Sound cards and speakers

[Direhit]

This section is devoted to audio equipment.

[Direhit]

Q: I have recently changed my operating system to Windows XP, and have noticed that when I use the in-game voice communications, I'm not coming in as clearly as I did before.

A: The first thing to do is to run the voice_tweak.exe that is found in your Half-Life directory. It's possible that by installing Windows XP, you have different sound settings than the ones that you were using previously. Make sure that you click on "System Setup" and NOT "OK." If you click on "OK," you are telling your computer that all is well, and you don't want to make any further adjustments. After you click on "System Setup," follow the straightforward instructions that they give you.

If you are using a Soundblaster Live sound card, there is a known issue with the combination of a Soundblaster Live card, Half-Life, and Windows XP.

You can correct this by putting

-voice_dsound 1

or

+voice_dsound 1

(it's one or the other)

in your hl.exe shortcut.

[Direhit]

Q: I can't get my in-game voice comms to work. What am I doing wrong?

A: First, try running voice_tweak.exe from your Half Life directory. Click on "System Setup," NOT "OK." Clicking "OK" just exits out of the program. Run the tests, and see if you can hear yourself. If you can't hear yourself, adjust the settings to see if that can make a difference.

If that doesn't work, some other device and / or program could be causing a conflict. In these cases, the odds are good that you can't even run voice_tweak.exe without receiving some sort of message saying "Can't initialize wav out."

Certain programs may allow you to use a different protocol other than the "wav out" that the HL / TFC program uses. By using the different protocol for the other program, you may be able to get both working at the same time.

If you are sure it's not some sort of software conflict, then most likely, you might have a modem that has an audio driver installed. Go into your control panel -> System -> Hardware -> Device Manager and look at your sound devices. If you see something related to your modem, disable it.

[Direhit]

Q: I want to get a good headphones / microphone combination, but don't want to spend a lot of money. What is out there that gives decent quality at a reasonable cost?

A: Take a look at the sets from Plantronics. The two that I recommend most are the Audio.80 and the Audio.90. Either costs around 25-30 dollars, and both have good quality microphones that work well with Half-Life's built-in voice communication engine.

If you have glasses that pinch your ears, then I would suggest getting the Audio.80, since it doesn't pinch as much as the Audio.90. However, the Audio.90 does seem to give a bit better incoming audio.

Unless you have money to burn, I would recommend against spending 100 bucks for a USB-based set. First of all, the cost should be enough of a deterrent. Secondly, such a device will eat up more system resources. If you are someone with a system that struggles with Half-Life when things get spam-filled, you definitely do not want to get a USB-based set.

[Direhit]

Q: I've noticed that the sound coming out of my speakers is contaminated with a crackling noise. How do I get rid of it?

A: Try the following:

1) Make sure that you do not have the output set too high. There are some audio devices that still use a bit of amplification, and that the amplified signal can cause some problems with any set of powered speakers.

2) Try going to your sound control panel, and muting the Line-In port, if you aren't using it. Often times, there's some interference between the Line-In and the Line-Out ports.

3) Make sure you have the latest drivers available for your audio system.

4) Make sure your speakers aren't damaged. Try a different set of speakers, or some headphones, and listen to some MP3 files, and see if the crackling persists.

5) Try to make sure that your audio system does not share an IRQ resources with another device. If you are using a separate PCI sound card, move it to another slot.

[Direhit]

Q: What are the advantages and disadvantages to USB speakers? Should I get USB speakers?

A: USB speakers offer an advantage over conventional speakers. They supposedly give you better quality digital audio, since you aren't going through certain analog components.

So far, from what I have tested, those claims seem to have some validity. You do get cleaner sound, although if you take the better offerings of analog speakers from the better manufacturers, this difference isn't really too noticeable, as long as you have everything configured properly.

The disadvantages to USB speakers is that they do eat up more system resources, as the audio processing is being done through the USB.

Also, if your CD-ROM does not support digital audio playback, you will not be able to play CD audio from your USB speakers.

Finally, the selection of USB speakers is very small, and that if you attempt to get the cheap ones, you are going to be sorely disappointed. At this time, Altec Lansing does have a Powercube USB speaker set, as does Harmon Kardon, but offerings are still few from all manufacturers.

[Direhit]

Q: What do all of those abbreviations that are mentioned in the sound card's ads mean?

A: From Howstuffworks.com:


Anatomy of a Sound Card
A typical sound card has:

* a digital signal processor (DSP) that handles most computations
* a digital to analog converter (DAC) for audio leaving the computer
* an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) for audio coming into the computer
* read-only memory (ROM) or Flash memory for storing data
* musical instrument digital interface (MIDI) for connecting to external music equipment (for many cards, the game port is also used to connect an external MIDI adapter)


There are some other specifications, such as Wavetable ROM, but these days, that is much less of an issue, since most software makers barely use MIDI anymore.

[Direhit]

Q: My sound is only coming from one speaker. What could be wrong?

A: Several possibilities:

1) You blew out one of your speakers, and that's all you are going to get.

2) You have the "Balance" improperly set, and have it too heavily weighted to the side you can hera.

3) Your sound card's jack may be going bad. Normally, there are metal attachment points in the sound card that come in contact with that 1/8" stereo plug. If one of these attachments are not making good contact, then you won't get both "sides" of the sound. This is also why sometimes you can jiggle the plug and force it to make contact, and temporarily restore the sound.

In the case of 3), you can do one of two things:

a) Send the card back to the manufacturer for repair work while it is still under warranty.

b) If you are out of the warranty time period, take a fine awl, and physically bend back the metal attachments that make contact with the stereo plug, so that they can once again make a snug contact. Be very careful...

[Direhit]

Q: I've noticed that my sounds are distorted, and terribly so when underwater. What can I do to remedy this?

A: Even though a sound card may claim that it is 100% EAX or A3D compatible, it may not necessarily be that way. Disable 3D enhancement protocols (EAX, A3D) from your Half-Life audio control panel.

[Direhit]

Q: Why can't I hear anything when I play a music CD in my CD-ROM drive?

A: Check your mixer settings, to make sure that you don't have your CD-ROM volume turned all of the way down. If that doesn't work, there are some possible solutions:

1) Open up your case, and see if there's a thin cable connecting your CD-ROM drive to your sound card. If you don't see a cable here, get one. It should cost you no more than 2 dollars.

or

2) Enable and use digital playback from your CD-ROM, using your control panel. This way, no cable is needed, but remember, not all CD-ROM drives will support this.

or

3) Get a cable with an 1/8" stereo plug on each end. Plug one end into the CD-ROM's front headphone jack, and the other end into the "IN" port of your sound card. This is the crudest method, but if you're afraid of voiding your system warranty because you don't want to open up your case, then this might be the easiest way for you.

[Direhit]

Q: My audio card is generating "stuttering" sounds in various applications. What can I do about it?

A: Assuming that this is not just a TFC-specific thing (in which case you may want to play around with your rates in the config.cfg file), there are a few things you can try:

1) Run DXDIAG.EXE, and cut down on the amount of audio hardware acceleration. Some cards, especially cheaper ones, cannot handle the full acceleration.

2) Update your audio card drivers.

3) Try using a different PCI slot, just to rule out possible hardware conflicts. If you want to be sure, remove all PCI devices, and then try the card in each PCI slot, as some motherboards prefer certain slots for audio cards. No joking.

[Direhit]

Q: I am using a Soundblaster Live! sound card in my VIA chipset that uses the VIA 686B Southbridge (hard drive controller, used in VIA KT133-systems). I can't burn a CD, my drive access times are long, my hard drive speeds are slow, and my system is unstable. What's happening here?

A: This is a known incompatability between the Soundblaster Live! card and the VIA 686B-containing chipset. The Soundblaster Live! attempts to assign itself a very high priority in the resource allocation tree, and this causes problems with motherboards that have VIA chipsets that use the VIA 686B Southbridge.

You can try fixing it with the following:

1) Try updating the VIA Southbridge drivers using the latest VIA 4-in-1 Hyperion drivers. This might help correct the bug.

or

2) Attempt to assign the Soundblaster Live! a lower priority using administrative tools.

or

3) The best solution: Remove the Soundblaster Live! card from your system. There are many better cards at lower prices than a Soundblaster Live! card that don't cause problems.

[Direhit]

Q: I just bought the M-Audio Revolution sound card that you recommended for high end audio, and enjoy it, but whenever I try to use 3D audio with it, I get distortions, and the effects aren't nearly as good as my Soundblaster.

A: The M-Audio Revolution does not support 3D audio in native mode. Instead, it uses software emulation, which can grab processing power, and other resources. Disable EAX, A3D, etc. Remember, M-Audio cards are for those who want the best quality sound, not for gamers.

[Direhit]

Q: What are your recommendations on 2 speaker systems?

A: This is under construction, as always.

There are several "tiers" of 2-piece speaker systems.

Bargain basement: These are the 5-10 dollar speakers that are made by MLi / Midiland, or Kinyo. They are sold under many names, and are really only for people that want to have any kind of audio in the first place, and aren't picky. These are usually based on the MLi 699 series, and are going to give terrible sound, crackling noises, and no real control over the tones emitted, except for sheer volume. Do not be fooled by their advertisements of "60 Watts PMPO," as this is a misleading measurement of its Peak Maximum Power Output. In reality, it's probably closer to 1/10th that measurement when it comes to constant output.

"Decent" entry-level: These are the 20-35 dollar systems that are light years ahead of the bargain basement speakers, and actually offer decent audio output for computer speakers. This class of speakers include ones such as:

Labtech Spin 65
Altec-Lansing 220
Creative Labs SBS270

[Direhit]

Q: Every time I attempt to use the in-voice communication engine in TFC, I get corruption, and at times, TFC crashes. I know that the card is good, and that all of my hardware is fine as well. Is there a way to fix this?

A: If the acceleration reduction trick does not work, then try moving the sound card further away from your AGP video card slot. Some sound cards do not like to share resources at all.

[Direhit]

Q: I have a Turtle Beach Catalina sound card, but can't get Channels 7 and 8 to work. What's wrong?

A: You must be using Windows XP to get Channels 7 and 8 working.