was able to see the USB microphone port.

Hopefully, this will help others having this same problem on not just Windows 10, but other systems as well.

Again, thank you, Jan, for your fabulous (one of a kind?) Silence Detector app.