This happened recently; the sound volume for Oblivion and Skyrim are significantly softer than normal. I have my windows volume at 100%, and my master volume in the game cranked up to full, and the sound is rather soft. Other games and stuff, like videos, are ok though; the only problem is with Oblivion and Skyrim.
Anyone know whats the problem? My sound for oblivion used to be normal, till about 2 weeks ago.

I've noticed this with Skyrim too (I'm playing the PC version.) My speakers are cheap anyway, but I've had to turn the speaker volume up, and the Windows volume is already at 95 percent.

Yes, I've noticed the same thing with Skyrim. I had my headphone volume all the way up, the PC volume all the way up, and the Master volume in-game all the way up and it still sounds softer than I think it should at those max levels of volume. Usually, when I'm playing a game with my headphones, I can't hear anything outside the game 'cause I play it loud. With Skyrim (awesome game, btw!) I can hear my wife talking on the phone and the sounds from the television easily, even though I have the volume maxed out.

If you pop over to the Skyrim Hardware and Software subforum, http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1257150-sound-is-really-really-quiet/page__hl__sound and find post number 29 in that thread you'll find a workaround for the problem.

Awesome! That did the trick for me! My sounds are exceedingly loud now. Thanks Nemesis!