The CD-ROM Volume Control in the Multimedia Mixer Volume Controls Does Not Change the Volume

When you attempt to change the CD-ROM audio volume by using the multimedia mixer volume controls, it does not move the slider to adjust the volume. Also, if you click to select the Mute check box that is located under CD Audio, the sound is not muted.

This behavior can occur because Windows 2000 has the capability to perform Digital Audio Extraction from a CD-ROM drive, which may return higher audio quality and faster "ripping" of CD-ROM audio to the hard disk. This capability, however, is disabled by default on Windows 2000.

In Windows XP, this capability is enabled by default. The CD-ROM audio volume slider in the multimedia mixer volume controls does not control the volume for the CD-ROM audio. The volume is now controlled by means of the wave volume control. The audio data is transferred as digital data, goes through digital to analog conversion by means of the CPU, and then it is converted to wave data.

To work around this behavior, enable Windows Media Player to send analog audio calls to the kernel (which still performs digital reads). This method can keep digital playback at the kernel level (in Windows Media Player only), and respond to the volume slider in the multimedia mixer volume controls for CD-ROM audio.

To enable the control of CD-ROM audio volume:

1. Start Windows Media Player.
2. Click Tools, and then click Options.
3. Click the Devices tab.
4. Select the CD-ROM drive that you are using for CD-ROM audio playback.
5. Click Properties.
6. Click Analog in the playback section.
7. Click OK, and then click OK.
8. Quit and restart Windows Media Player. The CD-ROM audio volume slider controls the audio CD-ROM volume.

If you do not use Windows Media Player to playback CD-ROM audio, you can ensure that the CD-ROM audio volume control functions:

1. In Control Panel, click Sounds and Audio Devices Properties.
2. Click the Hardware tab.
3. Select the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive that is used for audio playback.
4. Click Properties.
5. Click the Properties tab.
6. Click to clear the Enable digital CD audio for this CD-ROM device check box.
7. Click OK.
8. Click YES when prompted to restart the computer. The CD-ROM audio volume slider functions, but you are using Analog mode for all CD-ROM or DVD-ROM functions for that specific device.

This behavior is by design.

NOTE: It is recommended that you do not disable the Digital Audio Extraction feature as you can also disable other features that enhance audio playback and recording in Windows Media Player.

For additional information about Digital Audio Extraction, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: