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Figure 20-17 Audio tab

Microsoft changed a few things between Windows XP and Windows Vista when it comes to configuring sound. The Sound applet offers better support for multiple speaker setup, for example, and integration with television via HDMI configuration options.

To configure speakers, go to Control Panel and click Hardware and Sound; then click Sound if in Category View or double-click the Sound applet if in Classic View. Either route opens the Sound applet (Figure 20-18).

Figure 20-18 Sound applet in Windows Vista

Select the Speakers option and click the Configure button to open the Speaker Setup dialog box (Figure 20-19). Select the audio channel option that’s appropriate for your setup, such as the Stereo system selected for my setup at the office and shown in Figure 20-19. You can click on individual speaker icons to test if the speakers are set up properly, or click the Test button to cycle through the whole range of speakers.

Figure 20-19 Speaker Setup dialog box in Windows Vista

Proprietary Configuration Applications Many sound cards install proprietary software to support configuration features not provided by Windows. Figure 20-20 shows one such application. This special configuration application comes with Creative Labs sound cards to add a few tweaks to the speaker setup that the Sounds and Audio Devices applet doesn’t support.

Most sound cards come with some form of configuration program that works with the Control Panel applet to tweak the sound the way you want it. Figure 20-21 shows the applet that came with my motherboard. One of its many interesting features is to detect what types of devices are installed into the sound ports and adjust the system to use them. In other words, I don’t even have to look where I’m plugging in anything! If I plug a microphone into the front speaker port, the system just adjusts the outputs—very cool. Software and sound cards that can do this are called autosensing.

Take some time to experiment with the program that comes with your sound card—this is a great way to learn about some of the card’s features that you might otherwise not even know are there!

Figure 20-20 Creative Labs Speakers and Headphone panel

Figure 20-21 Autosensing software detecting connected devices

Specialized Applications Some sound cards—Creative Labs sound cards are by far the most infamous for this—install one or more applications, ostensibly to improve your sound experience. These are not the configuration programs just described. These applications enable you to do anything from composing music to organizing your sound files. Personally, I don’t have much use for an application such as the 3DMIDI Player (Figure 20-22)—but you might be just the type of person who loves it. Be sure at least to install the applications that come with your card. If you don’t like them, you can easily uninstall them.

Figure 20-22 Creative Labs 3DMIDI Player program

Practical Application

Troubleshooting Sound

The problems you’ll run into with sound seem to fall into one of two camps: those that are embarrassingly simple to repair and those that defy any possible logic and are seemingly impossible to fix. This section divides sound problems into three groups—hardware, configuration, and application problems—and gives you some ideas on how to fix these problems.

Hardware Problems

Hardware problems are by far the most common sound problems, especially if your sound card has worked for some amount of time already. Properly installed and configured sound cards almost never suddenly stop making sounds.

Volume The absolute first item to check when a sound dies is the volume controls. Remember that you can set the volume in two places: in software and on the speakers. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve lost sound only to discover that my wife turned down the volume on the speakers. If the speaker volume is okay, open the volume controls in Windows by clicking the little speaker icon on the system tray, and make sure that both the master