WSJT-X Rx audio level changes independent of DAX level

Adrian · 2:57AM

Running an 8600, s/w 4.2.20, Windows 11. For some reason now when I run WSJT-X the audio level shows around 60 dB. I can go to the DAX and move the slider Rx Gain to 15 and that sets the audio at around the desired 20-30dB range. However, it was 15 already! Just moving it up and down back to 15 sets the audio level correctly.

Then usually after I tx, with no change to DAX, the audio is back to 60 dB on WSJT-X. I again "wiggle" the DAX slider, ultimately ending again on 15 and we are back to 20dB until I transmit again. I expect it's a simple setting tweak somewhere but it wasn't an issue prior to the 4.2.18/20 plus Win 11 updates which otherwise went smoothly.

Thx. VE7NZ

Erika - KØDD · 9:33AM

Your wsjtx receive number is a combination of all factors and the only one i almost never move is the level in the dax panel. It is set and left im not in the shack but it has been 40 might be lower but not higher.

Agc on or off varies it. And bandwidth on the receiver varies it depending on what signal im trying to focus on. The agc threshold is my control.... but the noise on the band, with zero signals is where you set it. You want low band noise and pullout signals. I have always dxed with a volume knob in one hand and rf gain in the other looking at the narrowist bandwith around a signal i desire. Running bandwith at 3khz gain low and agc on slow like you might do for casual ssb dxing isnt using 1/8 th of your radios ability. Setting the visual gains on the waterfall is a tool also. But i decode stuff i often never can see. As goose would say do some of that pilot **** mav... ham radio and dxing is an operator intensive sport..

Try you might like it.. DD

Erik Carling EI4KF · 9:37AM

I don't know the answer, only that I seem to have solved this issue and others relating to DAX v2. But I did many things at once so cannot pinpoint which worked.

Ensure only DAX v2 is installed and that all previous original DAX endpoints are uninstalled.

Disable Windows Exclusive Mode:

Press Win + R, type mmsys.cpl, and hit Enter to open the classic Sound Control Panel.

Click the Recording tab.

Right-click your DAX Audio RX channel (e.g., DAX Audio RX 1) and select Properties.

Go to the Advanced tab.

Uncheck "Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device".

Click Apply and then OK.

Check that you are matching sample rates. WSJTx now expects 2 channel, 16 bit, 48000 Hz (DVD Quality) or 1 channel, 16 bit, 48000 Hz.

Ensure no Windows sounds enhancements are accidentally enabled.

As a side issue, and you could check this with Flex or Mike VA3MW in case systems can vary widely, but most WSJTx users I believe would consider a DAX v2 level of 15 as too low. In my own testing, maximum decoding did not start until the dB level meter registered 40 - 45 on a band without signals.

Incidentally, the latest Windows updates have changed the way audio channels are managed. There is somewhere on You Tube a recent video describing a known quirk: when WSJT-X switches from TX back to RX, Windows forcefully applies its own default master volume layer over the driver. Wiggling the slider works because it overrides Windows and forces the DAX Control Panel to re-assert its internal driver values. How true I don't know although the video shows clearly that rolling back W11 recent updates does resolve the issue. I cannot verify because I distrust W11 updates to the extent that I have them disabled.

Maybe experiment a bit with the above but don't fire missiles at me if you get nowhere.

WSJT-X Rx audio level changes independent of DAX level

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