Can't use windows volume sliders, Windows 10
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After installing EQ APO I lose the ability to change volume with the standard Windows volume sliders.
For now I'm using Peace's preamp slider to adjust volume, but I would still like to use the Windows sliders.
Is this a driver or a windows 10 issue?
If those "standard Windows volume sliders" are APO based implementations then EqualizerAPO just might been disabled them.
I don't see how a system effects APO could possibly have any effect on the Windows volume control. If the driver doesn't support hardware volume control, then Windows automatically inserts its own software volume control APO, but that is not a system effects APO, so it should be able to coexist with Equalizer APO just fine.
If there is a way for a system effect APO to replace the standard Windows volume control, then that would be the first time I hear of it (and would definitely be interested to know more!).
The only thing I've heard of is that a driver didn't have the standard volume control before Equalizer APO was installed. Therefor Equalizer APO (Peace) was the solution by its pre amp feature. So could it be that Windows assumes there is a volume control APO going on and "decides" not to insert its own?
I've definitely seen faulty audio drivers/hardware with non-functional Windows volume control. But that has nothing to do with sAPOs.
Windows will still insert a software volume control APO (if there is no hardware volume control) even if a sAPO is used, including Equalizer APO (this is something I personally observed). This makes sense because system effect sAPOs are not responsible for volume control.
I guess it's theoretically possible that there is some kind of undocumented API that no-one knows about through which a sAPO can forcibly take over the volume control. To my knowledge, such an API does not exist.
Looking at the 8 years I'm giving support and not came across this issue, I tend to agree. But that doesn't explain the issue of course. What can Equalizer APO possibly "overwrite" to cause this?
OP did not mention which those "standard Windows volume sliders" are so my guess was it's the software sliders this issue affects to.
Some info regarding audio interface could be helpful.
Master volume can be defect also for some USB audio interfaces which uses generic/universal drivers (sometimes you can get only min and max volume for I/O ... ).
I know of someone who didn't had volume control for a USB headphone with a generic Windows driver. That was quite surprising to me. He used the pre amp slider of Peace, mainly the pre amp one in tray to be specific.
For volume control I use the GetMasterVolumeLevelScalar and SetMasterVolumeLevelScalar methods of an audio endpoint. Could it be that for some drivers another master volume method is used which isn't tied to the main Windows volume slider?
Although this issue is new to me I can say it's a driver issue. I guess the lower volume slider (beneath peak value meter in Peace) doesn't work either.
Perhaps this can be restored by using some troubleshooting options for this particular audio device. Do you know how to access these options? Start by setting the install as dropdownbox to "SFX/EFX" (and restart you computer to invoke this change).
It seems like a driver-related problem, especially if the lower volume slider in Peace isn't functioning correctly. You might want to explore troubleshooting options specific to your audio device. To begin, try changing the "Install as" dropdown to "SFX/EFX" and then restart your computer to see if this resolves the issue.