The built-in volume control in Windows has been improved over the years and yet it still feels quite basic sometimes. That’s why an app like EarTrumpet could be useful to many of us.
It’s an open-source project developed specifically for Windows systems. It’s free and can be downloaded and installed directly from the Microsoft Store or via Chocolatey (choco install eartrumpet) if you use it.
Once installed, it displays as another volume control in the System Tray. It might be hidden if you already have the built-in one shown up there. You can drag it out from the hidden area and disable the built-in one so you don’t get confused by them.
Clicking on the icon brings up the default audio device in use with a list of apps that are currently using it. It’s quite useful that way because you can adjust the volume at the app level, rather than on the system level, or mute/unmute any of them if you like.
If you have multiple playback devices available, clicking the little up arrow brings up all of them. Now you can adjust the volume on all the apps that are currently using any of your playback devices.
If you want to switch the playback device from one app to another, right-click on the app, click the little switch button and choose which device to switch to. And bang, it’s done.
I have to confess that this feature alone would already make this app very helpful to me. Oftentimes I have more than one playback device connected or paired to my Windows computer, one on the headset and one on the speakers. Having able to switch them back and force on the app level is going to make my life a lot easier.
If you are in the same boat as I am, you should definitely give it a try.