PC Audio Primer for Windows 98 Compiled by Will Baldwin To playback: You can play audio from your CD player, or various types of audio files on your hard drive, or from external devices connected to the line-in port on your sound card. Some players can be accessed by clicking the Start button, then Programs, Accessories, then Entertainment. Others can be downloaded from the Internet, like WinAmp, RealPlayer, and the enhanced version of Windows Media Player. To adjust the volume of playback: This is a little confusing. The main volume control is in the system tray, on the bottom right side of your screen. The name of this app is 'Volume Control'. If you left click on it once, you will see a simple slide control for the volume. If you double click on it, though, you will see a window showing the volume and balance controls for every device. The way I configure my system, is I set the main volume control at a comfortable level, then, I adjust each device so the sound level for each device is about the same. If your sound card supports it, you can click 'Advanced' to set the Bass and Treble levels, and select 3D enhancement. The 'Volume Control' application can usually also be accessed from whatever playback program you're running. --------------------- To record: The most common way to record is from the Windows Sound Recorder. To run this, click the Start button, then Programs, Accessories, Entertainment, then Sound Recorder. You can then record input from your CD player, microphone, or various other devices. You can also playback what you've recorded, and mix in different audio sources, and cut and paste, etc. You can also download other recorders from the Internet, like Cool Edit, Audiograbber, and RealJukeBox. Two advantages of Cool Edit, over Sound Recorder, is its ability to perform noise reduction, and fade in/fade out. To adjust playback volume in Sound Recorder, see above. To adjust recording input level (from the device to the 'Sound Recorder'): The name of the app to adjust 'recording level' is 'Recording Control', and the window looks very like 'Volume Control'. The easy way to access it is to double click on the Volume icon in the system tray, then click Options, Propterties, then Recording. Then, you can move the window on the screen such that you can see both the Sound Recorder and Recording Control windows at once. This allows you to adjust the recording level *as you record*. On the bottom of the Recording Control window, you'll see a check box for each device. To eliminate the possibility of any noise input from devices that I am not using, I only select whatever device that I am recording from at the moment. If you're recording from Microphone, you'll probably have to raise the gain on both the Microphone, and main Recording volume switches to get good recordings. If you're using a 'phantom power' microphone, which is a powered mike, though, you probably won't have to raise the gain as much. Phantom power mikes generally provide a wider frequency response, and a higher signal to noise ratio. With *some* sound cards, you may have to also increase the Volume Control, as well as the Recorder Control settings, to get enough gain from your input device. Note the audio level meter next to the main volume control on the left. As you record, and adjust the input levels, you'll see the meter go up and down. I adjust my level so that it peaks in the yellow color of the bar. Another way to access Recording Control, is from the Sound Recorder application. From there, click on Edit, then Audio Properties. Then, you'll see a window showing your playback and recording devices. On the left side of each, you'll see an icon that looks like a slider switch. Click on the one next to the Playback device, and you'll get the 'Volume Control' window. If you click on the one next to the Record device, though, you get 'Recording Control'. ---------------------- You can find .wav's on many places on the Internet. Just do a search. When you find one you like, if the page doesn't tell you how to download it, you can usually download it by right clicking on the file name. Unfortunately, .wav's are not recorded with a standard recording level. But, if a .wav is too soft, or too loud, you can usually: 1) Open it in Sound Recorder 2) If the green line in the vu meter is missing, you'll have to change the properties to uncompress the .wav to PCM format 3) Raise or Lower the recording level to a level you like (From the Effects menu), then 4) Remember to re-compress, and Save the .wav back to disk ------------------------ Below are some more hints for playback & recording, which I found at: http://www.microsoft.com/isapi/gosearch.asp?target=/us/default.asp To find more articles, search on 'Sound Recorder', Media Player, or Audio, etc. ---------------------- Command Line Options Available for Windows Media Player The information in this article applies to: Microsoft Windows Media Player version 6.4 SUMMARY When starting the Windows Media Player from a command prompt, you can specify several startup parameters. MORE INFORMATION The Windows Media Player has several command line options: /open: Open the file, don't automatically start playing. /play: Start playing the file as soon the player is launched. /close: Close the player after playback (only works when used with /play). /fullscreen: Start the file in full-screen mode. /new: Use a new instance of the player. For example, to play a file and close the player when done: Mplayer2.exe /play /close C:\Asfroot\Sample.asf Additional query words: netshow wms wmp Keywords : kbDSupport Version : WINDOWS:6.4 Platform : WINDOWS Issue type : kbinfo Last Reviewed: September 24, 1999 © 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Terms of Use. ---------------------- Increasing Sound Recorder's Recording Time The information in this article applies to: Microsoft Windows operating system versions 3.0, 3.0a, 3.1, 3.11 Microsoft Windows 95 Microsoft Windows NT operating system version 3.1 Microsoft Windows NT Advanced Server version 3.1 Microsoft Windows NT Workstation versions 3.5, 3.51, 4.0 Microsoft Windows NT Server versions 3.5, 3.51, 4.0 Microsoft Windows 98 SUMMARY The Sound Recorder utility included with Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Windows with Multimedia Extensions, Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 98, and Microsoft Windows NT has a default maximum recording time of 60 seconds. MORE INFORMATION To work around this limitation and increase the recording time, do the following: 1.Start Sound Recorder. 2.Choose the Record (microphone) button and let Recorder run for 60 seconds. 3.After Recorder has stopped, choose Save As from the File menu, and name the file BLANK.WAV. 4.To increase the recording size, choose Insert File from the Edit menu, and select BLANK.WAV. This increases the maximum recording time of Sound Recorder by 60 seconds. Repeat step 4 once for each additional minute desired. For example, for a 5-minute recording time, insert BLANK.WAV five times. Additional query words: 3.00 3.00a 3.10 3.11 limit ntutil prodnt Keywords : kbtool win31 win95 win30 win98 mmwin Version : WINDOWS:95; winnt:3.5,3.51,4.0 Platform : WINDOWS winnt Issue type : Last Reviewed: April 3, 1999 © 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Terms of Use. Article ID: Q82215 -------------------------- Here's another tip, about compressing sound files: How to Use Sound Recorder to Change Compression Settings The information in this article applies to: Microsoft Windows 95 Microsoft Windows 98 SUMMARY This article describes how to change the audio codec used to compress a wave (.wav) sound file. An audio codec is an algorithm used to compress and decompress sound files. If the codec used to compress a .wav file does not provide the compression ratio or some other feature you want, you can use the steps described in this article to change the codec used to compress the file. MORE INFORMATION To change the audio codec used to compress a .wav file, follow these steps: 1.Click the Start button, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to Multimedia (or Entertainment in Windows 98), and then click Sound Recorder. 2.On the File menu, click Open. 3.Type the path and file name for the .wav file you want to modify in the File Name box, and then click Open. 4.On the File menu, click Save As. 5.If you want to overwrite the original version of the file with the new version, click Change. If you do not want to overwrite the original version of the file with the new version, type a name for the new version in the File Name box, and then click Change. 6.Click the codec that you want to use to compress the new version of the file in the Format box, and then click OK. 7.Click Save. Compressing a .wav file makes the file smaller. Because the file is smaller, it takes less time to transfer the file across a network or between two computers using modems. Not all audio codecs provide the same compression ratio, which makes some audio codecs more useful than others for a particular purpose. However, many audio codecs that provide higher compression ratios do not provide the additional features that other audio codecs provide (such as higher compression speeds and a greater number of sampling rates). When you are deciding which codec to use in compressing a .wav file, all of these factors must be taken into consideration. For example, the Microsoft Adaptive Delta Pulse Code Modulation (ADPCM) and Microsoft Interactive Multimedia Association (IMA) ADPCM codecs can both achieve a 4:1 compression ratio, but the IMA ADPCM codec compresses files faster. The Microsoft Groupe Special Mobile (GSM) 6.10 codec can achieve only a 2:1 compression ratio, but offers a greater number of sampling rates. The Microsoft Consultative Committee for International Telephone and Telegraph (CCITT) G.711 A-Law and u-Law codec can also achieve only a 2:1 compression ratio, but is best when compatibility with current Telephony Application Programming Interface (TAPI) standards is a concern. The DSP Group Truespeech Software codec achieves the highest compression ratio, and is best in voice sampling applications. Changing the attributes associated with a .wav file may cause the file to increase or decrease in size, but does not normally make the file sound better. In particular, compressing a .wav file or increasing the compression ratio used on a .wav file does not usually make the file sound better. Note that GSM is primarily designed for the efficient compression of speech. Using GSM to compress music an result in poor audio quality. Keywords : kbmm kbsound win95 win98 Version : 95 Platform : WINDOWS Issue type : kbhowto Last Reviewed: January 26, 1999 © 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Terms of Use. -------------------------- This compilation is (c) 1999, by Will Baldwin email: whbaldwin@iquest.net. All trademarks mentioned are owned by their respective holders. This document may be copied freely, or used in websites, but must remain intact. If you want to add your own comments, please append them to the bottom, and clearly designate them as your own. --------------------------