The Sims 4 Volume is Much Lower Than Everything Else on My Computer

Question

When I play The Sims 4 the volume is much lower than everything else I do on my computer. Other games are louder, Windows UI sounds are louder, Youtube is louder, Spotify is louder, and so on.

I have my computer's volume set to 100% and The Sims 4's volume set to 100%, and I adjust the volume with the controller on my speakers. For The Sims 4 I have to put it on medium (turn the knob halfway around from off), while for all the other sounds I put it on low (turn the knob less than 90 degrees from off), to get the same volume in The Sims 4 compared to everything else on my computer.

Here are my sound settings in Windows:

Main volume - 100%

System sounds - 100%

Firefox - 100%

The Sims 4 - 100%

Here are my sound setting in The Sims 4:

Main volume - 100%

Item sounds - 100%

Music - 100%

Voices - 100%

Sound effects - 80%

UI sounds - 75%

As you can see, I've lowered the volume for sound effects and UI sounds, because these two are roughly the same volume as everything else on my computer (Youtube etc), but the music and voices are SUPER low, so to hear music and voices at all, without the sound effects and UI sounds being way too high, I have to lower the volume of the sound effects and UI sounds.

This hasn't been too much of a problem before, I could just adjust the volume on my speaker, even though it was a bit annoying that I had to do that every time I switched between The Sims 4 and something else. Now this has turned into a problem, because I've started to make The Sims 4 videos that I put on the internet, and the volume in those videos are way too low. Sure, I could put the video in an editor and raise the volume, before I upload it to the internet, but that would be a few extra steps for most of my videos, since most of them are just short funny/random videos (10-60 seconds) that I don't need to edit. Videos that aren't just short funny/random videos are instead machinima, for which I mute the in-game sounds anyway, and put on music instead, so for the videos that I edit this isn't a problem, it's only a problem for the videos that I don't edit, so to have to put them in an editor, raise the volume, fix the export settings, and export the video, is quite a few extra steps, which shouldn't be necessary when it's a video that doesn't need to be edited in any other way than raising the volume. So I really hope that someone knows what the problem is and how I fix it.

puzzlezaddict · Answer

@SqueamishNerd&nbsp; As a test, please go into Documents &gt; Electronic Arts &gt; The Sims 4 and move Options.ini to the desktop.&nbsp; Start the game again and see whether the sound is still too low.&nbsp; Forcing the game to create a new Options.ini will revert it to default settings, so if this doesn't help and you don't want to have to redo all your in-game settings, just delete the new Options.ini and restore the old one.

If the above doesn't help, please also run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

squeamishnerd · Answer

@puzzlezaddict&nbsp; The sound is just as low with a newly generated Options.ini.I had a look at it in Notepad to see what the file does, and I'm wondering, is it possible to set the menumusiclevel, musiclevel, masterlevel (which I assume is main volume, since it's set to 255 as the other sound options), and whichever one is for voices (I couldn't find it) to a higher value than 255, or is that the upper limit?DxDiag attached.

puzzlezaddict · Answer

@SqueamishNerd&nbsp; I don't think it's possible to go above 255.&nbsp; That's definitely the limit, and it's also 16 squared minus one, which makes me think the value might actually be two hexidecimal digits long.&nbsp; In that case, there would only be 256 distinct values, 0-255, and trying to change the number would either accomplish nothing or break something.&nbsp; You can of course try if you want; at worst, you'll just need to delete Options.ini again.

Your dxdiag shows that the Realtek sound driver is quite old, perhaps as old as the system itself.&nbsp; Please check for an updated driver on the download page for your motherboard.&nbsp; I can't tell which model you have from your dxdiag, but if you list the motherboard model, I'll take a look.&nbsp; Or you may be able to find it yourself—the Asus product pages are reasonably easy to use.

If Asus doesn't offer a newer driver, try asking Windows to look for one.&nbsp; Hit Windows key-X, choose the Device Manager, open the Audio section, right-click on the Realtek entry, and click the black and green Update menu button.&nbsp; There may be multiple Realtek entries; be sure to get them all.&nbsp; While you're there, you might as well have Windows look for new drivers for any other audio devices as well as everything in the Sound section.&nbsp; Restart your computer when you're done and before trying to play.

If that doesn't help, please post a new dxdiag so I can see the new driver versions, if any.

squeamishnerd · Answer

@puzzlezaddict&nbsp; I've installed the new drivers, but it didn't help. Sims 4 is still much lower volume than for example youtube.New DxDiag attached.

irisuchan · Answer

I have exactly the same, except I have max volume for windows and also sims on 90. But when I play music on a music player, comparing it to the main menu music of the sims for example, Sims is way more quiet. I always have my speakers knob turned up halfway or more.

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