13. More Windows 10 Media Tools
Controlling the Volume
Controlling the volume of your audio is crucial. During playback, you might want to turn down the volume if you’re in a public place where you don’t want to disturb others nearby. If you have no such worries, you might want to crank up a particularly good audio CD. During recording, setting the right input levels can make the difference between recording high-quality audio and distorted noise. Windows 10 gives you the tools to set these volume levels, equalize the volume, and more.
Controlling the Overall System Volume
The system volume is the volume that Windows uses for all things audio on your computer: the sounds that Windows itself makes (warning beeps, the sign-in and sign-out tones, and so on) and the sounds that waft from your applications (such as music from Media Player and the mail notification from Microsoft Outlook).
To control the system volume, click the Volume icon in the taskbar’s notification area to open the volume control, shown in Figure 13.1. Drag the slider to the volume level you prefer, or click Mute Speakers to get the sounds of silence.
The volume you hear depends not only on where you set the Volume slider, but also on where you set the volume on the speakers themselves, assuming they come with a volume knob or similar control. We’d be embarrassed to tell you how many times we’ve wondered why our PC had no sound despite having the Volume slider cranked to its maximum, only to realize that the speakers themselves were turned down.
Controlling an Application’s Volume
Controlling the system volume is the easiest way to get the sound level you need, but in many cases it’s not the best way. For example, suppose you’re waiting for an important email message, so you set up Windows Live Mail to play a sound when an email message comes in. Suppose further that you’re also using Windows Media Player to play music in the background. If you get a phone call, you want to turn down or mute the music. If you mute the system volume, you mute the music playback but you also mute other system sounds, including Windows Live Mail’s audio alerts. So, while you’re on the phone, there’s a good chance that you’ll miss that important message you’ve been waiting for.
Many programs that produce sound also come with options for controlling or muting those sounds, so you could always control application sounds individually. However, that’s a hassle. The Windows 10 solution to this kind of problem is called per-application volume control. This means that Windows 10 gives you a volume control slider for every running program and process that is a dedicated sound application (such as Windows Media Player) or is currently producing audio output. In our example, you would have separate volume controls for Windows Media Player and Windows Live Mail. When that phone call comes in, you can turn down or mute Windows Media Player while leaving the Windows Live Mail volume as is, so there’s much less chance that you’ll miss that incoming message. Note, however, that many newer applications don’t support per-application volume control, particularly any of the so-called Modern apps that come with Windows 10.
Figure 13.2 shows the Volume Mixer window that appears when you right-click the Volume icon in the taskbar notification area and then click Open Volume Mixer. The Device section on the left has a slider that controls the speaker volume, so you can use it as a systemwide volume control. The rest of the window contains the application mixer, which includes sliders and mute buttons for individual programs.
Figure 13.2 Windows 10 uses per-application volume control to enable you to set the volume level for each program that outputs audio.
Note
How long an application’s slider remains in the Volume Mixer window depends on how often the application accesses the audio stack. If a program just makes the occasional peep, it will appear only briefly in the Volume Mixer and then disappear. If a program makes noise fairly often, it remains in the Volume Mixer for much longer. So, for example, if you receive email messages all day, you should always see the Windows Live Mail icon in the Volume Mixer.
Note, too, that when you move the speaker volume slider, the program sliders move along with it. That’s a nice touch, but what’s even nicer is that the speaker volume slider preserves the relative volume levels of each program. So if you adjust the speaker volume to about half its current level, the sliders in the application mixer also adjust to about half of their current level.
The volume control also remembers application settings between sessions. So, if you mute Solitaire, for example, it will remain muted the next time you start the program.
Balancing Your Headphones
Many of us have one ear that doesn’t hear as well as the other. In this situation, adjusting the system volume or an application’s volume is problematic because turning up the sound enough to hear things in your bad ear can make those sounds too loud in your good ear.
Windows can help by enabling you to balance the sound in each ear. That is, you can turn up the sound for your bad ear and/or turn down the sound for your good ear. Here’s what you do:
1. Connect your headphones to your PC.
2. Right-click the Volume icon in the taskbar notification area and then click Playback Devices. Windows 10 displays the Sound dialog box with the Playback tab selected.
3. In the list of playback devices, click your headphones.
4. Click Properties.
5. Click the Levels tab.
6. Click Balance. Windows displays the Balance dialog box shown in Figure 13.3.
7. Drag the L (left) and R (right) sliders to the volume levels you prefer. (In some cases, instead of L you see the number 1, and instead of R you see the number 2.) If you’re not sure whether the balance is correct, run Windows Media Player and start playing some music; then try balancing the headphones.
8. Click OK in each of the open dialog boxes to put the new levels into effect.
Equalizing the Volume
You might find that wide fluctuations in volume can make sounds—particularly speech—much harder to perceive. You can compensate by turning on the Loudness Equalization enhancement for your computer’s speakers or your headphones, which makes all sounds that emanate from your computer equally loud.
Follow these steps to turn on Loudness Equalization:
1. Right-click the Volume icon in the taskbar notification area and then click Playback Devices. Windows 10 displays the Sound dialog box with the Playback tab selected.
2. In the list of playback devices, click the sound device you want to adjust.
3. Click Properties. Windows 10 opens the Properties dialog box for the device.
4. Click the Enhancements tab.
5. Check the Loudness Equalization box, as shown in Figure 13.4.
Figure 13.4 With the Loudness Equalization feature on the job, sounds such as speech will be easier to discern.
6. Click OK in each of the open dialog boxes to put the new levels into effect.
Setting the Default Output Device
Windows 10 is happy to let you have more than one audio playback device installed on your system. For example, you might have your PC connected to desktop speakers, headphones, and a home theater receiver. Fortunately, Windows doesn’t play audio through all the connected devices! Instead, it sets one device as the default and uses that device for the playback. If you’d prefer that Windows use a different device, you must set up that device as the default. To do this, in the taskbar notification area, right-click the Volume icon, and then click Playback Devices to open the Sound dialog box with the Playback tab selected. Click the device you want to use, and then click Set Default.
Assigning Sounds to Events
As you work with Windows 10, you hear various sounds emanating from your speakers, corresponding to particular system events. There’s the odd two-note beat when you connect a device; there’s the short, sharp shock of a sound when a warning dialog box pops up; and there’s the nice and perhaps all-too-familiar chime when a new email message arrives.
If you’re getting tired of the same old sounds, however, Windows 10 lets you customize what you hear by assigning different WAV files to these events. You can also assign sounds to a couple of dozen other events. The sounds assigned to various Windows 10 events comprise a sound scheme. To view the current scheme, type sounds in the taskbar’s Search box, and then click Change System Sounds in the search results. (You can also right-click the Volume icon and then click Sounds.) Windows 10 opens the Sound dialog box with the Sounds tab displayed, as shown in Figure 13.5.
Figure 13.5 Use the Sounds tab in the Sound dialog box to change the current Windows 10 sound scheme.
Here’s a rundown of the various controls on the Sounds tab:
Sound Scheme—This drop-down list displays the currently selected sound scheme. (Windows 10 ships with just two schemes: Windows Default and No Sounds.)
Program Events—This list displays a number of Windows 10 events, including four that apply to the various types of dialog boxes displayed by Windows 10 and Windows applications: Asterisk, Critical Stop, Exclamation, and Question. If an event has a sound icon beside it, this means a WAV file is currently assigned to that event.
Sounds—This drop-down list shows you the name of the WAV file assigned to the currently highlighted event. You can use the Browse button to select a different WAV file (or just use the Name drop-down list to select a WAV file from Windows 10’s Media subfolder).
Test—Click this button to try out the WAV file shown in the Sounds list.
You can use three methods to work with sound schemes:
To change the current sound scheme, select items in the Program Events list and use the Sounds list to change the associated WAV file.
To use a different sound scheme, select it from the Sound Scheme drop-down list.
To create your own sound scheme, first associate WAV files with the various system events you want to hear. Then click Save As, enter a name for the new scheme, and click OK.
Recording Sounds with Voice Recorder
If you have a system capable of recording sounds from a microphone (most desktops or laptops are), you can have hours of fun creating your own Windows Media Audio (WMA) files. Preserving silly sounds for posterity is the most fun, of course, but you can also create serious messages and embed them in business documents or for use as a Windows Live Movie Maker narration track.
Setting Up the Microphone
Before you start recording, you need to set up your microphone, particularly the volume levels for recording. Follow these steps:
1. In the taskbar’s Search box, type microphone, and then click Set Up a Microphone. Windows 10 displays the Set Up Your Mic wizard.
2. Click Next. The wizard displays some text for you to read, as shown in Figure 13.6.
3. Read the text into the microphone using your normal speaking voice, and then click Next when you’re finished.
4. Click Finish. The wizard completes the configuration of your microphone.
Making a Voice Recording
To get started with Voice Recorder, type voice in the taskbar’s Search box, and then click Voice Recorder in the search results. When you’re ready to begin recording, here are the steps to follow:
1. With your microphone ready, click the Record button (the white microphone in the blue circle).
2. Speak (yell, sing, whatever) into the microphone. Sound Recorder shows you the length of the file as you record.
3. When you’re finished, click the Stop Recording button. Voice Recorder adds the recording to the list.
4. Click the new recording, click Rename (the pencil icon), type a name for the recording, and then click Rename.
5. If you want to trim excess or unwanted audio from the beginning or the end (or both), click Trim to open the Trim tool (see Figure 13.7), click and drag the start point and end point to the positions you want, and then click Accept (the check mark).
Figure 13.7 When your recording is finished, you can use the Trim tool to remove unwanted audio from the beginning and end of the recording.
Note
Voice Recorder creates MPEG 4 Audio (.m4a) files. The default save location is %UserProfile%DocumentsSound recordings, which you can open directly from Voice Recorder by right-clicking a recording and clicking Open File Location.
Controlling Your Computer with Speech Recognition
If due to injury, age, or for various other reasons you find that using a mouse and keyboard is too time-consuming, too difficult, or too frustrating, you may think you’re out of luck—because how else are you supposed to control your computer? Fortunately, there is another way: voice commands. Using the Speech Recognition feature, you can speak commands into a microphone, and Windows will do your bidding.
Does it really work? Actually, most of the time, yes—it really does. Windows 10 has very good voice-recognition technology, and as long as you’re in a relatively quiet room and speak clearly, Windows will recognize actions such as click, double-click, and select; commands such as Save, Copy, and Close; keystrokes such as Backspace, Delete, and Enter; and screen features such as Minimize, Scroll, and Back.
Tip
One of Speech Recognition’s handiest tricks you can use is to say “Show numbers,” which then places a number over everything in the current window that can be clicked. You can then state the number of the item you want and then say “OK,” and Speech Recognition will “click” that item for you and tell you the correct command name.
To get started, you need a system with a built-in mic or the ability to attach a microphone to your computer. A microphone that’s part of a headset is easiest to use, but you can also use a standalone microphone that sits on your desk.
With your microphone attached to your computer, your next task is to configure the Speech Recognition feature (if you configured your microphone earlier, you can skip through steps 2 to 6):
1. In the taskbar’s Search box, type speech and then click Windows Speech Recognition. The Speech Recognition box appears. From here, click Start Speech Recognition. Then the Set Up Speech Recognition Wizard appears.
2. Click Next. The wizard asks what type of microphone you have.
3. Make your selection (Headset Microphone, Desktop Microphone, or Other) and then click Next. The wizard displays a screen that tells you about the proper placement of your microphone.
4. After you’ve read the text and made the necessary adjustments, click Next. The wizard now displays some text for you to read aloud.
5. Read the text in your normal voice, and then click Next. The wizard lets you know that your microphone is set up and ready for use.
6. Click Next. Now, the wizard asks whether it can examine your documents to look for words that it should learn.
7. This is a good idea, so select Enable Document Review and click Next. Now, the wizard wants to know how you want to activate speech recognition.
8. The easiest route here is to select Use Voice Activation Mode, which means you can start Speech Recognition by saying “Start listening” and stop Speech Recognition by saying “Stop listening.” (If you choose Use Manual Activation Mode instead, you must manually activate Speech Recognition each time by pressing Windows Logo+Ctrl or by clicking the microphone icon in the Speech Recognition window.) Click Next. The wizard suggests that you print the Speech Reference Card, which contains a list of useful commands.
9. If you want to print the card, click View Reference Sheet and then click the Print button in the Help window that appears.
10. Return to the Set Up Speech Recognition Wizard (if you printed the card in the previous step) and then click Next. The wizard wonders whether you want to start Speech Recognition automatically each time you start your computer.
Tip
If you no longer want Speech Recognition to run at startup, type speech in the Search box and then, under Settings, select Speech Recognition. In the Speech Recognition window, select Advanced Speech Options, and then deselect the Run Speech Recognition at Startup check box.
11. This is a good way to go, so leave the Run Speech Recognition at Startup box checked and click Next. The wizard now offers to take you through a Speech Recognition tutorial, which enables you to practice the voice commands.
12. The tutorial is definitely worthwhile, so click Start Tutorial.
13. When you’re done, click Finish.
With all that out of the way, you can start using Speech Recognition, which appears as a small window at the top of the desktop. You speak your commands, and Speech Recognition will either carry them out or will say “What was that?” if it doesn’t recognize what you said. In Figure 13.8, I’ve just said “Open Run,” and Speech Recognition not only has opened the Run dialog box but has also echoed the command in its window.
