A Hardware Method to Address Youtube Volume Variations

[Soopafresh]

I've been getting sick and tired of having to ride the volume control on my PC when playing Youtube playlists. Either the clip is too soft or ear splitting loud. Never understood why Youtube's encoder doesn't address this. Instead, I bought a $40 piece of hardware called a Dynamic Range Compressor/Limiter. It levels the sound volume - loud things are choked down to be made less loud, quiet clips are boosted. No more manual volume changes needed.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/422060-REG/Behringer_COM800_MINICOM_COM800_Compressor.html

It's connected between the speaker out on my audio card and the speaker cable connected to my PC speakers.

The verdict. Works quite well. Hulu playback is cool - commercials no longer boom from the speakers. Even playing DVDs makes a nice difference. Also has a bypass switch so I can listen to HiFi music with dynamics.

[jagabo]

I hate dynamic range compression with music.

[Soopafresh]

I hate dynamic range compression with music.

Agreed. Playing back a music CD or audio DVD, I can hit the bypass switch and enjoy the original sound. But with online videos, the sound levels are all over the place to begin with, so the compressor/limiter keeps it volume balanced. Also includes an enhancer switch which boots the highs and lows just a tad.