Topic by Baltguy

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  • Baltguy
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Topic: Volume is way too low

I am having trouble getting adequate volume through Pianoteq. Here’s the scenario. I hadn’t used my digital (Roland fp90) or Pianoteq for several months. When I turned both on today, the maximum volume I could get through my headphones was very low, even with Pianoteq and the amplifier volume turned all the way up. I have my keyboard hooked to a USB C port on my Macbook Air, and then a cable connecting the computer's headphone jack to my external headphone amplifier. Headphones plug into the amp. This has worked fine in the past, although with relatively high impedance headphones (250 ohms), I always turned the volume fairly high on both the amp and on Pianoteq. With all that, volume was more than adequate. One odd thing is that that adjusting the laptop volume (using button at the top-right corner of the Mac) no longer has any effect on the sound coming into my headphones. That volume control works with Youtube videos and everything else – just not Pianoteq. Also, the headphones deliver adequate volume when Pianoteq is disabled and headphones plug  directly into the piano. Can anyone help?

Reply by jmanrique

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Re: Volume is way too low

Baltguy wrote:

I am having trouble getting adequate volume through Pianoteq. Here’s the scenario. I hadn’t used my digital (Roland fp90) or Pianoteq for several months. When I turned both on today, the maximum volume I could get through my headphones was very low, even with Pianoteq and the amplifier volume turned all the way up. I have my keyboard hooked to a USB C port on my Macbook Air, and then a cable connecting the computer's headphone jack to my external headphone amplifier. Headphones plug into the amp. This has worked fine in the past, although with relatively high impedance headphones (250 ohms), I always turned the volume fairly high on both the amp and on Pianoteq. With all that, volume was more than adequate. One odd thing is that that adjusting the laptop volume (using button at the top-right corner of the Mac) no longer has any effect on the sound coming into my headphones. That volume control works with Youtube videos and everything else – just not Pianoteq. Also, the headphones deliver adequate volume when Pianoteq is disabled and headphones plug  directly into the piano. Can anyone help?

It looks like Pianoteq is using a different audio output from the system’s built-in output, which is odd given that you say you’re not using an audio interface but going straight from the Mac to the external amplifier. Take a look at Pianoteq’s audio settings (Options / Devices / Audio Output: Built-in Output).

Reply by Baltguy

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Re: Volume is way too low

jmanrique wrote:
Baltguy wrote:

I am having trouble getting adequate volume through Pianoteq. Here’s the scenario. I hadn’t used my digital (Roland fp90) or Pianoteq for several months. When I turned both on today, the maximum volume I could get through my headphones was very low, even with Pianoteq and the amplifier volume turned all the way up. I have my keyboard hooked to a USB C port on my Macbook Air, and then a cable connecting the computer's headphone jack to my external headphone amplifier. Headphones plug into the amp. This has worked fine in the past, although with relatively high impedance headphones (250 ohms), I always turned the volume fairly high on both the amp and on Pianoteq. With all that, volume was more than adequate. One odd thing is that that adjusting the laptop volume (using button at the top-right corner of the Mac) no longer has any effect on the sound coming into my headphones. That volume control works with Youtube videos and everything else – just not Pianoteq. Also, the headphones deliver adequate volume when Pianoteq is disabled and headphones plug  directly into the piano. Can anyone help?

It looks like Pianoteq is using a different audio output from the system’s built-in output, which is odd given that you say you’re not using an audio interface but going straight from the Mac to the external amplifier. Take a look at Pianoteq’s audio settings (Options / Devices / Audio Output: Built-in Output).

From my reading, it appears that Mac updates have disabled the laptop's volume control when the laptop is connected to an external device like my Schiit Asgard 3 headphone amp. I got this from ChatGPT, so perhaps a grain of salt is required. Nonetheless, the recommendation is that I download SoundSource onto my Mac, which "adds software gain before the Asgard." Make sense? (btw, i checked all the Pianoteq sound settings, as recommended, and they all appear to be in order.)

Last edited by Baltguy (Yesterday 19:52)