I like having the system sounds on simply because I have sounds marked out corresponding to the events happening in my environment.
-----Original Message----- From: Tom Kingston [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, December 12, 2011 10:11 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: loss of sound I guess if the onboard RealTek chip set is the only audio you use it works. But even then, turning off the sound enhancements offers A considerable improvement in stability. I happen to use two other audio interfaces and have had problems with putting anything else in the system whenever a RealTek chip set is present. Sometimes disabling it in bios, installing another card, and then enabling the RealTek works. But in general I've had problems with RealTek since day one regardless of whatever else is going on. Even if they work I've noticed the difference when having two systems I work on daily; one having RealTek and the other having Intel. Speech is much more responsive on the system with the Intel chip set. And that's only if the audio enhancements are turned off, which by the way I thank Chris for outlining. I didn't have that information be it that my RealTek is disabled in bios. But I do agree that the Windows 7 audio sub system, which was supposed to be a real focus of improvement, is definitely not as stable as in XP, regardless of what you're trying to do with it. I also believe that because manufacturers now ride a very slippery slope when it comes to the original IBM PC standards, systems vary greatly in how well they perform in many ways. And I think given the nature of a screen-reader we are hit the hardest by all the little corners cut by manufacturers in order to build a system they can sell for half the price of another with the same specs. Spec sheets have become nothing more than a marketing tool. It's everything between the lines that truly make it or break it on a system. I've seen systems with identical spec sheets benchmarked and the difference in performance and stability can be phenomenal. I believe this is why it's very difficult for GW to pin down problems when 3 people complain about it and 23 people say it works great, or someone blames Window-Eyes for a problem and they are not able to duplicate it on any of their systems. And this doesn't even touch on the sloppy nature of most programs, drivers, uninstallers, things loaded at startup, etc. on our systems. I've seen huge overall improvement just by disabling all the junk that's loaded at startup. I do have system sounds turned off because it only makes sense to me to do so given my understanding and experience with the audio system. I used them off and on for years, but turned them off when I got a Windows 7 machine a while back. And I don't miss them. They're rarely telling me anything anyway. I've only had one speech loss since getting this system and I believe that was due to a script error. I use a DecTalk USB external synth 90% of the time. But I do occasionally switch to a software synth just for a change in audio scenery so to speak, and I don't notice any better or worse performance for the days or weeks that I run it before going back to the DecTalk. Regards, Tom On 12/12/2011 3:35 PM, Rob Hudson wrote: > Never had problems with realtech sound cards until I upgraded to win7. > One of the main reasons I went back to xp. Bingo, no sound losses. > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tom Kingston" > <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Monday, December 12, 2011 2:25 PM > Subject: Re: loss of sound > > >> For what it's worth, every system I've ever had with a RealTek sound >> card has been problematic to say the least. They don't seem to like >> any other cards or audio interfaces being used, and they have some >> garbage sound enhancements turned on by default that wreak havoc with >> everything. So first try to find that in device manager or control >> panel and turn it off. Then, if you can, as I did with my latest >> system that I couldn't get without RealTek onboard, do yourself a big >> favor and disable it in bios; this will require sighted help, then >> grab a PCI, PCIE, or USB sound card and life will be a lot easier. >> >> Hth, >> Tom >> >> >> On 12/12/2011 3:07 PM, Alan Siman wrote: >>> This has been an on going issue and alot of emails lately trying to >>> isolate the problem. It seems that many of us have reltech sound >>> cards but it appears to be a win7 issue. >>> >>> WE 7.5.2 has actually reduced my problem but it still occurs mainly >>> in tbird. Do you lose all sounds or just we? >>> >>> On 12/12/2011 11:55 AM, Don H wrote: >>>> Since installing the latest WE 7.5.2 I have been experiencing more >>>> total loss of sound. Only way to get it back is to reboot and about >>>> half the time the only way to reboot is to hold down the power button. >>>> Running on a Win 7 64 bit machine with all updates including video >>>> and sound card drivers. >>>> Also with IE 8 I am needing to do a lot of screen redraws to get a >>>> web page to complete its download. >>>> If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original >>>> sender only. If your reply would benefit others on the list and >>>> your message is related to GW Micro, then please consider sending >>>> your message to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> so >>>> the entire list will receive it. >>>> >>>> GW-Info messages are archived at http://www.gwmicro.com/gwinfo. You >>>> can manage your list subscription at http://www.gwmicro.com/listserv. >>>> >>>> >> If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original >> sender only. If your reply would benefit others on the list and your >> message is related to GW Micro, then please consider sending your >> message to [email protected] so the entire list will receive it. >> >> GW-Info messages are archived at http://www.gwmicro.com/gwinfo. You >> can manage your list subscription at http://www.gwmicro.com/listserv. >> > If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original > sender only. If your reply would benefit others on the list and your > message is related to GW Micro, then please consider sending your > message to [email protected] so the entire list will receive it. > > GW-Info messages are archived at http://www.gwmicro.com/gwinfo. You > can manage your list subscription at http://www.gwmicro.com/listserv. > > If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original sender only. If your reply would benefit others on the list and your message is related to GW Micro, then please consider sending your message to [email protected] so the entire list will receive it. GW-Info messages are archived at http://www.gwmicro.com/gwinfo. You can manage your list subscription at http://www.gwmicro.com/listserv. If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original sender only. If your reply would benefit others on the list and your message is related to GW Micro, then please consider sending your message to [email protected] so the entire list will receive it. GW-Info messages are archived at http://www.gwmicro.com/gwinfo. You can manage your list subscription at http://www.gwmicro.com/listserv.
