Volume control with Windows

Hi,

is there a way to control the volume in Roon with the system volume control of Windows. Currently I can only change the volume within the Roon software and only if the window is active which is quite bad as I’m working on the computer and don’t want to change the program very time only for adusting the volume.

Hi Markus, welcome! Can you give more details about what output device are you using in Roon? Is it ASIO or WASAPI?

Hi Marian,

My music is stored on a NAS (QNAP) and I’m accessing it via network share. Speakers are B&W formation flex (and bass) which are connected (in the regular way) via Bluetooth to my computer. In general they are Roon ready and a choose them in the audio settings. Currently they don’t appear in the settings but this is a separate topic. So I choosed the bluetooth environment, playback is fine but controling the volume is only possible via Roon software. If I try to enable any other options like Realtek Audio WASAPI or ASIO I don’t hear anything. At least for ASIO I see ‘playback’ visualization (left to the name) but nothing for WASAPI.

Markus, please share the signal path. It’s still not clear to me what device you are using in Roon for the speakers. Also, what did you set the volume control on that device?

Hi Marian,

below the Audio setup screen followed by the signal path for both via the Windows bluetooth environment and directly via the B&W speakers. Hope this helps.


sigpathbluetooth

I have no real experience with Roon volume because my streamer is fixed volume and volume is controlled by the preamp.

However, if I understand correctly, yours is a timely question because this seems to be addressed by the new version released today:

This is the new version 2.0, Build 1167. However, you need a little patience because this update is currently on hold, due to a startup problem that was discovered with this version for some users. There is currently a banner at the top of the forum with this information, and a few threads. A fix is expected soon.

Thanks. In both cases, you are not using a Windows device, so system volume control won’t have any effect - unless Roon remaps it. As @Suedkiez pointed out, it may be possible in the next build, although it’s not clear to me if it will work with any device or just local devices.

I don’t know for sure either, but if the B&W endpoint has variable volume and it can already be controlled from within Roon, as @Markus_Schuetz is saying, and if Roon will now be able to read the Windows multimedia keys, then it seems rather trivial to map the key events to a zone that’s currently playing and has variable volume.

Capturing keys is one thing, using the system volume slider in the taskbar (or the Windows volume mixer) is another. Also, one can use Roon to stream to both a local and an external device at the same time, and I could argue that the system volume should always apply to the system output, regardless of what the Roon UI shows.

The announcement didn’t say that it’s just capturing keys, it said “fully supports the native media transport controls which means that playback controls presented by the operating system (including those on enhanced keyboards)”

If you can read the Windows Media controls and you can already control the endpoint volume, deciding which output the events should be applied to is “just” a UI design question.

I would argue that the keys should apply to the same output that the in-Roon default already applies to, with some config option if desired otherwise.

Anyway, even if this endpoint control is not available in the first release of this, the essential building blocks are now all there.

Well, the volume mixer is the OS mixer and the system volume is the OS volume, right? That controls, among other things, the system sounds. I don’t think anyone would find it intuitive to for the PC’s volume to control another device, depending on what is selected in the Roon UI. I guess we’ll have to wait to see how that actually works.

Well it’s exactly what the OP expected. But yeah we will see - or I won’t, am perfectly happy with fixed volume and actual hardware remotes for the pre :slight_smile:

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