http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1317253-realtek-hd-audio-driver-update/

Okay so here is the deal for those with Realtek HD audio:

The program has certain special features where it has sound effects like echoing and sound environments from Sewers to Concert Halls.

I, and others, have noticed that Skyrim's volume is a bit lower than other games. Buuuut...I am sure we are not ones to really mess with the .ini file and constantly adjust numbers for hours until it is satisfactory and then somehow the .ini resets (Same with the volume settings ingame...Been there with Oblivion.ini )

So I have found a simple solution. Some may like it, some don't. Feel free to comment in a respective manner

Without further adieu....

Go to your Realtek HD cotnrol panel. Should look like this in the system tray:
http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae50/tgl_2010/Untitled-14.png

Then go to the 'Speakers' tab and click on 'Live'. If you do not like it, just click on 'Reset' Or click 'None' in the drop down menu:
http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae50/tgl_2010/Untitled1.png

Simple as that...

Alternative solution:

That did help to a degree. Thanks.

Welcome, glad to see that I was clear enough but I will edit the OP for more clarity (Pictures and the like).

Happy gaming!

I updated the OP to be more clear on what to do. I actually would recommend using the 'Live' option to 'fix' the low volume in Skyrim without all the .ini stuff and in game settings

What I did to fix the problem, based on someones post on some other forum. I enabled 5.1 through my Realtek HD Audio Manager and disabled the speakers I dont have, since I have stereo speakers.

That fixed all the low volume problems I had before.

Thanks for another solution!

Added to OP

The same thing fixed the low sound volume from my own Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer card as well.

Seems Skyrim forces 5.1/7.1 surround sound regardless of whether you have the appropriate setup or not. As such I had to crank up the volume to hear the audio 'normally' which meant that if I forgot to adjust it back then I was almost deafened when playing other games and even music on my desktop! By setting the Sound properties for my Logitech 2.1 speakers to 5.1 and disabling the rear and centre speaks I've been able to get the game to output sound at the same levels as other games.

I really hope that Bethesda fix this silly oversight in a future patch as neither Oblivion nor Fallout 3 have this annoying issue. Seems a bit presumptuous to assume everyone playing this game has a surround sound speaker setup...

Realtek updated their HD audio driver to R2.67 today: http://218.210.127.131/downloads/downloadsCheck.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=24&PFid=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false

Edit: looks like their site's getting hammered. If it says, "object moved" or something like that, just try again later.

Eidt: try this link: http://218.210.127.131/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=14&PFid=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false

This has the 5.1 workaround instructions which also worked for me: http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1308833-how-to-fix-low-sound-volume

No, you're meant to go through there site and agree to the license agreement else the download links won't work for you. The "Object has moved..." error messages are intentional.