Media players randomly dropping volume

[Will T.]

This is a problem that plagued me on Windows 7 and has followed me in the shift to a new machine running Window 8: whenever hardware is connected/disconnected from my computer (e.g. USB drives, SD cards, even CDs/DVDs in the optical drive), any music player I have open will instantly drop to between 10% and 50% of its original volume. My system volume and the individual volume sliders within the player itself will stay in the same place, but all sound from the music player is reduced significantly. Other software seems to be unaffected: games continue to play their sounds at normal levels, system alert noises are the same, etc. The only solution I have found is to close the music player and restart it, which sets the sound level back to normal until another hardware connection/disconnect. I have no idea what causes this or how to fix it, and would appreciate any suggestions as it is an issue that I am utterly fed up with.

[Will T.]

Here's a weird new development: tonight I decided I wasn't going to give into my computer's crap and simply turned up the volume when the music went quiet. Then, when I closed Steam for the night ... the music jumped back up to full volume. No idea what this means or has to do with the issue.

Still looking for any advice/suggestions.

[Stevo]

Check your setting in Control Panel > Sound > Communications tab.

[cam]

Check your setting in Control Panel > Sound > Communications tab.

Yeah! This. I was having this same issue. Changing it to "Do Nothing" in this tab fixed it for me.

[Peahats]

Was anyone messaging you on steam when your sound dropped?