VOICE LEVELER
=============

Makes everyone in your Discord voice channel sound equally loud to you.
Discord already measures how loud each person speaks; Voice Leveler reads that
and moves their User Volume sliders in YOUR Discord app. Only you hear the
difference. Nobody else is affected, and nothing about your calls leaves
your PC.

Needs: Windows 10 or 11 and the Discord desktop app. Nothing else to install.


GETTING STARTED
---------------
1. Unzip this folder somewhere you keep programs, for example
   Documents\Voice Leveler. Keep VoiceLeveler.exe and VoiceLeveler.exe.config
   together.
2. Double-click VoiceLeveler.exe.
   Windows may show "Windows protected your PC", because the app is not
   signed by a big publisher. Click "More info", then "Run anyway".
3. If Discord is already open, Voice Leveler asks to restart it once. It has
   to start Discord itself to connect (see "What it changes" below).
   If you are in a voice call you drop out for a few seconds; click the
   channel to rejoin.
4. Join a voice channel. Once two people have talked, their volumes start
   levelling: newcomers, shouting and whispering are evened out within
   about half a second. The Voice Leveler window shows everyone,
   how loud they speak and where their slider is.

Voice Leveler lives in the tray (the small icons by the clock). Click its
icon to open the window; right-click it for the menu.
  green bars   levelling
  grey bars    paused
  amber bars   needs you (for example Discord needs a restart)


CONTROLS
--------
Pause / Resume        stop or restart the levelling; volumes stay where
                      they are.
Restore my volumes    puts every slider back to what it was before Voice
                      Leveler first changed it, and pauses.
Start with Windows    starts Voice Leveler quietly in the tray when you log
                      in.
Quit Voice Leveler    stops it (link at the bottom of the window, or the
                      tray menu). Volumes stay where they are. Closing the
                      window only hides it; it keeps working in the tray.

If you move someone's slider yourself, Voice Leveler leaves that person
alone until you change channel.


UPDATES
-------
Voice Leveler updates itself. When it starts, and every 6 hours while it
runs, it asks https://voiceleveler.sprogbroen.dk for a newer version. A new
version is installed only if it carries the publisher's signature; then
Voice Leveler restarts on it by itself. To get a fix right away, quit Voice
Leveler and start it again. Nothing but that version check is sent.
If the folder you unzipped it into is read-only, it can't update itself and
tells you to download the new version from the site instead.


WHAT IT CHANGES
---------------
- Voice Leveler talks to Discord through a local debug port (9223). Discord
  only opens that port when Voice Leveler starts it, which is why it may
  restart Discord. While the port is open, other programs on this PC could
  control Discord too (it is not reachable from the internet).
- Discord's terms don't allow modified clients. Voice Leveler only moves
  your own volume sliders, but use it at your own risk.
- It switches on Discord's own voice-level measurement for the current
  session. If you are already in a call at that moment, your voice
  connection reconnects once (a split-second gap; you stay in the channel).


UNINSTALL
---------
1. Open Voice Leveler, click "Restore my volumes" if you want your old
   volumes back, and untick "Start with Windows".
2. Click "Quit Voice Leveler" at the bottom of the window.
3. Delete the Voice Leveler folder you unzipped, and the folder
   %APPDATA%\Voice Leveler (paste that into the Explorer address bar).
   That folder holds its settings, saved volumes and log.
4. Restart Discord normally to close the debug port.
