WRITTEN BY: MADDOGG6
ASSUMPTIONS
THIS GUIDE ASSUMES:
- You are capable and willing to READ AND ATTEMPT TO COMPREHEND this entire document.
Its amazing how many people will NOT read the text and go ONLY by the pretty pictures - if this is you...slap your self. Yes, do it now - the rest of the page will wait until this is done. :D
- YOU HAVE THE KX DSP DEFAULT CONFIGURATION:
If you changed the KX DSP this guide may not work for you. Save your DSP config then 'Reinitialize DSP' to set back to 'Default' configuration.
- YOU HAVE A WORKING MICROPHONE (MIC) PLUGGED INTO THE CORRECT CONNECTOR ON THE BACK OF YOUR SOUND CARD.
It is not the intention of this guide to determine if you MIC is functional or not, so I assume you already know it will work with your card, like the case of it working with Creative Drivers or Windows Drivers.
Some MICs wont work with these instructions - So I also assume you have one meant for a PC - and not a recording studio. But if thats all you have - there are work-around's that can be done, in which case - head on over to the kX forums at Driverheaven.com and either look for your answer (eh hem - the search function) or post a question specific to your situation (in other words dont post only -'help, im stuck'). Provide as much information you can about your configurations (kX and other relevant hardware - such as mixers, mic preamps etc..)
- YOUR WEB BROWSER ALLOWS THIS PAGE TO CONTROL COLORS SHOWN AND DISPLAY INLINE PICTURES.
Some people may setup their web browser to 'over ride' colors set in a web page, if you do this, important ideas in RED may be missed.
- YOU UNDERSTAND; 'VOIP' IS A AUDIO RECORDING APPLICATION AS FAR AS KX IS CONCERNED.
Many people simply don't realize that any VOIP application is actually recording an audio input - encodes this audio, and send it over the internet to whom ever you are connected to with the VOIP application.
So - We need to set up KX to 'record' from the Microphone. And because most people will plug in a mic into the back of their KX compatable sound card (an AC97 audio input) - we need to make sure a few settings are correct in KX to ensure recording from that audio input is possible in any VOIP or otherwise, WDM (Windows Driver Model - as opposed to ASIO) based recording application like Windows Sound Recorder.
STEP 1 - KX MIXER PAGES
How to Find the different KX MIXER PAGES.
The icons on the left hand side of the KX MIXER are BUTTONS to select the different sections of the KX MIXER.
I will be refering to these 'pages' below.
If you 'hover' your cursor on these icons, a popup description will help remind you of their meaning.
STEP 2 - AC97 PAGE
(A) - Select 'Mic' from the 'AC97 Source' drop down.
(B) - OPTIONAL 'Boost' (Adds+20db Gain to the Mic only)
(C) - MUTE MIC- Make that little ball 'grey' in color by clicking on it - its a switch.
GREY = 'Mute' and BLUE = 'UnMute'.
(D) - UNMUTE 'GAIN' & OPTIONAL: Adjust this level if the 'Boost' makes mic recording too loud or you hear a loud squeal from 'feedback', but without boost is to quiet.
STEP 3 - INS & OUTS PAGE
(E) - MUTE 'AC97 In'. So we won't hear the mic while recording from it.
STEP 4 - RECORD PAGE
(F) UN-MUTE 'AC97 In' and Adjust Level. So your recording or VOIP applications will receive the AC97 Source with a level thats not too quiet but not so loud it gets all distorted and 'ugly' sounding. I suggest using the software applications 'level' meters to adjust this.
STEP 5 - APPLICATION SETUP
Because every application may be different, I won't go into how you would for each one, instead I will give an explanation on the idea behind the 2 common cases - but can be applied to most any VOIP or sound recording application.
CASE 1 - Messenger(tm) Using Windows Default Audio Devices
As of writing this, in Windows XP SP2 - For VOICE COMMUNICATIONS (aka VOIP) - 'Windows Live Messenger' relies on settings made in the 'Sound And Audio Devices' Control Panel applet for what sound card device will be used for capturing (aka recording) audio to send, and what device will be use to hear others your connected to.
Other applications that use windows default Sound Device:
- Windows Wave Recorder
(Add more to this list please)
By opening this Control Panel Applet - we can choose what Sound Device Windows, as well as Messenger, will use. This also affects things like 'Windows Recorder' as well as other 'sound recording' applications. But many other applications like SKYPE allow us to use other devices, and DOES NOT rely on these settings. If you can't tell an application what sound device to use - it likely uses Windows Default.
Here we need to look at 2 tabs - the 'AUDIO' and 'VOICE' tabs.
On the 'AUDIO' Tab :
(1) Make sure the 'Sound Playback' - Default Device is set to 'KX WAVE .... 0/1' - the '....' represents your specific sound card model, and is how we differentiate between multiple KX compatible sound cards if more than one is installed. Examples would be:
'KX Wave SB0350 10K2 [b800] 0/1' - or -
'KX Wave CT4832 10K1 [b000] 0/1'
Note: CARD MODEL - DSP TYPE - I/O ADDRESS
The important parts are (A) & (B) - and specify WHAT SPECIFIC kX DEVICE will be used, as there are more than one playback device for (most?) all KX compatible cards.
'KX Wave .... 0/1' - Use this in most cases, but some may need to select 4/5, 6/7 or 8/9 - which corresponds to the FXBUSS lines used, and there are some things you'll need to understand before moving on. If using 'KX Wave .... 0/1' doesnt work for you - search the DH forums for any known issues on your specific sound card model.
(2) Then, make sure the 'Sound Recording' - Default Device is set to 'KX Wave .... 0/1' - Again, the '....' represents your specific sound card model. You notice there is only ONE 'KX Wave .... X/X' device - unlike the PLAYBACK device - there is only 1. This is evident by the fact there are only 2 pins on EPILOG 'Rec L' & 'Rec R'.
On the 'VOICE' Tab - I never noticed when these settings become used (Most likely for Windows Speech Recognician - but please confirm or expand on this - PM me - Maddogg6 - at the DriverHeaven Forums).
But for good measure - set these to use the 'KX Wave .... 0/1' devices for PLAYBACK and RECORDING as well - this is 'just in case'.
Note: Messenger has an 'Echo Cancellation' feature that WILL NOT WORK with KX - this is because KX mixer is not compatible with Windows Mixer. The Echo Cancellation relies on manipulating the default 'Sound Devices' recording levels which will not work.
Note: Testing if the Mic works can also be done with windows sound recorder, as it too uses Windows Default Sound Devices.
CASE 2 - SKYPE - Using Devices Specified within the Application
Again, as of this writing, SKYPE(tm) allows us to specify what audio devices to use in case we wish to use other devices than those specified in windows Sound and Audio Devices control panel applet.
To get to the SKYPE Audio Settings: Choose 'Tools' -
(1) Then click on the 'SOUND DEVICES' Tab.
Note: You can see we have the choice to use the 'Windows Default Devices' as set up for Messenger, but we can also 'over ride' the windows default devices and use something else for Skype.
(2) Select the AUDIO IN Device. If set to 'Windows Default Device' - Skype will use the Windows Default Recording Device.
(3) Select the 'AUDIO OUT device. Again, we can 'over ride' the windows default playback device setting to be used by Skype here.
(4) Select what device will cause the ringing sound. This is handy if you want to use a different playback device to output the 'Ring' sounds.
(5) 'Let Skype adjust my sound device settings' - should be turned off, it won't work anyway.