# Computer sound problem

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-sound-problem/660796>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 12, 2013, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-sound-problem/660796 "2013-06-12T07:55:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2013, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-sound-problem/660796/1 "2013-06-12T07:55:16Z")

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I have a Mac Pro, OS 10.8.3, and SoundSticks speakers. I’ve downloaded about 24,000 tracks into iTunes, and I play them back randomly. Until yesterday everything worked fine, but at some point I noticed that the volume had dropped noticeably. Same problem playing from a CD. But then I noticed that music from online had a normal volume, as well as new music I download from iTunes. So . . .

NORMAL: From online, new downloads.  
SOFT: iTunes (from CDs), from a CD, old downloads.

Any ideas on what’s causing this?

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**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2013, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-sound-problem/660796/2 "2013-06-12T08:29:47Z")

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Have you tried turning off [Sound Check](http://ipod.about.com/od/advanceditunesuse/ss/soundcheck_it.htm)? Maybe iTunes normalized all your old songs to a soft volume for some reason, but hasn’t yet had time to process the newer downloads.

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**Author:** ![philipcarter99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f14d63/32.png) [@philipcarter99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/philipcarter99)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2013, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-sound-problem/660796/3 "2013-06-12T11:18:15Z")

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Hi ,have u checked i tunes and kind of format u have loaded for that particular sounds.check with format sounds.

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**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2013, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-sound-problem/660796/4 "2013-06-12T19:45:39Z")

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I tried with/without sound check. Neither way solves the problem.

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**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-sound-problem/660796/5 "2013-06-14T22:12:24Z")

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bump

99.9% of my music had been downloaded from CDs. Only a handful had been downloaded from online. Those are the only tracks that are loud enough. This problem only started a couple of days ago. What went wrong?