Trouble Shoot

Broadcast and Microphone Problems

If you experience distortion in the output, it is sometimes be tricky to eliminate but can often be fixed or greatly reduced by multiple settings either in the hardware (microphone or soundcard) and/or software settings.

Some low quality microphones and soundcards have inherent distortion and may not be fixable via settings tweaks. In this case, try borrowing a higher quality microphone and see if distortion goes away.

• Sputtering noise  - You have to wait a couple seconds after you Stop Broadcasting and before you click the Broadcast button again. There is a built-in delay in the program which disables the buttons briefly but it may not be sufficient for your audio hardware. Try waiting a couple extra seconds before clicking the Broadcast button again. This is due to the way Direct Sound finalizes and disposes of microphone capture buffers.
• Popping noise  - The Output Format may not be of sufficient quality for your microphone. You may need to adjust the Output Format to a higher quality signal.
• Output Distortion  - Distortion can often be minimized by lowering the microphone input gain or volume. Then compensate for lower input gain by raising the Windows speakers software volume via the speaker icon on the Windows task bar (lower right corner of the Windows Desktop). Microphone input gain or volume settings are found in the Windows Control Panel -- Sound and Audio Devices Applet or sometimes in a separate program provided when installing the microphone or soundcard. Also, some microphones have volume wheels to adjust input volume.
• No Sound  - Check that you have the correct microphone selected as the Input Mic. Test that your microphone is working. Go to Start -- All Programs -- Accessories -- Entertainment -- Sound Recorder and try recording a short test message. Make sure the mic is not muted in Windows Control Panel -- Sound and Audio Devices.

Play Audio File Problems

• File will not play  - The format must be a 8 or 16 bit PCM Wave file. See supported Wav format for details. You may need to save the audio file at a different setting.

Miscellaneous Problems

No Sound

•  Double check all your hardware connection to the device. Try testing the soundcard and connections by playing an audio file with Windows Media Player (or your favorite player). If WMP won't play a file, then the problem is not with Matrix Mic.
•  Make sure the Device Volume is not set too low or muted. Check this in both the Matrix Mic Output Device Settings section AND in the Windows Control Panel -- Sound and Audio Devices.
•  Click Tools -- View Configuration Summary and verify that there are no "Unknown devices" listed in the Output Groups.