Which volume knob will get rid of the voices in my head??

October 27, 2006 11:12 AM

Which of my three volume controls should I use??

G5
Mac OS 10.4.8
iTunes 7

So, I have a set of Boston desktop speakers with a volume knob.

iTunes has a volume slider.

The Mac has its own volume slider.

Does it matter which one I use? Set two to medium(?) volume and use the third to fine tune? Which two? I tend to arbitrarily switch between the three and end up having to crank two way up because the third has ended up on low.

posted by clh to computers & internet (8 comments total)

It depends on how you feel. Like, I keep my Mac volume all the way up, but I don't mind the computer noises blonking and blipping at a higher volume. As for the other two, it really doesn't matter. I'd adjust whichever is closer.
I thought this was going to be a soundboard question, where setting your gain versus device volumes is a little more tricky.
posted by klangklangston at 11:19 AM on October 27, 2006

Use the one on the speakers. The more you lower the volume coming out of the computer the closer it will get to the background noise coming out of the computer. Both will be amplified the same amount in powered speakers. The difference between the two is called the signal to noise ratio. Obviously, a higher ratio is better. Of course, unless you have very good speakers you may not be able to really hear much of a difference anyway in which case I would use whichever you find more convenient.
posted by caddis at 11:48 AM on October 27, 2006

Set the primary (mac slider) and intermediate (itunes) gain stages as high as you can without getting distortion. Then use the final gain stage (speakers) to regulate listening volume.
posted by Uncle Jimmy at 11:58 AM on October 27, 2006

All I can say is you NEVER want to max your system volume (like klangklangston). I normally keep my system volume around 50% and play with the speaker controls.
posted by mphuie at 11:59 AM on October 27, 2006

"All I can say is you NEVER want to max your system volume (like klangklangston). I normally keep my system volume around 50% and play with the speaker controls."

Eh. I don't get noticable distortion, and the speakers I've got are small, so I can't hear all the detail I want unless I max the system volume.
If you've got a real reason to be warning me off, let's hear it. The amount of amps that come out of my computer are pretty damn low, I'd wager. But if I'm wrong, I'd love to find out.
posted by klangklangston at 1:13 PM on October 27, 2006

I just use whichever volume slider is the most convenient to reach. Personally, I hate having to use a mouse to adjust the volume so I'd use the speaker volume knob whenever possible.
posted by Rubber Soul at 1:33 PM on October 27, 2006

Personally, I leave iTunes at 7/8ths of its maximum value, set my system volume (which I control from my PowerBook keyboard) at about, uh, 4/8ths, and then set my speakers at a reasonable/comfortable level.

I use the keyboard controls to mute and raise/lower the volume as necessary from that point on.
posted by bcwinters at 1:43 PM on October 27, 2006

for ideal sound quality, do as Uncle Jimmy says. This will ensure that your high-gain amp is not amplifying too much noise.

As a matter of convenience, i typically leave a little play in my system-wide volume so that i can use my keyboard to make quick changes.

In a perfect world, there would be a master volume (which all knobs and software mechanisms would operate on), and a per-app volume control (e.g. so that you can set relative volume between videos and music.)
posted by clord at 7:12 PM on October 27, 2006