I have never paid any attention to it, but does it show up as a separate item in the Windows mixer or does it only list the game? If the Windows mixer is not a viable option, how about using Winamp instead of MCI? You can use Winamp's volume control for the CD audio.

True; I might have to look at other playback solutions, as I think MCI plays it like a wav file, so it's not separated.

I have the same problem. Do let us know if you find a solution.

Okay I sort of chanced upon a fix that works well enough for me. I applied ALchemy against BOTH the main Sega Rally 2 folder AND the MUSASHI sub-folder (when this is done, the third option in the Display/Audio launcher is "3D Sound (EAX)" instead of just "3D Sound".

When starting the game the sound was all silent, so I used alt+tab to Windows, click loudspeaker icon in taskbar, then Mixer, and see Sega Rally 2 at 0% volume. Whacked it to max and went back in-game and audio was fine, but textures corrupt.

Re-launching after doing this *seems* okay then, with sound (I'm using Surround Sound (EAX) in the game setup menu). I then applied _inmm.dll to get music, and as the sound effects were maximum, the mix is useable.

Not so easy if you don't have ALchemy, as I tried the alt+tab in/out and the mixer keeps dropping the mix to 0% 😒

If it just sets volume at startup (or at certain triggers) you can try this:

http://blog.nirsoft.net/2011/02/25/how-to-con … ows-72008vista/

Also if the game supports microphone input in any way (for multiplayer), then check Windows sound settings if it's set to automatically mute volume when a communications device is active.

I can't find a way to actually prevent applications from messing with volume setting, this sounds promising (but expensive as a workaround for one game):

http://www.actualsolution.com/volume-lock/

Not that I'd blame non-Creative card owners for pirating ALchemy. Creative sucks.

That top link sounds interesting. Might fix some other quiet games (but not sure it'll help with the lack of CD audio in a few games).

I've been having "fun" with Sega Rally 2, namely that when you run the game, if it crashes on exit (using no compatibility mode) the standard audio (not using _inmm.dll for music part) will be silent.

After much faffing about I fixed it. The cause is rather strange. The game often crashes when exiting, and tries to send an error report to Microsoft (or something). This in turn generates a key in this sort of location:

HKEY_USERS\**big_string_of_numbers**\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\LowRegistry\Audio\PolicyConfig\PropertyStore\**some hexadecimal value**

If you delete that key then the regular audio comes back! Looking at the key, if you open the top level folder (it may contain some other files inside) and double-click the (default) key, it'll say something like this as the value data:

{2}.\\?\hdaudio#func_01&ven_1102&dev_0011&subsys_11020023&rev_1009#{**long hex key**}\lineoutextopo/00010001|\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Games\srally2\SEGA RALLY 2.exe%b{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}

I then found that setting Win98 compatibility mode against SEGA RALLY 2.exe and now, even though it crashes every time you exit, it still has the sound effects when starting the game! Phew! As well as the music via _inmm.dll and the 3D audio from ALchemy!

Oh and it sometimes crashes right after the Empire Interactive logo. But if it doesn't, all seems well!