Volume issues in MAME

[DJMattB241]

Hey all!

I'm having two separate issues with my MAME cabinet (first build, nearly done!)

1) Volume seems to be wildly inconsistent between games. Most games are a regular volume, but some are CRAZY quiet. Any way to level them all out?

2) A couple games (NFL Blitz comes to mind, I think there's maybe three or four) are a) really really quiet and b) seem to be playing all sound effects twice. It almost sounds like there's a reverb.

Any ideas on this? Thanks all!

[chopperthedog]

1. I've never played with mame volumes. On all of my builds I've installed an easy access inline stereo potentiometer or rheostat somewhere to handle the varying volume differences of the different types of hardware that mame is emulating.

2. All blitz titles are not perfectly emulated in the dsp sound area.


good day.   

[lamprey]

I'm 100% about those games, but some games, like NBA Hang Time, are super quiet. So, you can adjust the volume in the game itself and/or via the master volume. For NBA Hang Time, launch the game, then hit F2, then go adjust the Volume setting. Not sure if that is the issue you are having or if the game is having issues.

Cheers!

[DarakuTenshi]

Yeah it's the Midway games that run quiet. even games like MK or Judge Dredd BETA. I don't think there is much you can do about this because MAMEs audio is at max on all the games. The only way to compensate is to turn your AMP or PC volume up.

[Hoopz]

Yeah it's the Midway games that run quiet. even games like MK or Judge Dredd BETA. I don't think there is much you can do about this because MAMEs audio is at max on all the games. The only way to compensate is to turn your AMP or PC volume up.

This.  Its a known issue in the Mame FAQ.  Look at the specific games list and you will see a lot of Midway games have the same info about using the service menu to adjust it on a per game basis.

[yotsuya]

Yeah it's the Midway games that run quiet. even games like MK or Judge Dredd BETA. I don't think there is much you can do about this because MAMEs audio is at max on all the games. The only way to compensate is to turn your AMP or PC volume up.

This.  Its a known issue in the Mame FAQ.  Look at the specific games list and you will see a lot of Midway games have the same info about using the service menu to adjust it on a per game basis.

Hoopz is right about the Midway games. As far as Blitz, I've never seen a machine where it's run without stuttering.

[BadMouth]

MAME doesn't save the main volume setting.  It will be reset the next time the game is launched.

Often, the volume can be turned up in the game's service menu (usually F2).  That will be saved.
If there is no option there, check "Slider Controls" in MAME's in-game menu.
Those will also be saved if changed.

[DJMattB241]

Cool cool.

Thanks guys! I solved it with a combination of the F2 service screen and turning on Windows' volume leveling stuff.

The games that were stuttering were Blitz, MK4, Soul Caliber, and Tekken 3.

Weird. Either way, took them off the list. Should be alright.

Thanks again!!

[Gatt]

Quite often "Reverb" sound effects mean that you're not able to play the game at 100%.  Turn on FPS and see if you're at 100%.  Everytime I've encountered the reverb effect I wasn't able to run the game at full speed.  That said,  I haven't looked at NFL Blitz for awhile even though my system should be able to do it at 100% now.

[DeLuSioNal29]

Often, the volume can be turned up in the game's service menu (usually F2).  That will be saved.

+1.  Notorious in Midway Games.  Again as BadMouth mentioned, you only have to do this once in the service menu for each game and it will be saved.  This isn't a MAME bug at all.  The original Midway JAMMA boards have the same issue.  (I've seen this for the Mortal Kombat series - Midway)

DeLuSioNaL29