Varying Volume Levels

I am increasingly convinced that everytime I turn on my Hauptwerk setup the volumes levels are slightly different.
I have checked and rechecked the Hauptwerk volume settings - Control panel - Audio output volume and trim and these do not alter. Engine audio output is set at 0 and does not alter. General - audio outputs - speaker level adjust set at 5.00 and does not alter.
Sound card is an M-Audio 1010LT and I have checked the control panel. Master output levels are at minimum and don't alter.
Audio is then fed to four two channel Behringer mixers, which are always left at the same setting, and then to 8 Behringer B2031A active loudspeakers.

Does anyone have any idea why my output levels might be varying. Never change when in use - only between different swirtch-ons.
RegardChris M

Oops, sorry Brett - think this should have been posted under 'Amplification' or even Tech Support, as I have no idea where the problem might be. Sure you will move it if I am in the wrong place.
Chris M

Hi Chris,

I read your post with interest and can only offer an idea of what we (and others) may both suffer from. I can't say I've ever experienced varying volume levels from one start-up to the next, and if nothing controlling the volume is being changed all should be the same each time. What happens to me is I can some days swear on a stack of bibles that the sound isn't as good as it was the last time I played, some days it seems better than the last time I played, and some days just somehow sounds different, also with nothing at all being changed. I've gone to the extent at times to look through settings, routing, algorithm allocations, make sure all my amps are on etc., etc. and find nothing out of the "norm." The only thing I can attribute it to is perhaps the time of the day, it could be because it's early and I still have water in my ears from the morning shower, it's late and my ears are tired, maybe it's because one day I'm more interested in sitting down and getting in a good practice and the next time maybe I shouldn't have bothered because I know I'm really not in the mood.

Does all this mean that maybe we're just hearing things?

Marc

Hi Chris, Mark, & all,

I experienced this many times,
both with Pipe Organs, Electronic Organs, and PA applications.

Personally I think the cause is in the
"Humidity and density of the air"
in the listening environment.

And of course in public areas,
the number of people in the room,
"dramatically" effects the acoustic balance !

Hi Chris

If you own a ipad or iphone then you can download a decibelmeter for free.
If you choose the same organ, registration and play the same keys, pedal and you repeat this a few times in the next week then you can be shure it's not your ears but your hardware.

Regards Jan

When I upgraded my sound system I was concerned about varying volume levels, too. This was most probably caused by my tweaking the settings every time I played HW to get everything "just right". The speakers seemed to need "running in" as well. Eventually I got the settings just right, to the dB. I could tell the diference a single dB made.

The next time I played it I felt sure that the sound level had decreased by what I estimated to be about 3dB. I was busily looking round for a changed setting when I noticed that I had forgotten to switch the rear speakers on!

The next time I played it I felt sure that the sound level had decreased by what I estimated to be about 3dB. I was busily looking round for a changed setting when I noticed that I had forgotten to switch the rear speakers on!

Ha! That happened to me one time as well! I looked for about ten minutes before I looked over my shoulder and realized there we no lights on one of my amps.

I guess I can say maybe from one day to the next the sensitivity of my ears varies and I sometimes find the next go around that the last volume level I was playing at is either too loud or too quiet but can't say with any certainty it has anything to do with my equipment. I again attribute it to what I mentioned here earlier, time of day, what I've already put my ears through for the day or what I haven't, level of interest in playing and so on.

Marc

I live in southern California. Our church building is only a few blocks from the Pacific Ocean. Frequently windows are left open in the upper portions of the building.

When the humidity is quite high there is a total difference in the acoustics of the chapel.

On the mornings that I have difficulty in sliding to the organ bench's center, I now know to expect "wet" acoustics.

[B. Milan]

[Topic moved]

Hauptwerk wouldn't change any volume settings without your intervention. The only thing that it could potentially be within Hauptwerk is some extreme randomization settings, however I highly doubt that would make such a difference as to change audio levels to a noticeable degree. If you want to check you can reduce all randomization settings to be 0%.

If you really want to make sure the volume output is the same then make a MIDI recording with the Hauptwerk MIDI recorder. The Hauptwerk log file will log the maximum dB for a loaded organ. Then close Hauptwerk and launch again, load the same organ and the same MIDI file and play it back entirely. Then check the log file again for the dB settings. They should be nearly identical. If so then your problem lies within your audio chain (audio interface virtual mixer, amps, speakers, cables etc.)

Acoustics change immensely with weather,
and so do Speakers !

Perhaps a bit off-topic: but I would strongly suggest to remove those mixers from the audio chain.
They only contribute to extra noise and distortion.

Th same - and even much more and better - mixing facilities can be done all in the digital domain, using HW to VST and proper software, i.e. Reaper.

I also have this effect that after iI have played today, and then start things up the next day, it SEEMS that there is a difference in overall loudness, sya max 2 dB or so. But when I do not correct this, after some plying it is all ok for me.

So it seems a psychologic phenomenon......

Greetings from the Netherlands,

Geert

So it seems a psychologic phenomenon......
Geert

Ha! I agree. There's days where I sit down at the console and say, what was I doing playing so loud last night? And others where I say, geez I was playing at a wimpy volume level yesterday. For me it seems to all depend on if I'm in the mood to crank it up and rattle the place or not.

Marc

There are good free sound level meter apps available for smartphones. While their absolute calibration may be off by one or two db they will provide extremely accurate readings of any day to day variations in an organ's volume. Just be sure to use the same registration and phone position each day and we can separate the myths from the facts. Don't be surprised if the subjective sense of the levels can be correlated with the ambient noise present before playing the organ. Of course if the levels do vary then that's another matter entirely. I've found myself playing with one of four channels turned off, and I'd been wondering what was wrong with the levels.