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Audio software with microphone control | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| mka Newbie United States Joined 5123 days ago 9 posts - 9 votes Speaks: English* | Message 1 of 10 15 November 2010 at 2:40pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hi forum: I've been using goldwave on windows XP to listen to audio files. I can easily pause, go back, and repeat into a microphone and hear my voice immediately as I talk. My XP computer crashed, so I upgraded to Windows 7. There is no easy microohone enable and volume on windows 7, and if you do get the microphone working, there is a horrible delay in hearing that makes it useless. There are hundreds (if not thousands) of complaints in various forums, especially from musicians, about this defect, and no solution.
So what I trying to do is find a program that will play wav and mp3 files, display the file as it plays, allows an immediate pause, allows to mark locations in the file and return to them, and enables the microphone (with volume control) for real-time repetition without delay or echo. For Windows 7. Anyone know of such a program? Thanks, mka 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| onebir Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 7154 days ago 487 posts - 503 votes  Speaks: English*, Mandarin | Message 2 of 10 16 November 2010 at 2:58am | IP Logged | ||
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I think Audacity and MP3directcut do those things. Latest version of MP3directcut mentions "improved compatibility with Windows Vista/7", which suggests it's usable at least:
http://mpesch3.de1.cc/mp3dc.html 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Andy E Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 7094 days ago 1651 posts - 1939 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French | Message 3 of 10 16 November 2010 at 9:01am | IP Logged | ||
Well, this is a coincidence (not the software part) but microphone latency/echo in Windows 7. You've probably been reading the same tales of woe that I have. I've managed to get rid of the latency with my analog headset via a combination of the Sound properties + the Realtek HD Audio Manager and I can point you in the right direction with that. My new USB headset (bought yesterday) is, however, a different issue. I have latency, echo + robot voice but I've found a couple of things I will try when I get home tonight. Edit: I haven't use mp3DirectCut for recording but as a quick-fire chop-and-save MP3 editor, it works fine on Windows 7. Edit2: Some of the "solutions" I've found involve dicking around with the registry. However, I did find mention of an app called "Audio Repeater" which used to be freeware. It now appears to be a commercial product called Virtual Audio Cable costing $30. It's shareware, so it seems you can try before you buy. Web site here. I may just buy it anyway, even if one of the other solutions works, since it sounds useful. Edited by Andy E on 16 November 2010 at 9:49am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Andy E Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 7094 days ago 1651 posts - 1939 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French | Message 4 of 10 16 November 2010 at 11:18am | IP Logged | ||
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On further examination, it seems that "Audio Repeater" actually comes as part of VAC and can be used separately from it.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| mka Newbie United States Joined 5123 days ago 9 posts - 9 votes Speaks: English* | Message 5 of 10 17 November 2010 at 5:10am | IP Logged | ||
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Well, I've made my first stab at using VAC and Audio Repeater, and was not successful at solving my problem (microphone delay in windows 7.) VAC is an amazingly versatile tool - I created a cable with the headphones on one end, and Goldwave and the microphone on the other end. I still had .5 second of delay on the microphone, which makes it useless for language repetition. As best I can tell, the cable just picks-up the microphone signal from the sound card, and the delay is already there. It will take more experimentation to see if I can adjust VAC to eliminate the delay.
I've temporarily solved my problem by using another XP computer that hasn't been enhanced by the improvements of windows 7. I guess I'll have to install XP on my new notebook to make my language lab mobile. Andy E mentioned some Sound Property changes that reduced the latency - what are those? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Andy E Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 7094 days ago 1651 posts - 1939 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French | Message 6 of 10 17 November 2010 at 8:36am | IP Logged | ||
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If I explain what I'm doing, you'll be able to tell whether this is of any use to you.
I'm attempting to shadow audio using a headset. That is, I'm, using a media player (VLC, WMP etc) plus a headset and as the audio plays, I'm speaking into the mic and I want the output of both media + mic mixed back into the headphones - obviously without latency. Currently I'm not attempting to record the microphone input - although this is something I would like to look at later for analysis through Praat. Windows 7 allows you to set a "Listen to this device" on the microphone and this is what adds the latency. It is accessible from the speaker icon + right-click + Recording devices + Microphone + properties. Whatever they've done to the audio stack hasn't exactly improved its performance compared to XP (I don't know about Vista as I've stuck with XP up until now). In Control Panel for both my Windows 7 laptop and work computer under Hardware and Sound is an item called HD Audio Manager which manages settings for the on-board sound card. So for the analog headset, I uncheck the "Listen to this device" setting and with the microphone plugged in open up the RealTek HD Audio Manager on my laptop. On the Microphone tab there are Playback settings for the Mic - mute, volume, boost and balance. Using these I am able to get analog playback without latency as I *think* it routes the sound back through the output without going through the Windows 7 audio stack. One further thing, on my laptop I also have a built-in microphone. I had to set something in the HD Audio Manager to allow settings for the two microphones as separate devices - before I did that it didn't work. I'm at work, so I can't remember the exact setting name but I can check when I get home. For the USB headset, I've managed to get it working (it seems a bit hit and miss) by ensuring that the same "Listen to this device" setting is unchecked and setting microphone playback on the headset (speaker icon + right-click + Playback devices + Headset + properties). The volume's mighty low but it's usable when it works. I'm going to perist with getting to know VAC (as you say it's amazingly versatile) and it would be useful for recording audio streams where I can't get to the URL, although so far they've few and far between. Edited by Andy E on 17 November 2010 at 8:41am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Andy E Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 7094 days ago 1651 posts - 1939 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French | Message 7 of 10 17 November 2010 at 10:45pm | IP Logged | ||
Click on "Device advanced settings" (top-right of the HD Audio Manager window) and choose the option "Separate all input jacks as separate input devices". I haven't managed to get VAC to work properly with my USB headset. I've been using the Audio Repeater apps. The MME version still has latency with the lowest buffer time (50ms) and real-time priority (that's with repeating the audio straight back to the headphones - no VAC control panel at all) and the Kernel-mode version which should be the best performance-wise refuses point-blank to connect to the USB Headset as an input device at all. So I probably won't buy it at the present time. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| mka Newbie United States Joined 5123 days ago 9 posts - 9 votes Speaks: English* | Message 8 of 10 18 November 2010 at 4:50am | IP Logged | ||
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Well, for the moment, I think I'll give up on Windows 7 and stay with XP. I downloaded the motherboard sound card drivers (to get the Audio Manager program and the best drivers), and followed the instructions above as possible - the sound card is different as is the Audio Manager program. I wasn't able to shadow with the microphone, and VAC produced the same delay. BTW, I found another program with much less latency, you can download it free: micpthemuv1.exe
Thanks for sharing your experience, and if you get a Win 7 breakthrough, please post it! 1 person has voted this message useful |
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