Overview

It can be very frustrating when a song starts playing right after another but its volume is higher (or lower) than then the previous ones and you have to decrease (or increase) the sound volume yourself. Another good example is when watching movies, where action scenes can have way higher volume than the rest of the scenes. This problem can be solved using Sound Lock, a utility that “locks” the sound volume to a reasonable level so that you can enjoy your music and movies without worrying about volume fluctuations.

Installation

The setup wizard is very easy to follow, with very few steps needed to complete installation. It isn’t bundled with any malware or spyware and doesn’t install any software other than itself. There are no special requirements for the program to run properly.

The supported operating systems are Windows Vista, Server 2008, 7 and 8.

Interface

Its interface is only a small box that appears when you click on the Sound Lock’s system tray icon. There, by adjusting the slider you can increase or decrease the volume limit. At the top right corner of the box is located a gear button, which when clicked brings up the configuration window. This window has only a few settings, such as the output channel you want to use Sound Lock for, filter mode, default device and startup options. Those settings can be accessed by right clicking on the tray icon as well.

Pros

This user-friendly application couldn’t be more, well, friendly. No need to mess with complicated terms, settings and windows. A slider is all you need to do the job. Just click on Sound Lock’s icon in the system tray and adjust the slider to the level you think is best. From that time and on, the sound volume will be limited to that level and no higher. The program can be enabled and disabled at will, by clicking the On/Off buttons at the bottom of its window.

You can also make some configurations in the program too. For instance, you can select the output device you want Sound Lock to be used with, as well as use it only for certain channels, from channel 0 up to channel 13. The filter mode setting allows you to use Sound Lock per channel, or filter master volume. In addition, you can set the program to launch at Windows startup, enable it when it starts or have it always on top.

Cons

There is no help file giving technical information about the channels or explaining the differences between filter modes. Of course this is not a serious con at all since someone could easily look up the information on the web, but it could be a time-saving feature.

Alternatives

Volume Limiter is a freeware that prohibits high volume levels by limiting them in the same manner as Sound Lock. However, Volume Limiter is a bit more professional, with more settings to configure than Sound Lock. VolumeLock (paid) is another alternative which puts a limit on the volume level.

Conclusion

Sound Lock is a truly useful software that will give you the chance to watch movies and listen to music without experiencing the annoyance of loud audio streams. Highly recommended to anyone who has this kind of problem, or wants to have better control over the output sound levels.