I used to get barely any volume with my headset. It have to turn it up
to full to just hear it. Now I get none. Last week, I got into
"Tools", then Options, then Text-to-Speech, and clicked on the "Read
That" phrase, with the digital woman's voice, and voil=E0, I had more
volume. Now we're back to nothing. And that step doesn't have any
effects now.

I tried help again tonight, and there's a possibility I have to reload
the sound system (?), in case there's another program using my sound
(what program would that be? The only change I've made us to change
e-mail addresses.)

Thank you

From:	Kammet at juno.com
Subject:	Re: No volume with DNS 7
Date:	21 Dec 2004 20:27:24 -0800

thank you very much for responding.
I tried everything you mentioned, and no volume still.

A few days ago, I turned my volume control on my head set all the way
to full, and as I was saying 'playback', I could hear little bit of
static. At one point a few words. Then back to nothing, and
absolutely nothing since.
Perhaps this means that my wire is broken somehow? Which is a real
drag because I have to buy the entire headset then. Also, I am not
hard on my wire.
I hope you get this post.

From:	John Doe
Subject:	Re: No volume with DNS 7
Date:	Wed, 22 Dec 2004 04:36:43 GMT

"Kammet@juno.com" wrote:

>I tried everything you mentioned, and no volume still.
>A few days ago, I turned my volume control on my head set all the
>way to full, and as I was saying 'playback', I could hear little
>bit of static. At one point a few words. Then back to nothing,
>and absolutely nothing since.
>Perhaps this means that my wire is broken somehow?

That's entirely possible. Sometimes you can tell by physically moving
things while listening. Relax, and select a whole lot of text for
read back.

Also possible is the sound card input jack is failing/loose/whatever.
If so, don't move things around a whole lot or you could make it
worse.

>Which is a real drag because I have to buy the entire headset then.

Do you have cheap pair of Walkman headphones you can test with?

Is your speech being recognized?

>Also, I am not hard on my wire.

From:	John Doe
Subject:	Re: No volume with DNS 7
Date:	Sun, 19 Dec 2004 04:23:33 GMT

"Kammet@juno.com" wrote:

>I used to get barely any volume with my headset. It have to turn it
>up to full to just hear it. Now I get none. Last week, I got into
>"Tools", then Options, then Text-to-Speech, and clicked on the
>"Read That" phrase, with the digital woman's voice, and voilà, I
>had more volume. Now we're back to nothing. And that step doesn't
>have any effects now.

.... system tray area of taskbar, double-click on the volume icon
.... Options - Properties - Show the following volume controls, make
sure everything is checked - OK
.... unmute them all and turn all sliders up to maximum

If NaturallySpeaking is changing one of them, a workaround might be
to change it back after startup. Getting to volume control is easy.
If you have all volume controls checked, you have immediate access
simply by double-clicking on the system tray icon.

If you have physical controls on your headset, naturally you have to
turn up them.

One common cause for low recording volume, the 20 decibel boost is
unchecked in Volume Control (Recording Control) settings. Sometimes
NaturallySpeaking might unchecked the 20 decibel boost at startup.

.... system tray area of taskbar, double-click on the volume icon
.... Options - Properties - Recording - Show the following volume
controls, make sure Microphone is checked - OK
.... Advanced - Other Controls - be sure Microphone Boost is checked -
Close

>
>I tried help again tonight, and there's a possibility I have to
reload
>the sound system (?), in case there's another program using my sound
>(what program would that be? The only change I've made us to change
>e-mail addresses.)
>
>Thank you
>
>

From:	martin at emicrophones.com
Subject:	Re: No volume with DNS 7
Date:	22 Dec 2004 03:33:02 -0800

Kam,

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I tried everything you mentioned, and no volume still.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

When you performed the Windows Sound Recorder recording test, did the
green line change shape or bubble as you were recording?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
A few days ago, I turned my volume control on my head set all the way
to full, and as I was saying 'playback', I could hear little bit of
static. At one point a few words. Then back to nothing, and
absolutely nothing since.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
This is indicative of a shorted cable. The simplest way to confirm the
problem is the headset and not the computer is to try the headset on
another computer. You can just run the Windows Sound Recorder recording
test on another Windows computer.

Headset microphones for computers have a finite life. Microphone cables
take a beating due to things like:
1. Yank the cable when we forget we are wearing the headset and get up
to walk away.
2. Snag cable on edges of computers or computer furniture.
3. Roll over the cable with our chairs.
4. Unconsciously twist and twirl the cable in our hands.
5. Cat/dog gnaws on cable.

Also, the electret element of a headset computer microphone will
eventually lose its ability to vibrate.

If your microphone does not record on a second computer, you are a
candidate for acquiring a replacement microphone. If the problem is
just the earphone does not playback, just add inexpensive computer
speakers.

--
Martin Markoe, eMicrophones, Inc.
The best microphones for Speech Recognition
See us at: http://www.eMicrophones.com/index.asp
Read, "Key Steps to High Speech Recognition Accuracy" at:
http://www.emicrophones.com/docDetails.asp?DocumentID=38

From:	martin at emicrophones.com
Subject:	Re: No volume with DNS 7
Date:	18 Dec 2004 19:33:43 -0800

Kammet@juno.com,

Please provide more information:
1. OS (version of Windows if Windows)?
2. Hardware - microphone and sound card and won't hurt to give system
specs of CPU and RAM?
3. How are you attempting to adjust the volume?
4. Did you ever get decent output from your microphone and speakers?
5. What are you using the microphone for (what programs)?

Try running a Windows Sound Recorder recording test. Follow the simple
directions at:
http://www.emicrophones.com/docDetails.asp?DocumentID=30

--
Martin Markoe, eMicrophones, Inc.
The best microphones for Speech Recognition
See us at: http://www.eMicrophones.com/index.asp
Read, "Key Steps to High Speech Recognition Accuracy" at:
http://www.emicrophones.com/docDetails.asp?DocumentID=38

From:	Kammet at juno.com
Subject:	Re: No volume with DNS 7
Date:	21 Dec 2004 20:15:11 -0800

Windows XP
Plantronic's headset (with volume control and mike on off button in the
middle of the cord), Sound Blaster 16, or whatever came with Windows XP
..
Pentium II or something
768MB of RAM
I have turned the volume up to maximum and can still hear NOTHING.
I never got decent outpitch, and I don't use speakers, but at the
loudest setting, I could hear it.
Using the microphone for playback on all Dragon corrections
DNS 7
I went to that web site you had, did everything, and still no sound.
Thanks for your help

From:	Kammet at juno.com
Subject:	Re: No volume with DNS 7
Date:	28 Dec 2004 06:48:36 -0800

>select a whole lot of text for read back.<
Did that, nothing.
>possible is the sound card input jack is failing/loose/whatever. <
don't know what to to do about that? By 'don't move things around a
lot' I gather you mean my computer. I never/very rarely move that.
>Do you have cheap pair of Walkman headphones you can test with? <
Yes I do. Do I plug them in...actually my Plantronic's headset splits
off into two, I guess I would plug them in...well I have to try both
(find out where the sound output is).
Thanks again

From:	John Doe
Subject:	Re: No volume with DNS 7
Date:	Tue, 28 Dec 2004 17:00:07 GMT

"Kammet@juno.com" wrote:

>By 'don't move things around a lot' I gather you mean my computer.
>I never/very rarely move that.

No, but maybe it doesn't matter. If the green speaker output jack is
failing, I think you would be stuck buying a new sound card. It just
depends on difficulty reworking the jack contacts. If that makes no
sense, never mind.

>Yes I do [have a cheap pair of Walkman headphones]. Do I plug them
>in...actually my Plantronic's headset splits off into two [plugs].

That's right. If your Plantronics headset connects to standard
computer input jacks, it branches to green and pink/red jacks. The
green jack is output to speakers/headphones, the pink jack is input
from microphone. You plug the Walkman headphones into the green jack.

From:	John Doe
Subject:	Re: No volume with DNS 7
Date:	Tue, 28 Dec 2004 17:12:41 GMT

John Doe wrote:

>...If your Plantronics headset connects to standard
>computer input jacks, it branches to green and pink/red jacks. The
>green jack is output to speakers/headphones, the pink jack is input
>from microphone. You plug the Walkman headphones into the green jack.

In case you can't see that, you can tell by experimentation.

Also, depending on the sound card, there might be stampings on the
metal around the sound card input jacks. Half circles with an arrow
pointing outward is speaker output. What might appear to be a
microphone is microphone input. And, the jack you might not use, half
circles with an arrow pointing inward is line input.