Audio Volume Fluctuations in Win7

Hi,

I recently upgraded to Windows 7 64-bit, and I've come across this annoying problem while listening to my music on the operating system.

It seems that if I'm listening to any loud/busy/intense tracks, the volume levels constantly fluctuate. For a second or two, it sounds fine, but then the volume dips and sounds very faded for a second or two, then it goes back to normal, and repeats. I created a very detailed, informative, and accurate chart to depict this. It kinda sounds like it's trying to cancel out the loud volume levels to compensate for the smaller sounds, but failing miserably. This happens consistently throughout playback and it's getting annoying. It's very noticeable when using headphones, but the problem can be heard on the speakers too. I even booted in Windows XP, and the music sounded perfect. So it's definitely a problem involving Windows 7.

I'm using a Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer sound card, and I have downloaded the latest drivers from Creative's website. I've also ran their AutoUpdate tool, so it's definitely up to date. In the Creative Audio Control Panel, I have it set to entertainment mode, SVM off, and 48KHz PCM sampling rate. I should also point out that I have the latest version of K-Lite Codec Pack installed, and I'm playing MP3s in Media Player Classic.

I've tried completely reinstalling the drivers, turning off the Windows communication detection, playing in WMP, and doing all sorts of tweaking with the audio settings, but to no avail. I'd really appreciate some help with this. Thanks.

Definitely sounds like a normalizing feature is enabled somewhere. Have you tried music in the other modes?

Well, it seems the problem goes away when I disable the X-Fi CMSS-3D setting in the Creative control panel. It's unfortunate that I have to disable that, because in Windows XP, it made my music sound considerably better. Any ideas as to what the problem could be here?

In case you don't know what the CMSS-3D setting is, this is what Creative's website says:

"X-Fi CMSS-3D technology expands your stereo MP3s and digital movies into surround sound over multichannel speakers, stereo speakers or even headphones. Voices are centered in front of you and ambient sounds are moved all around you."

Why are you running a codec pack in Win 7? It's totally not needed.
Just for grins try uninstalling that and see what happens. on a side note I had odd issues similar with Apples crappy iTunes software and had to turn off CMSS 3D for Itunes but otherwise everything else was perfect.

I've heard Windows 7 will automatically decrease the volume of applications that aren't in the forefront. Could be the case?

Could try running WASAPI in Foobar.