In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 10 Jun 2024 12:44:41 -0400, micky
<NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

>Does anyone sell an add-on AVC or AGC, automatic volume control that can
>be used with an existing one-piece radio?

The original post here was about radios, but I checked my computer. On
the desktop computer, I'd bought an add-in sound card. I can't remember
why I was unsatisfied with the built-in sound.

But I have a SoundBlaster Audigy FX. The card was a few years old when
I bought it, so there is probably newer, as well as competing brands.
I'm sure many, most, or all have audio compression in their software.

For this card, if one installs the included software (installation was
not needed for the card to work), it has a Smart Volume option, which is
sound compression. It has 3 options, Loud (which is no compression,
maxiumum loudness), Normal (which has a slide bar and gives a wide range
of compression, from 0 to 100% whatever that means), and Night, which
has no slide bar and lowers volume even more for listening "at night"
and probably in bed.

Compression refers to compressing the range of volume, not to
compressing data, but I don't know details.

I had this option entirely off (the default) and didn't notice a problem
from the station I normally play on the PC and then broadcast on FM to
my bedroom radio. But it's on Normal now. No change noted, but if I
were to switch to CNN sound only, which uses iHeart or Tunenin, it would
probably be a big advantage.

I looked at all this card's options when I got it, didn't think I needed
Smnart Volume, but then forgot that I had it.

>I bought an internet radio and in some of the stations, the commercials
>are so loud they wake me up if I've fallen asleep, or near sleep, and if
>I turn down the volume, I can't hear the program. I listen to talk
>radio and in another channel, the host is loud enough but everyone else
>is much quieter, and sometimes the host gets closer to the microphone
>and it's too loud again.
>
>I'd like to cut the wire to the speakers, which are built into the
>radio's cabinet, and insert a device or circuit that will act as an AVC.
>Any suggestions?
>
>I presume that if I bought a different internet radio I'd have the same
>problem, or is it possible the AVC in this one is broken?
>
>P.S. googling found this, Add-on: AGC and Speech Enhancement
>https://www.totalrecorder.com/AddOnAGC.htm , which sounds perfect, but
>it's software, and I need hardware.

Finally I uncovered the fuse opening the case. This feature is a bad idea
because you have to break the "warranty void if broken" sticker!

--
Jean-Pierre Coulon