Volume is set at a certain level

My new laptop seems hardwired to think that if I set the volume to 20, so long as I have headphones in, I want my volume at 20 for all sounds, ever. This makes music which varies from quiet and loud feel extremely alien and even ruins the feel of some videos and games. But it's most notable when watching a youtube video and I change the volume. Turning it up makes the video louder for a split second before returning to what it was, turning it down? Well, that works for a few seconds and returns to being too loud.

My new laptop uses HP Beats Audio. While I'm currently blaming Windows 8 for this problem, it'd be silly not to mention it. Unfortunately, a google search didn't get me any answer for beats either except how to uninstall it.

This doesn't happen on my old Laptop, which runs Windows 7 and appears to lack a special audio device. Looking online for a fix has only returned me nonsense about Windows 8 reducing volume for communications devices (a feature which I have off). In my search, I found this bit of information from Winsupersite.com:

"Incidentally, Windows 8’s new Metro-style volume controls lack many of the more sophisticated controls that are available via the desktop. There’s no way to control the volume of individual Metro-style apps, for example, and that’s true of both the new Metro volume controls and the legacy desktop interfaces. Instead, the system automatically controls app volume, muting or lowering the volume of background apps when needed."

So... I suppose in short what I need to know is, how do I turn this "feature" off?

I don't recall seeing another post about this specific problem, although I have not looked at every post on this forum, thus I would consider it a problem in the PC, not Windows 8.

I have seen several problems with the Beats Audio, which is an "enhancement" to the audio chip that is being used.

You can try temporarily disabling the Beats Audio and see if that makes a difference. Otherwise with a new PC, which should be in warranty, I would contact HP support (or take it back for an exchange if you bought it locally and have a return option).