Sound Fading in and out

[West Habercom]

Been to a few sims where there is music playing.... and all of the sudden the music fades out then back in at various points. Any idea what may be causing this?  I switch to Winamp to listen and it sounds fine with no glitches. I know it's not isolated to me as others have experienced the same thing. Again this seems to happen at a number sims I go to.

Thoughts?

[KarenMichelle Lane]

You are crossing parcel boundaries and your SL Viewer Music settings allow Music Fade in & Fade out as your complete the transition. This was done to not blow your ears out when you change parcels.

[West Habercom]

No, actually I'm standing on the sim or at a club. The stream URL isn't changing it just fades out then fades back in intermittently. I know it's not the stream itself as it is steady in Winamp. I also know others hear same thing, although not always at same time as I do.

[Dilbert Dilweg]

you should run a speed test and see if your network is lagged out. This sounds like network issues between you and the stream

http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/

[West Habercom]

Speed test is fine... no issues there. Again this isn't just me... others have also said they hear the same thing at different locations, and when we are at same location they don't have the occurrence at same time as I do.  Also if it was a network issue, I;d hear the same thing in Winamp.... this is a fade out then in as if you were going from one sim to another... but instead you are at the same place with nothing changing in tertms of the stream.

[KarenMichelle Lane]

Ah then that case it's an issue with the relay services of the stream being sent to it. All the listeners will receive the stream with a slight delay. So when the up-stream is interrupted the relay service can back fill in the silence with some of the previously streamed music. If the relay services does not have this option enabled then you are going to get the drop-off of the music and start up of the stream.

[West Habercom]

Thank for the reply.  I thought of that, but then it wouldn't be a fading out and in. Typically stream issues end up with abrupt stops/starts/cuts. Interestingly, I changed the description of my land... not the stream URL... and it happened (just now). So very odd.  The stream flows normal via winamp so I know its not the stream server or any hiccup on it, or beyond it on the net. Whether I listen via the viewer or winamp, my locations hasnt changed... the investigation continues.

[Dresden Ceriano]

My sister had an issue with her sound getting low whenever she'd click something such as a chat window or her inventory.  I tried all kinds of things to fix it and ended up going to the maker of her sound card and downloading the newest driver version for it.  After I installed it, it stopped happening.

I'm not saying this will fix your issue, but it's worth a shot.

...Dres

[Dilbert Dilweg]

Very odd indeed.

I have noticed with the official viewer that if I leave auto play on, after turing the music off and minimizing my viewer, the music would start on its own about 10 minutes or so later. As if I had just entered the parcel, but been there for an hour or so.

[Faust Danitz]

WHY would it happen on every server that i've listened to not only at my own club, between all of my DJ's.. And even on my own stream.  i have multiple DJ's and multiple events throughout the week.  And for each of my DJ's the stream will just fade out and back in. Several times a night.  And i've talked to my DJ's and they say tht it does not happen to them on other sims.

Now as for driver issue.. ok, i'm covering another post here too.. i'm on a new install of windows, with all of the latest software that is out there for the hadware that's in my machine, including the OS, and viewers that i use on SL.

And even on 2 seperate computers the sound fades out.  pretty much at exactly at the same time. 

So something else is wrong.. cause its not just on the sim where i rent a large parcel, but on various other sims.

[KarenMichelle Lane]

You are describing a rather unique experience in the triggering of the SecondLife fade out/fade command to the FMOD Sound Services DLL Library. This is why you hear the fade out/in phenomena only when using the SL Music Playback services versus Winamp or VLC [Which is what I use when DJing as my in-studio relay monitor].

So the real question is "What is triggering the SL Music Media Fade Out/In command?" This is usually triggered by a parcel crossing or a TP away from one parcel to another. The answer is you are probably dropping some packets during your session. If the SL Viewer loses any positioning transactions [such as those associated with your AO moving your avatar side to side as you stay put], then the threshold for the media reset trigger may be met.

To me this seems like a bug. That trigger should only be met when the parcel status changes. It could also be associated with a determination that your avatar is in some "Away" status. Never the less, this is annoying and needs to be reported to JIRA along with the exact details of your particular set up and WAN/LAN & ISP Services.

 

[ObviousAltIsObvious]

in the Windows device manager look in audio inputs and outputs. see if your audio is driven by Realtek HD Audio.

if it is, the drivers that ship with Windows allow an automatic adjustment for system sounds.  this can do strange things to ambient and stream levels on some viewers when their UI sounds (incoming IM, window open/close and so on) trigger.

if this is what you have, you can get a replacement driver from Realtek, http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/  this download will make you reboot your computer twice so plan it for when you are not busy.

after it is installed, open your control panel and look for Realtek HD Audio Manager. click on the Sound Effects tab. look for a "Loudness Equalization" checkbox and turn it off.

this solves the issue for me.