libretro / libretro/RetroArch

Wasapi audio driver not affected by Windows master volume

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#18,706 3 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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C
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Description

Is there an existing issue for this?
  • This is a bug in RetroArch frontend
  • I have searched the existing issues
Description

When using the wasapi audio driver, the general Windows volume level does not affect Retroarch output volume, which becomes either on (for any volume value > 0) or off (when volume set to 0, or muted). In comparison, xaudio driver works as expected, and scales with Windows volume. Tested on latest Retroarch stable (1.22.2), Windows 11. Tested with multiple cores (MAME, FBNeo, Genesis Plus GX, Mesen) and games, the behaviour remains the same.

Expected behavior

No response

Steps to reproduce the bug

Just try to change Windows audio volume for any game, any core, with wasapi driver selected in Retroarch.

Version/Commit

1.22.2

Bisect Results

No response

Present in the nightly version

I don't know

Platform & operating system

Windows 11 Home, 25H2

Affected Cores

No response

Environment information

No response

Relevant log output

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reproducing the issue on Windows 11 with the WASAPI driver, then compare its behavior with the working XAudio driver across the reported cores. Done means Windows master-volume changes scale RetroArch output for WASAPI, while mute or zero volume silences it.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
c
Domain
audio-video-rtc
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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