Manage media and devices

Updated

Implement key workflow steps required to develop a fully functional video calling app

This page shows you how to configure volume settings for audio recording, audio playback, and for the playback of music files.

Understand the tech

Agora Video SDK supports adjusting the audio volume for both recording and playback to meet practical application use-cases. For example, during a two-person call, you can mute a remote user by adjusting the playback volume setting to 0.

The figure below shows the workflow of adjusting the volume.

Playback refers to transmitting an audio signal from a sender to a recipient, where it is played back through a playback device.

Recording refers to the process in which audio signals are captured by a recording device and then sent to the transmitter.

Caution

If you set the volume too high using the signal volume adjustment methods, it may lead to audio distortion on some devices.

Prerequisites

Ensure that you have implemented the SDK quickstart in your project.

Implement volume control

Use one or more of the following volume control methods to adjust volume settings.

Mute and unmute users

  • To mute or unmute the local audio stream, call muteLocalAudioStream:
[agoraKit muteLocalAudioStream:YES];
  • To mute or unmute a remote user, call muteRemoteAudioStream with the uid of the remote user:
[agoraKit muteRemoteAudioStream:remoteUid mute:YES];

To mute remote users without unsubscribing, set their playback volume to 0.

Adjust the playback volume

Call adjustPlaybackSignalVolume or adjustUserPlaybackSignalVolume to adjust the volume of the audio playback signal.

// Set the volume of all remote users played locally
[agoraKit adjustPlaybackSignalVolume: 50];
// Set the local playback volume for a specific remote user.
[agoraKit adjustUserPlaybackSignalVolume: uid, volume: 50];

Adjust the in-ear monitoring volume

During the process of audio capture, mixing, and playback, Agora enables you to adjust the volume of in-ear monitoring. Enable and set the in-ear monitoring through enableInEarMonitoring and setInEarMonitoringVolume.

// Enable in-ear monitoring
[agoraKit enableInEarMonitoring:true];
// Adjust in-ear monitoring volume
[agoraKit setInEarMonitoringVolume:50];

Adjust the recording volume

Call adjustRecordingSignalVolume to adjust the volume of the audio recording signal.

// Adjust the recording signal volume
[agoraKit adjustRecordingSignalVolume: 50];

When configuring audio settings, it's essential to understand the default behavior and the options available. Here are the key points to keep in mind:

  • The SDK defaults to a device volume of 85 when using the recording device to capture audio signals.
  • A volume of 0 means mute, and a volume of 255 represents the maximum volume of the device.
  • If the SDK detects that the recording volume is too low in the current environment, it automatically increases the volume of the recording device.
  • The volume of the recording device directly influences the global volume of the device.
  • If the default recording device volume does not meet your requirements, adjust it by regulating the signal amplitude captured by the microphone or sound card.

Get volume information of users

Video SDK enables you to obtain the user IDs and corresponding volumes of the three users with the highest instantaneous volumes in a channel during the process of audio recording, mixing, and playback. You use reportAudioVolumeIndicationOfSpeakers callback to obtain this information. A returned uid of 0 in the callback indicates the local user.

Note

Call enableAudioVolumeIndication to enable reporting of the users' volume in the callback.

// Retrieve the user IDs of the three users with the highest instantaneous speaking volume,
// their respective volumes, and determine whether the local user is speaking.
- (void)rtcEngine:(AgoraRtcEngineKit *_Nonnull)engine
reportAudioVolumeIndicationOfSpeakers:(NSArray<AgoraRtcAudioVolumeInfo *> *_Nonnull)speakers
                              totalVolume:(NSInteger)totalVolume {
}

Reference

This section contains content that completes the information on this page, or points you to documentation that explains other aspects to this product.

API reference

Sample projects

Agora offers the following open-source sample project for adjusting recording, playback, and in-ear monitoring volumes for your reference:

For adjusting the playback volume of mixing or audio effect files, refer to the following sample project:

Frequently asked questions

See also