Audio Improvements in Windows Vista

re: Audio Improvements in Windows Vista

Mobile — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 14:41:48 GMT

well jimall you have shared a very vital info with us! i appreciate it.

re: Audio Improvements in Windows Vista

LAMER_CZ — Wed, 13 May 2009 20:20:49 GMT

Are you going to fix speaker fill at least in W7. Vista speaker fill just simple doesn't work at all ..... rear speakers are dissorted. This is common problem, discussed all over the internet, so I'm wondering if W7 will fix it, unsless speaker fill is just useless and annoying feature ......

re: Audio Improvements in Windows Vista

BarryD — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 18:47:10 GMT

This really does need to be addressed. The problem is not the new features, the problem is the control that Windows Vista takes AWAY from the user.

I'm not even a music professional and I've already run into several disadvantages Vista sound has over XP. The lack of separate MIDI control as an option is a glaring problem. I have a program I use that has MIDI music control and normal sound control. Under XP it works, but under Vista vista tries to "help" by making the MIDI control under the program control ALL volume from the program. That means if the program turns down the volume, it in effect mutes the entire program, and as far as I can see there's no way to fix it other than by running on XP.

Another problem relates to lack of control over inputs. I want my input to play through the speakers, but I see no way to do this. On XP I'd sometimes hook video games up to the computer to play while others use the TV set. Now, while I've gotten the display to work through a Nero program (not the ideal solution but it works), I can't tell windows to play the audio coming through the capture device because it's listed as a recording device. The "convenience" has taken control away from me, the user. While such new features are good, they shouldn't be at the expense of user control.

Somewhat unrelated, Windows Media Center suffers from the same problem. There's no option to turn off live pausing, so it's constantly wasting resources even if I don't plan to use it, and that feature lacking an ability to disable it means it lags video games. Moreover, there seems to be NO option to simply display the signal from multimedia inputs on the computer without setting up TV. I can see the Wii's input in the preview when saying it's a "set top box" but Media Center refuses to let me continue without an infrared hookup.

Windows Vista has many ideas, but too many are implemented without the option for the user to disable them, and in many cases they are a downgrade from XP in the experience for many users. Hopefully these issues will be corrected.

re: Audio Improvements in Windows Vista

Markp — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 19:14:15 GMT

so, I talked to Sony Vaio and they say:

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Dear Mr Priestley,

We just got a response from our head engineers.

The Stereo Mix is not available as a recording source on VAIO computers pre-installed with Windows Vista. This is by design as part of an intentional design by Windows Vista.

I am very sorry that we cannot help you any further with this request.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

now... I have to say that is not strictly true. My previous Vista pre-installed laptop (an Acer) worked absolutely fine, and every other make of Vista pre-installed latop I have now tested also has this functionality. It does appear to be an intentional design in Vista to mask the sound card by creating it as a 'hidden' audio device but it is wrong for Sony to blame Vista for disabling it completely, rendering most professional and hobby music prodcution sofware unusable.

I would have thought the Vista audio team might have something to say to Sony about this accusation?

Unfortunately I'll have to cut my losses and go back to Acer or another manufacturer before I can use my music production software. So, if anyone wants to buy a nice shiny Vaio...!

re: Audio Improvements in Windows Vista

Markp — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 10:40:57 GMT

What can I say that hundreds of others haven't said already. I'm just apoplectic about this. So many of us have wasted time and money on 'advancements' that now render our primary tools useless. What makes it even worse is that I have discovered the soundcard output has been deliberately disabled by Sony in my new VAIO laptops and there is no way to enable it (e.g. as a recording device). Or has someone discovered a way to do this?

re: Audio Improvements in Windows Vista

Blackys5 — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 02:36:56 GMT

Like many others in this forum such as Richard Moulton the loss of middi mapper, lack of midi out device control and the loss of Direct Sound hardware layer control (i.e. loss of EAX effects in games) has made me, and apparently thousands of other gamers & musicians worldwide, uninstall Vista and revert to XP. I can only say this to Microsoft, please type in "Midi + Vista forums" into any search engine and view the results. I can live without EAX, but not midi mapper. It is the heart & soul of my home midi music setup. Please try and incorporate a fix into Vista SP1 and I, and those many other thousands of musicians worldwide, would probably consider re-installing Vista. At the moment my copy of Vista Ultimate sits on my home office shelf and it looks kinda pretty being all black and all that.

re: Audio Improvements in Windows Vista

Deep_Thought38 — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 02:04:39 GMT

Oh, and before I forget, I know Microsoft is huge, but with power comes responsibility. I tried going back to XP only to discover that such is the influence that Bill Gates wields, several crucial hardware devices on this laptop are not compatible with XP. Seems you guys have put the arm on manufacturers so they'll only market systems with Vista compatibility. A friend just bought an ASUS machine and discovered the same problem. I'm seriously thinking of going open source.

re: Audio Improvements in Windows Vista

Deep_Thought38 — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 01:57:51 GMT

I agree wholeheartedly with many of the above comments. I'm not a sound tech, I don't need expensive equipment or fancy audio gear, I just want to be able to join my friends in online music communities and sing songs with a decent sound mixer that enables voice and backing tracks using a variety of formats, just as I've been doing for years using MS o/s's. Now, half my midi files have no sound or just play a beat, I can't adjust input from different sources, I can't mix voice and music together, several players seem to have reduced functionality or won't work at all in Vista. Add that to the general inability of Vista to provide compatibility for playing games and the expensive investment I made in this new HP Pavilion dv6500 notebook supposedly built for multimedia and games is looking like money down the pan!! And don't get me started on the paranoia of Vista's security system. If I start an application I don't expect the 3rd degree before it will run!!....Why would you guys mess with stuff before asking US what WE want???? Don't you consult your market before driving us all insane?

re: Audio Improvements in Windows Vista

liebezeit — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 09:48:11 GMT

I need to output to multiple playback devices simultaneously, but it appears--unbelievably--that I cannot on Vista. Is this for real?

re: Audio Improvements in Windows Vista

richard moulton — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 11:00:20 GMT

hi i got so feed up with vista and it's crappy audio i removed it and re-installed XP, i am a musician and i am so disappointed with vista after all the hype it turned out to be a downer, the basic lack of midi control in vista sux & it's a complete rip off, i really need DAW & 3D direct sound and the ability to select which audio device is responcable for the playback of midi, when if ever ms address these issue's let me know i will reinstall it but until then tell bill vista sux i worked with the vista team to help correct with my issue with irratic midi playback, thier is no work around, no hotfix, vista team solution to dual boot my system but really what's the point in that it's a waste of space just like vista. fix it

re: Audio Improvements in Windows Vista

basalisk — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 18:30:39 GMT

I have the oposite problem to Jonathan. I want to play the line in through my speakers but I have no way to do it. I know I should use the "levels" tab in the playback devices window but it only has one slider, and it's not for line in. Any ideas? Is there some kind of software/driver package I can install?

re: Audio Improvements in Windows Vista

Brandon LeBlanc — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 09:26:40 GMT

Jonathan, please try these steps and see if this works for you.

1. Right-click on the speaker icon in the taskbar.

2. Go to "Recording Devices".

3. Double click on your microphone.

4. Go to the "Levels" tab.

5. Click the blue speaker icon next to the level adjustment. This should mute your mic.

Does this work?

If this does not work - I recommend attempting to update your audio driver. I had a audio driver that needed to be updated and was preventing me full control of my audio devices such as my mic.

Try that and let me know.

- Brandon

re: Audio Improvements in Windows Vista

Jonathan Wienke — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 08:19:47 GMT

Just as a follow-up, I'm Running Vista Home Premium on a Sony Vaio laptop with SigmaTel sound hardware. Going into the recording devices dialog and changing the microphone level had no effect. I tried disabling the microphone, and all that did was remove it from the device list; it is still on.

re: Audio Improvements in Windows Vista

Jonathan Wienke — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 07:58:19 GMT

The new mixer design is absolutely stupid. OK, it's nice that you can control wave output volume on a per-app basis, but who is the retard that decided we don't need control of the various INPUTs any more? My microphone is stuck on and I can't mute it from playing back through my speakers, which means that when I'm listening to iTunes and am typing, I get to hear my hand brushing against my laptop case and every key click and all of the ambient room noise along with my music. And I can't mute the mic or even adjust its volume level at all. I'd rather have the mixer the way it was from 98 to XP, where you could adjust line-in vs mic volume levels and mute things you didn't want to here. Vista's "mixer" is overall a huge dumbed-down stupid step backwards.

re: Audio Improvements in Windows Vista

dlowrey — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 00:54:35 GMT

Jim

I read your post on Audio improvements with interest. However, i gotta tell you that your view, although well meaning, is incrediably arrogant and HUA.

I have Vista Ultimate. In terms of recording audio, Vista represents a really big step backwards. Space doesn't permit a detailed critique. Here are the main points.

- Only 1 recording source permitted.

- not user friendly.

- as noted above, stuff that worked in XP is crippled, missing or didn't require buying a more expensive version of the OS.

- None, NONE of my expensive audio equipment works correctly with VISTA. Repeat NONE.

- DEL