Vista - audio mixer problem

Hello, microsoft has been boasting about it's new features. Makes sense. One
feature is the new audio mixer. Here's my problem and question: in previous
versions of windows, such as xp or 98, I could double click on the speaker
in the task bar, go to options>properties and then select recording devices
or playback. With recording devices set, I am able to pick what I want to
record, so for my computer I have four options: Line In, Wave Out Mix, CD
Audio, and Mic Balance. In vista, i can't do this which is strange
considering microsoft has released articles boasting the new audio mixer. On
top of this, with Playback selected rather than Recording Devices, I have the
option to increase or decrease and mute or un-mute the recording device. I
have spent quite some time searching vista (including control panel) and the
internet and have not found this simple, fundamental feature in vista.
Please, I would appreciate an answer informing me on how to go about
accomplishing these tasks that were so easy to accomplish in previous
versions.

suite_pee123 wrote:
> Hello, microsoft has been boasting about it's new features. Makes
> sense. One feature is the new audio mixer. Here's my problem and
> question: in previous versions of windows, such as xp or 98, I could
> double click on the speaker in the task bar, go to options>properties
> and then select recording devices or playback. With recording devices
> set, I am able to pick what I want to record, so for my computer I
> have four options: Line In, Wave Out Mix, CD Audio, and Mic Balance.
> In vista, i can't do this which is strange considering microsoft has
> released articles boasting the new audio mixer. On top of this, with
> Playback selected rather than Recording Devices, I have the option to
> increase or decrease and mute or un-mute the recording device. I have
> spent quite some time searching vista (including control panel) and
> the internet and have not found this simple, fundamental feature in
> vista. Please, I would appreciate an answer informing me on how to go
> about accomplishing these tasks that were so easy to accomplish in
> previous versions.

What soundcard do you have? Have you checked the manufacturer's website for
the latest drivers for your card? If you have, did you check to be see if
these drivers supported all the features of your card or only basic
functions? Many manufacturer's have only released drivers supporting basic
functions of their devices while they develop and attempt to certify drivers
supporting all the features of their devices. It's possible your current
drivers only support minimal functionality at this time.
--
Michael Solomon

it has nothing to do with the sound card, though mine is simply the onboard
on my intel motherboard. this is a basic feature that is (or, should be)
implemented within windows vista. if i installed an older windows i would
definitely get the options i'm talking about. thanks for the help though.

suite_pee123 wrote:
> it has nothing to do with the sound card, though mine is simply the
> onboard on my intel motherboard. this is a basic feature that is (or,
> should be) implemented within windows vista. if i installed an older
> windows i would definitely get the options i'm talking about. thanks
> for the help though.

You can't even get the speaker icon into the notification area if your
soundcard drivers don't support it. It doesn't matter that it is written
into the OS, the specific operations you mentioned must be invoked and
otherwise supported by the drivers for your soundcard or its not going to
happen.

There's a scanner applet included with the OS. Do you think you'll be able
to scan from that applet if your scanner drivers are not compatible with it.

This is virtually the same thing.
--
Michael Solomon

scanner applet? please elaborate

one thing that has to be absolutely possible with any somewhat modern
soundcard/driver is enabling the recording device's signal to be routed to
the speaker. i have no option to un-mute the mic so that the sound it picks
up comes out of my speakers. and the only way i can change the recording
level is through control panel which is super tedious. definitely no
soundcard manufacturer would release a driver that didn't have these standard
options, especially since my soundcard has two mic inputs (and i've tried
selecting both without any new features appearing).

it's also gotta be possible with any modern soundcard to route the wave out
mix as a recording device (which i'm sure if i could do what i talked about
in the above paragraph i'd find the option to do this as well). i mean my old
computer is like 10 years old and it's onboard soundcard can do it. my bro's
computer with xp can do it. my dad's with xp can do it.

i'll give intel a call and ask them, maybe try and find out specifics about
the onboard soundcard. but i truly believe this is a problem with vista.

by the way, can you make your mic signal come out of your computer? i guess
if you can do that on vista, and/or other people can, then it truly is a
problem with a driver. i just find it ridiculous if a driver is causing this
problem cause that's a very standard feature for any soundcard driver to
have. for someone that uses the microphone extensively that's almost as bad
as not being able to mute and/or easily change the volume of speaker output.

I contacted Intel (via their contact form email support) regarding my
own no/low-volume microphone problem with Vista. Their recommendation
was that I should remove my motherboard to see if something had gotten
behind it, then place my motherboard on a nonconductive surface and hook
it up to just the PSU with minimal RAM and see if I could still boot it.
Failing to understand how this could possibly solve my microphone
problem, I gave up on communicating with Intel. Good luck to you if you
should resort to asking them for help.


suite_pee123 wrote:
> scanner applet? please elaborate
>
> one thing that has to be absolutely possible with any somewhat modern
> soundcard/driver is enabling the recording device's signal to be routed to
> the speaker. i have no option to un-mute the mic so that the sound it picks
> up comes out of my speakers. and the only way i can change the recording
> level is through control panel which is super tedious. definitely no
> soundcard manufacturer would release a driver that didn't have these standard
> options, especially since my soundcard has two mic inputs (and i've tried
> selecting both without any new features appearing).
>
> it's also gotta be possible with any modern soundcard to route the wave out
> mix as a recording device (which i'm sure if i could do what i talked about
> in the above paragraph i'd find the option to do this as well). i mean my old
> computer is like 10 years old and it's onboard soundcard can do it. my bro's
> computer with xp can do it. my dad's with xp can do it.
>
> i'll give intel a call and ask them, maybe try and find out specifics about
> the onboard soundcard. but i truly believe this is a problem with vista.
>
> by the way, can you make your mic signal come out of your computer? i guess
> if you can do that on vista, and/or other people can, then it truly is a
> problem with a driver. i just find it ridiculous if a driver is causing this
> problem cause that's a very standard feature for any soundcard driver to
> have. for someone that uses the microphone extensively that's almost as bad
> as not being able to mute and/or easily change the volume of speaker output.

technical support services seem to love to give solutions to problems that
you did not present them with.

i'll try to call intel, but yeah i'm not expecting much help from them. and
again, i do think it's a fault on microsoft's part. and this soundcard issue
is only the tip of the iceberg. luckily i've dual-booted linux and it's just
a matter of buying a new video card to get all their features working, and
i'll only be using vista when i need something that's not compatible with
linux, which seems like it'll be very little anyway. as of yet, apart from
hardware problems i have had no problems with linux and most of it's features
have far exceeded those of vista. although i'll give microsoft credit for
their previous os's (though xp had a ton of security issues at the start
which were appalling)

Responses inline:

suite_pee123 wrote:
> scanner applet? please elaborate

In XP it was called "Scanner and Camera Wizard," in Vista I believe it is
"Scanner and Fax," although I think it is now only included in Vista
Business and Vista Ultimate. In any event, the applet allows you to scan or
fax without installing a specific application for the task but still, the
scanner or fax modem must have drivers to support that function.

>
> one thing that has to be absolutely possible with any somewhat modern
> soundcard/driver is enabling the recording device's signal to be
> routed to the speaker. i have no option to un-mute the mic so that
> the sound it picks up comes out of my speakers. and the only way i
> can change the recording level is through control panel which is
> super tedious. definitely no soundcard manufacturer would release a
> driver that didn't have these standard options, especially since my
> soundcard has two mic inputs (and i've tried selecting both without
> any new features appearing).

Obviously, they did. They either haven't released full featured drivers or
this is the best they can do, you need to contact your computer or device
manufacturer. As you've stated above, you have two mic inputs on your
soundcard. If the manufacturer hasn't supplied the drivers to Microsoft for
inclusion in the OS or hasn't made them available to users, the function is
not and cannot be implemented natively in the OS. Microsoft would have to
come up with a driver for every possible soundcard manufacturer and every
possible configuration. That is why it is the responsibility of the
manufacturer to implement functionality of their own devices.

>
> it's also gotta be possible with any modern soundcard to route the
> wave out mix as a recording device (which i'm sure if i could do what
> i talked about in the above paragraph i'd find the option to do this
> as well). i mean my old computer is like 10 years old and it's
> onboard soundcard can do it. my bro's computer with xp can do it. my
> dad's with xp can do it.

The onboard soundcard had the compatible drivers to implement that
functionality.

>
> i'll give intel a call and ask them, maybe try and find out specifics
> about the onboard soundcard. but i truly believe this is a problem
> with vista.

It's a problem with Vista only in that it's not fully compatible with the
drivers for your soundcard which by necessity must be provided by the
soundcard manufacturer.

>
> by the way, can you make your mic signal come out of your computer? i
> guess if you can do that on vista, and/or other people can, then it
> truly is a problem with a driver. i just find it ridiculous if a
> driver is causing this problem cause that's a very standard feature
> for any soundcard driver to have. for someone that uses the
> microphone extensively that's almost as bad as not being able to mute
> and/or easily change the volume of speaker output.

Sorry, I haven't tried it on Vista and the drivers for my soundcard are
still in beta.
--
Michael Solomon

See this thread:
news:1E6355A3-95FF-48E6-9FF2-FEE31EF71646@microsoft.com
Audio Stereo Mix Recording Options in the General group.
3/19/2007

"suite_pee123" <suitepee123@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
newsA5F6391-712A-4E0B-B847-E7524DB76C48@microsoft.com...
> scanner applet? please elaborate
>
>
> it's also gotta be possible with any modern soundcard to route the wave
> out
> mix as a recording device (which i'm sure if i could do what i talked
> about
> in the above paragraph i'd find the option to do this as well). i mean my
> old
> computer is like 10 years old and it's onboard soundcard can do it. my
> bro's
> computer with xp can do it. my dad's with xp can do it.
>

Since upgrading to Vista I have had problems with Helix Producer. The problem is that in Vista Recording Devices there is no Stereo Mix option. I have an Intel D975XBX2 motherboard with the latest Intel SigmaTel Drivers. After reading a few threads I contacted Intel. I have posted their response for reference.

Thank you once more for contacting Intel(R) Technical Support.

We understand that you are looking for the option to record the sound output.

If this is the case, we regret to inform you that this specific feature is not available for the current audio driver. We are working on a new software/driver for the audio interface that will include this capability, but an ETA is not available yet.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Please do not hesitate to contact us again if you need further assistance.


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