Each replay of audio makes the replay louder - How to have consistent audio volume

Anki Help
1

I am finding that pressing R repeatedly (or clicking the sound play button) on the same card causes the audio volume to increase each replay. It is VERY quiet on the first play, gradually seems to increase and then the third or fourth it is at 100% volume for subsequent replays. If I wait for a few seconds though, it then goes back to being very quiet and repeats the process.

I just want to be able to play my card audio from the start at 100% because currently I have to play it 2-3 times before I can hear it properly. Have I missed something in the doco or has anyone come across a solution to this?

Troubleshooting I have done so far:

Checked doco to see if there was something about loudness metadata or ramped volume, I could not see anything.

Tested some of the Audio files external to Anki. All are only one word with volume instantly played at 100% in Windows native MP3 player, no change to level. Therefore, I am confident it is Anki specific.

Checked whether my Windows sound was set to limit volume in Anki or enhance volume, nothing set and I turned off all enhancements. Nil impact, so it has to be something Anki is doing.

Tried using Safe Mode to test whether it is one of my Add Ons, no impact.

Checked all Anki preferences and found nothing that could affect this.

Anki Verson 25.09.4 - Windows 11

Thanks for any help.

Update 1: If I use headphones, there seems to be no volume level change so I think it may be an interaction with the native speakers perhaps? I am out of my depth! I really do not want to use headphones for hours on end…

2

Very mysterious.

You could try updating Anki to the latest beta version 26.05b2 ( from Releases · ankitects/anki · GitHub ).

You could also make sure that Windows is fully updated via Windows Update.

For me, when looking at Windows Update > Update History under the Driver Updates section, I see a couple of recent updates of “Microsoft Corporation AudioProcessingObject Driver Update”.

If you open Settings and then go to System > Sound, maybe you can monitor the volume level while it’s happening, or see if you have more than one output device.