Solutions to Common Problems

Because of the complexity of recording sound on a PC, you may experience a variety of problems. The following are solutions to known problems. In addition, check the Support Release Page.

PROBLEM:

After logging in, the control buttons for Voice Messages, Web Clips, etc, do not respond to clicking.

SOLUTION:

Panagram.com uses the javascripting capabilities of the browser to navigate around the site and perform other operations. Consult your system administrator or check the browser settings by following the instructions below for the browser you are using.

Enabling Javascript in Netscape Browsers:

From the browser pull-down menu, select Edit/Preferences. In the Preferences dialog box, click on the "Advanced" category to display advanced settings. Make sure the field labeled "Enable JavaScript" is checked. Restart the browser after making any changes.

Enabling Javascript in Internet Explorer 4.0:

From the browser pull-down menu, select View/Internet Options. In the Internet Options dialog select the "Security" tab. In the "Internet Zone" section of the Security Settings dialog, select the "Custom" option and click on the "Settings" button. Scroll down to the bottom of the list of options to the section labeled "Scripting". Make sure the options "Scripting of Java applets" and "Active Scripting" are both set to "Enable".

Enabling Javascript in Internet Explorer 5.0:

From the browser pull-down menu, select Tools/Internet Options. In the Internet Options dialog select the Security tab and click on the "Custom Level" button. In the Security Settings dialog scroll down to the section labeled "Scripting". Make sure the options "Active scripting" and "Scripting of Java applets" are both set to "Enable".

PROBLEM:

The level meters do not light up for recording.

SOLUTION:

The level meters are only active when SoniClear/NP is recording. If the level meters do not display after pressing the record button, check the following issues:

1. The sound source may be defective or improperly connected. For example, the microphone must be plugged in to the correct input and must be compatible with the sound card (not all microphones and sound cards will work together). Some microphones require a battery for power, check to make sure it is working. Some microphones have an on/off switch which must be turned on. For line input devices, such as a tape recorder, make sure that the device is connected correctly to the line input of the sound card (not all sound cards have a line-in jack). One other connection problem is with defective cables. Test the cables with another computer or other sound equipment.

2. There may be an incompatibility between SoniClear/NP and the sound card. See the Support Release Page for more information.

3. Another cause of this recording problem occurs with the processing of stereo inputs on some sound cards. In this case, the sound card sends the microphone input to the Right channel. There is no workaround to this problem with SoniClear/NP. If this occurs you will have to change sound cards, since this problem is caused by a defect in the sound card driver software.

4. If you are using a microphone preamp (such as those supplied in the Microphone Bundles sold by Trio Systems), you must make sure that the microphone input is connected to the Left channel of the sound card. Using the cables in the Microphone Bundles, the plug connected to the White wire is the Left channel and the plug connected to the Red wire is the Right channel. If you are experiencing this problem of no sound, try reversing these plugs. In addition, make sure the preamp is working correctly (power is being supplied to the unit and it is turned on), and that the volume level is set correctly.

PROBLEM:

No sound when pressing the Play button.

SOLUTION:

Pressing the Play button plays back the recording from the WAV file on your computer's hard disk.You may not be hearing sound from the WAV file because of problems playing back the file, or because there is no sound recorded in the file.

1. Make sure the speakers are properly plugged in and running.

2. Make sure the volume is up using the Windows Volume Control. The Windows Volume Control program can be started by double clicking the speaker icon in the "system tray" (the icons at the lower right corner of the screen). Make sure that the Volume Control and Wave controls are not muted and the volume slider is not set at the lowest position (somewhere in the middle of the volume range should work fine). For more details about controlling the sound card, see the section below, "Using The Volume Control Program".

3. If there is no speaker icon displayed, consult with your computer documentation for instructions on setting sound level.

4. If there is still no sound after setting the volume level, there is some problem with the recording in the sound file. If you recorded it using SoniClear, consult the question/solution above, "The level meters do not light up for recording."

PROBLEM:

A loud howling sound comes out of the speakers when a Microphone is plugged in.

SOLUTION:

This is caused by "feedback". This happens when the sound from the speakers is picked up by the microphone and then sent back out the speakers, around and around, until a loud tone results. This can be stopped by one of three methods:

1. Turn down the speaker volume when the microphone is plugged in. This is easy, but not as convenient as the other methods. This can be accomplished using a manual volume control available on some speaker systems. Alternatively, single clicking the speaker icon in the system tray (lower right corner of screen) and selecting "mute" can turn off the speaker.
2. Use headphones for monitoring while the microphone is plugged in.
3. Start the Volume Control program and mute the Microphone source in the Playback display. See "Using The Volume Control Program" at the Support Help Page.

PROBLEM:

Recordings have a "wobbly" or uneven sound quality.

SOLUTION:

This can be caused by an incompatibility between a sound card and a SCSI disk controller on the same computer. Consult with your computer vendor or service technician to reconfigure the system to resolve the conflict. This may involve changing DMA settings on these two devices, or installing new sound card and SCSI device drivers.

PROBLEM:

Recordings have loud clicks randomly in the sound.

SOLUTION:

This is most likely caused by a small quantity of samples being "dropped" (lost). This happens when a buffer of sound data cannot be written to disk fast enough, and is lost when more sound data is received from the sound card. This causes a loud clicking noise in the recording. See the Problem below on "Dropped samples!" for suggestions.

This can also happen when a recording has loud peaks that the RealAudio encoder cannot properly convert. This can happen when the record level set too high, or the microphone is held too close to the mouth. Experiment with different record levels and microphone positions.

PROBLEM:

Recordings have a garbled sound.

SOLUTION:

This is most likely caused by large quantities of samples being "dropped" (lost). This happens when many buffers of sound data cannot be written to disk fast enough. See the Problem below on "Dropped samples!" for suggestions.

PROBLEM:

The program displays the error message "Dropped samples!".

SOLUTION:

This happens when SoniClear/NP detects a serious loss of sound information, which is referred to as "dropping samples".

Samples can be dropped for a number of reasons, including:

1. The computer processor running SoniClear/NP is too slow (for example, 486 computers).
2. There is a problem with the setup of the computer (for example, disk fragmentation, or too many programs running at once for the amount of available memory).
3. Another program running on the computer at the same time is using processor or disk access resources during recording. Always close other programs while recording with SoniClear/NP. Some computers will also have monitoring software installed that may start running unexpectedly while recording. Consult with your system administrator or computer vendor for advice if you have such software.
4. Most computers are too slow to record at the highest sample speed of 44,000 samples per second. Using the default setting of 32,000 samples per second should work on most Pentium or higher speed computers.
   
   

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