Virtual mixer. Volume2 - stylish volume control

If you are an ardent music lover who sits at a computer a lot, then you probably often listen to music on it, you have a cool multimedia player installed that allows you to work with your music collection as conveniently as possible. But can your turntable give you the ability to conveniently and visually adjust the volume? Many laptop users have this option. For users stationary computers the situation is worse, since the volume can be adjusted either from the multimedia keyboard, or to poke with the mouse in the "Volume control". But there is another very good and intuitive way to adjust the volume using the mouse wheel, hovering over the taskbar. At the same time, a large and stylish knob will be shown on the desktop, which will show the current state of the volume. All this can be done using the Volume2 utility.

The program allows you to flexibly adjust the volume control, including it appearance on the taskbar and desktop. In the settings, you can choose several options for displaying the controller on the desktop of your computer. It is worth noting that they look very stylish!

Do not think that this is where the program's capabilities end! In addition to the beautiful knob, you can change the values of a huge variety of settings. On the "General" tab you will find a list of devices for which you can change the volume, there you can also set a separate application in which you should adjust the volume.

On the "System tray" tab in Volume2, you can set the appearance and settings of the indicator located in the notification area (tray). Here you will find a wide variety of indicator display options that change beautifully when you change the volume. The main thing, when using this indicator, is to turn off the standard one so that there is one, not two indicators in the area of the clock.

In the "Mouse Events" section, you can configure the behavior of the mouse on the application icon in the tray, the way to change the volume using the mouse wheel, and change a number of other settings. For example, you can make the volume adjust with the mouse wheel when you hover over the title bar or when you hover over the desktop. By default, this setting is in the "Taskbar" position, that is, when standard settings the volume is adjusted with the mouse wheel when you hover the cursor over the taskbar.

In addition to controlling the volume, the Volume2 program allows you to set various additional features, which have nothing to do with loudness. For example, you can assign hotkeys not only to control the volume, but also to control the screen brightness, remove discs from a CD / DVD drive, and safely remove USB devices. Another interesting feature of the program is the ability to set a schedule for the execution of various tasks. You can automate the process of turning off or lowering the volume in certain time days, automatically launch applications at set time, and also show messages on the screen according to the schedule.

In general, Volume2 is quite crammed with a wide variety of settings, which may seem useful to some music lovers. Naturally, the program is completely Russified (the author is our compatriot with you) and it will not be difficult to understand the settings if you have the time and desire to customize your system, making it as convenient as possible for working and listening to music. The utility works under operating Windows systems 7 / Vista / XP.

Small free program for comfortable volume control without the need to turn knobs on speakers or headphones.

Screenshot gallery

Over the years that already exist en masse Personal Computer, millions of programs have been created for almost all occasions. Some of them are designed to solve global problems or create something. Others, however, serve to facilitate the execution of trivial daily tasks that are invariably associated with the work of a computer. And, which is characteristic, it can in no way be said that simple programs less important than the software giants. They are completely equal!

This article will focus on just such a small and inconspicuous, but very useful program, intended for adjusting the sound on the computer - Volume2.

Its main purpose is to facilitate and simplify the task of adjusting the volume on a computer. However, unlike its counterparts, Volume2 can do this not only by rotating the mouse wheel over the tray icon and hot keys, but also in at least two other ways: by holding down the left and right mouse buttons, as well as using the wheel in corners of the monitor!

"Hotkeys(from English hot keys) - a keyboard shortcut to quickly call the desired OS function.

The main advantage of Volume2 over the standard volume control in Windows is easier access to settings and the availability of volume control in full-screen applications (for example, in games).

Comparison of the Volume2 volume control with the paid analogue VolumeScroller

As you can see from the comparison, the free Volume2 easily bypasses the paid analogue in its capabilities! However, in addition to its main function (sound control), it can also do something else:

OSD(abbreviated English on-screen display - "reflection on the screen") is one of the popular ways of displaying various information on the display of TVs and PC monitors.

display on-screen OSD indicators to visualize the sound level and distribute it to channels;
using hot keys to control the brightness of the screen, launch files and restart / shutdown the computer;
implement the function of scrolling the inactive window under the cursor with the mouse wheel;
Run scheduled tasks (setting the volume and brightness of the screen, launching applications and displaying reminders).

First launch and setup

Volume2 does not require installation, so to start working with it, it will be enough just to unpack the archive downloaded from our website into any convenient folder and run executable file Volume2.exe. The program icon will appear in the tray, however, if you call its menu, it will appear in English:

Trey(English tray - "tray") - the colloquial name of the notification area operating systems Windows family.

To change the language, you need to enter the settings menu, which is called either by item "Volume2" from the above context menu, or by double-clicking on the tray icon. Here we go directly to the "Language" section, select "Russian" in the list and press the "Apply" button:

Now you can start examining the functions of the program in the Russian-language interface familiar to us.

Volume2 basic settings

I suggest starting an acquaintance with the possibilities of setting up the program from the "Basic" tab:

Here we can select the main and additional (if any) audio output devices, specify the step of changing the volume level and adjust the balance by channels. These settings will affect the parameters for changing the sound by scrolling the mouse wheel over the program icon in the tray and hot keys.

By the way, the next step I would recommend is the configuration of hotkeys in the tab of the same name:

By default, there are already five preset functions here: add / decrease the volume of the main and additional audio device, as well as mute. However, adjusting the level of the main device by default is extremely inconvenient because it uses the system CTRL + mouse wheel combination, which is used to scale images and web pages. Therefore, I advise you to immediately change the first two keyboard shortcuts by adding an additional modifier key ALT or SHIFT.

In addition to the functions already mentioned, you can configure hotkeys for the following actions:

Calling up settings.
Calls up the list of audio devices.
Opens the standard volume control.
Opens the audio mixer.
Sets a specific value for the sound level as a percentage.
Opening / Closing CD-ROM.
Sets the brightness of the screen.
Adjusting the channel balance.
Removing USB devices.
Configuring audio devices.
Displays the percentage of battery power for laptops.
Launch any application or document.
Turn off the monitor.

As you can see, thanks to such extensive settings, you can use Volume2 not only for its intended purpose, but also to speed up the execution of other frequently used system functions! I think everyone will find something of their own here, but I personally liked the function quick launch programs and shutdown the PC :)

Appearance settings

Customization(Engl. customization) - Anglicism, often used in computer terminology, meaning the customization of something to the needs of a particular user.

In addition to the rich functionality, Volume2 also offers the widest possibilities for customizing the appearance of both the program icon itself and all OSD elements that are displayed on the screen. The first in a row is the "On-Screen Indicator" tab. Let's open it:

This tab is used to configure the operation parameters and appearance of the Volume2 event notification windows. The display of indicators can be turned off altogether, or not shown in full-screen applications. It is also possible to specify how long the OSD window will remain on the screen. The very appearance of the window can be of three types: plain text (colors and sizes are customizable), trackbar (color bar with optional display of volume percentages) and skin.

Skin(English skin - "skin") - a replaceable graphical shell of a program, site or operating system.

Naturally, the most functional and colorful OSD message design option is the skin. It is selected by default. To the right of the small preview image of the theme, its functionality is displayed in the form of icons. In total, the skin can have up to 6 separate indicators that display:

volume level;
notification about the opening of the drive;
notification about connecting USB devices;
battery charge level (by pressing hot keys);
screen brightness;
balance of sound by channels.

Each of the indicators will appear only if the monitored parameter is changed by means of the program (usually, by pressing hot keys), but not by standard methods. Therefore, to save PC resources this function can be disabled altogether without much damage to the functionality.

The second tab, which is already responsible for the appearance of the program icon, will be the "System tray" tab:

Variable(English variable or var) - in computer terminology and programming, a certain area of memory that can be accessed by a specially declared name to store and read the value recorded in this area.

Here, just like for the OSD window, we can select the skin of the icon and set the number of steps for changing the volume (by default 100, which corresponds to 100% equals 1% per step). In addition, here you can activate the option to display a tooltip. With its help, you can display any variables available in the program related to sound. In the standard skin, this, in principle, is useless, but if you activate the skin without a numerical indication (in the form of a twist), then it will not hurt to know the exact volume level, which means that it is better to enable the option.

Alternative ways to control sound

As I already said, Volume2 positively differs from its analogs in that it has several alternative options for controlling the volume, which are usually not found in other programs. First of all, I suggest taking a look at the "Mouse Events" tab:

Here we can configure actions for left, right and middle (wheel) mouse click on the tray icon. In addition, you can activate the "Enable long click" item. This option allows you to gradually increase or decrease the sound level when holding down, respectively, the left or right mouse button above the tray icon.

At the bottom of this tab, there are a number of options for handling mouse wheel rotation. I recommend setting only the first parameter "Rolling the mouse wheel over" here to choose the place where scrolling will be recognized as a function of changing the volume. The rest of the parameters, in my opinion, are simply useless (although this is a purely subjective opinion :)).

Another interesting audio control feature is the use of screen edges, which I have not seen anywhere else before. To activate and configure this feature, go to the "Edge control" tab:

The essence of the method is that you select the edges of the screen, which will be active when the mouse cursor approaches them. Further, when you hover over the active edge and move the mouse up and down (or scroll the wheel of your choice), you can change the volume level. Actually, on this tab, you can configure the parameters of the above-mentioned function, as well as the appearance of the indicator.

Configuring additional features

We figured out the standard functionality of Volume2, however, the program has a number of options and capabilities. They are not directly related to sound control, but significantly expand the range of tasks that the program can perform. As for the options, I recommend looking into the "System" tab:

There are traditional settings, such as program startup and update check, however, I recommend paying attention not to them, but to the "Scroll content under the mouse pointer (KatMouse)" option. Activating this item will allow you to scroll the contents of any open (even inactive!) Window with the mouse wheel.

If you did not disable the display of OSD notifications, then on the same tab below you can specify for which events notifications should be displayed.

The last tab, which we have not seen yet, is "Schedule":

In this tab, the developers have managed to place an almost full-fledged task scheduler! With its help, at a given moment in time, you can:

Set a specific volume level.
Run the required program.
Display a text reminder message.
Set the balance of sound by channels.
Change the brightness of the screen.

Created tasks can be launched both at a specified time, and in an indefinite interval, or with a specified frequency and frequency. Also, if desired, tasks can be temporarily deactivated without deleting them, which is quite convenient.

Pros and cons of Volume2

Pros:

support for hot keys and bind various additional functions to them;
wide customization options;
several options for volume control;
built-in task scheduling system;
usability and ease of customization.

Minuses:

the default hotkeys are not well set.

conclusions

If you are looking for a way to simplify sound control, or you often need to turn it off altogether, then I think you will not find a better instrument than Volume2! Usually, I am critical of various software, looking for flaws in it, but in this case there are simply no flaws that could not have been eliminated with the help of settings :) And this pleases.

The good news is that the program works great both on old PCs with 32-bit Windows XP, and on modern Windows 8.1 x64. During testing, the program never shut down spontaneously and performed its functions both in windowed and full-screen modes. Therefore, there can be only one verdict - Volume2 is by far the best free program for managing sound on a PC!

P.S. It is allowed to freely copy and cite this article, provided that an open active link to the source is indicated and the authorship of Ruslan Tertyshny is preserved.

Windows volume control so familiar. It would seem - what could be interesting in it? Increased the volume of the computer sounds, decreased the volume of the computer sound ... And yet, let's consider the possibilities Windows volume icon slightly wider.

Beginning with Windows Vista and further (Windows 7, 8, 10), the system began to allow you to change the volume of individual applications using the capabilities mixer... After all, it often happens when some application makes sounds that are clearly louder and more persistent than others. Or vice versa, the volume is turned up, and the application barely meows something. And, although Windows provides several ways to fine-tune and thoroughly adjust sound parameters and normalize volume, we will not go too deep, but take advantage of the quick and intuitive capabilities of the mixer.

Click right click mouse on the speaker icon and select " Open volume mixer».

As long as your active applications are quiet, the mixer only shows master volume control and volume control for system sounds.

As soon as the application starts making sounds - it will be displayed in the mixer, and you can immediately adjust its volume by simply dragging the slider. Web browsers such as Google chrome , each new tab uses a separate system process, so if you play music across multiple tabs, the mixer displays each tab separately.

Unfortunately, the volume settings for each application are not saved and will need to be adjusted again the next time the application is launched. The system only remembers overall volume level(first slider).

More efficient control over Windows sounds can be obtained using third-party programs... For example, for Windows 10 there is a small free open source program called Eartrumpet(which in translation means "auditory tube"). She, not only makes the adjustment of sounds clearer, but also remembers all the sound levels that you have set for each application. And even after restarting the computer all settings are saved.

Volume²- An alternative volume control that can completely replace the standard Windows volume control. Volume² provides easy customization of hotkeys and mouse events for volume control. It also has a simple task scheduler that lets you launch apps or control the volume. This application has a lot of fans and grateful reviews.

If you have any questions about computer settings - ask them in the comments and I will definitely answer!