• Troubleshooting

  • Audio Routing Issue - Windows 10, App Volume & Device Preferences

I just installed 3.0.1 yesterday after learning it was finally and officially released.

I'm getting a Audio Routing issue. Windows won't use and retain settings selected in the Windows 10, "App Volume & Device Preferences" when we reopen OpenLP.

My goal is to: Use the default Windows audio output to a pair of headphones connected to a USB sound card with a physical volume knob above the counter for video editing and other content previewing outside OpenLP. Then I want my OpenLP to play media audio out of the PC tower's built-in sound card which is connected to the room's sound system for all events and controlled by the audio tech. on site via the sound board.

What I find in practice using version 3.0.1 is that even though I can change the Windows 10, "App Volume & Device Preferences" to the settings I want them to be (after I've initiated video media playback at least once after opening the OpenLP app, which triggers the OpenLP app to become visible in the "Windows 10, App Volume & Device Preferences" window). Once OpenLP has been closed and reopened, in "Windows 10, App Volume & Device Preferences" (and after I've initiated video media playback at least once after opening the OpenLP app) the settings I desire are shown to still be selected. Everything appears to be correct and says it is routing the audio out the desired (non-Windows system default) output. But in actuality, the OpenLP MP4 video audio is being routed to and heard out of the Windows 10 system "Default" audio output.

Can this be fixed so that at OpenLP opening the audio is routed out of the settings that were selected in "Windows 10, App Volume & Device Preferences" every time the application opens?

In trying to troubleshoot this glitch, I wondered if it is being caused by OpenLP's past reliance on VLC for media playback. But I found that even routing VLC audio to the desired output separate from OpenLP did not result in OpenLP (upon reopening) routing the audio of MP4 video media to the desired and claimed audio output in "Windows 10, App Volume & Device Preferences".

Any fixes, or better work-arounds would be appreciated. The only work-around I know of currently is the following:

(Before every single event begins, start playing Media in OpenLP at least once after opening the OpenLP app, go to Windows "Windows 10, App Volume & Device Preferences", change the OpenLP audio output to any different output than the one desired and then return it to the audio output option you want the computer to route OpenLP's media audio to. After doing these mentions work-around steps, I get the audio from OpenLP MP4 media out the (not Windows system "Default") audio output I want to use for event audio output. (This works, sucks, and are not steps I want to require volunteers to need to be able to navigate every single time they try to use OpenLP with media content.)

Reminder: Currently, upon opening OpenLP and initiating MP4 video playback OpenLP always routes the audio out the "Default" audio device and not the specified and shown audio output in "App volume and device preferences" in the system settings.

2 months later

Open LP still has the described issue with not following the Windows system settings in version 3.0.2 when trying to use a not Windows 10 system Default audio Output device.

Switching the Windows system Default device to the audio output device I want to use for OpenLP... and switching all other applications to use a different Windows system non-default audio device I want to use for my desktop headphones seems to a decent workaround.

Down the road it would be nice if Open LP could route the audio to any desired output device upon the application opening and continue operating on the desired audio output device that is not the system Default device every time.

OpenLP 3 uses VLC for output, so you might have to check on which output device VLC is using. Let me know if that works for you, as I don't have Windows and cannot reproduce this issue.

a month later

I did try to change the VLC settings to the none system default audio device with no change in the behavior. OpenLP always routes MP4 audio to the system default audio output after the program opens... even if windows says that it is set to be routed to a different audio output device. I don't know why.

If I call the Windows System Default audio output the Primary audio device and the the other desktop Headphone audio output the Secondary audio device here is what I settled on for now:

The best functional solution as is is to swap all, or any, other programs (video editors, local video player app, etc.) to the local Secondary (headphone) audio device and make make the hardware device I want OpenLP to use all the time my Windows System Default audio output.

8 days later

Updating to OpenLP 3.0.2 did not fix this issue... but it I didn't expect it to.