Ventrilo - Voice Setup

Ventrilo requires a sound card that is completely full duplex. Full duplex means that it must be able to play a sound and simultaneously be able to monitor the microphone port. Some sound cards and not fully compliant. For example, the Sound Blaster 16 by Creative Labs. It will appear to work for a while and then everyone else on the same server will hear a very loud static sound coming from the person using the SB 16. This usually happens as soon as the person with the SB 16 enters a game.

Ventrilo also requires a sound card that can support multiple sound streams. Every program that makes a sound creates one or more sound streams. So, if you have multiple programs generating sound at the same time then you need a card that can handle the simultaneous sound streams.

Enable outgoing voice communications

> This option enables or disables the program from transmitting voice communications when connected to a server. Sometimes you don't want to transmit at all and this is one way of doing that. Another way would be to mute the microphone from the main window. Disabling this option will prevent the program from even monitoring the microphone port.

Use Push-To-Talk Hotkey

> This option enables the Push-to-talk mode, also called PTT mode. Instead of using voice activation the user can press a specified "hotkey" that instructs Ventrilo to transmit only when the key is pressed. When the key is released transmitting stops.

> When this option is enabled the "Sensitivity" value no longer has any meaning. It is also used when you click on the "Monitor" and "Test" buttons.

Use DirectInput to detect Hotkey

> This option will turn on DirectInput mode when monitoring for Keyboard or Mouse events that would trigger the Push-to-talk option. This option will need to be enabled on Windows 9x based platforms (i.e. Win98 / ME) in order for the PTT option to work. It will also be needed for certain games when played on the XP platform. If you are unable to get Push-to-talk to work then enable this option. One downside to this option is that the detection is passive, meaning the program can not intercept the mouse / keyboard event and prevent it from being processed by other programs. This is why the "Discard Hotkey" option is grayed out when DirectInput is enabled.

> This option must be enabled in order to detect Mouse buttons 4 through 8 and any buttons on game controllers such as joysticks and game pads.

Controller

> This button will open a new window that will display a list of available game controllers that are currently connected to your system. You can then select a specific controller to use it's buttons for the hotkey. This controller will also be available from the binds editor for more advanced features.

Discard Hotkey

> When "Use Push-To-Talk" is enabled this option will let you discard the "hotkey" when ever its pressed. This prevents the rest of the system from trying to use the PTT key. For example, if your designated hotkey is the "ESC" key and this option is enabled, then no other program will see the "ESC" when ever its pressed or released. If this option is not enabled Ventrilo will still see the ESC key being pressed and released but all other programs will see it as well. The severity of not having this option enabled will depend on which key you chose to assign as the "hotkey" and what other applications you have running at the same time.

> It is highly recommended that you enable this option if you enable PTT mode.

Play Key Clicks

> This option enables or disables key click sounds when ever the signal strength reaches or drops below your sensitivity value. Basically, its an audible feedback of when you start transmitting a voice stream and when you stop. These sounds are for when you start and stop transmitting, not when other users are transmitting, and only you will hear them. They will also be played when using Push-to-talk option.

Hotkey

> This field lets you specify what the designated hotkey will be when "Use Push-To-Talk" is enabled. Due to the nature of how PTT mode works, once your focus is in this edit window you will not be able to "tab out" of it and the word "TAB" will be displayed as the hotkey if you try. This is because its very possible that the TAB key might be what the user wants to use as the designated hotkey. This also applies to all other keys once focus is set to the hotkey edit box. To move out of the edit box simply use your mouse to change the focus and the rest of the keyboard will become fully functional again.

> Note: When running Windows 98 / ME Operating Systems you will need to enable the "Use DirectInput" option for PTT to work.

Silence time

> This option is used in conjunction with voice activation and controls the amount of time that the signal coming from the microphone must be consistently below the Sensitivity value before it will automatically stop transmitting.

Sensitivity

> This option is used for voice activation only. It lets you enter a number that will indicate the signal strength at which point you want the voice activation to start transmitting. Click here to see extended help information on using this option.

Test with

> Codec

> > Note: The server dictates the codec and format that will be used when communicating with other users on the same server. This option is here for you to experiment with the different codec's and format selections. If you are currently connected to a server then these options will be set to what ever the server has dictated so that you can see what the configuration currently is.

> > When you click the "Test" button the Codec and the selected Format will be used so that you can here what it will sound like when the recording is played back to you.

> Format

> > This option is the second part of the Test with - Codec. However, it allows you select the specific formatting to be used for the selected codec. It will also show the average bandwidth usage for the selected codec and format. Please note, these numbers are averages and actual bandwidth consumption will be slightly higher due to network and protocol overhead.

> > If you are currently connected to a server and then press the Setup button then the Codec and Format fields will be automatically set to what the server has defined for use. Changing these values while connected or disconnected will not effect which codec and format is used when communicating with other users on the same server. The codec and format is dictated by the owner of the server.

> Monitor

> > This button is used to start monitoring the selected input source (i.e. microphone). It's used when trying to determine a good sensitivity value. The tall list box next to the button will display numbers showing the signal strength. Press the Monitor button again to end monitor mode. See Sensitivity for more details.

> Test

> > This button is similar to the Monitor button. Instead of displaying a continues scrolling signal strength meter in the tall list box it will wait for the voice activation signal strength to be reached (or the Push-to-talk key to be pressed) and will begin recording your voice. When the signal strength drops below the specified sensitivity value for a period specified by "Silence time" (or you release the Push-to-talk hotkey) the program will stop recording and playback everything that was recorded. See Sensitivity for more details.

> > If you selected a Codec and Format then the recording will be compressed and then decompressed before it is played back to you.

Use DirectSound (Output)

> There are two check boxes that have the name "Use DirectSound". One is for the sound output device and the other is for the sound input device.

> This option tells the program to use the DirectSound API when generating sounds for incoming voice streams. When the option is not checked the program will use the old style Wave API's. This option must be enabled in order to use Special Effects.

SFX

> This button will open the Special Effects setup window where you can define special effects that should be applied to all inbound voice streams.

Output device

> This option lets you chose which sound card to send incoming voice streams to. Note: This option appears in different parts of the program. The one appearing on the Setup Voice tab is for incoming Voice streams only.

Use DirectSound (Input)

> There are two check boxes that have the name "Use DirectSound". One is for the sound output device and the other is for the sound input device.

> This option tells the program to use the DirectSound API when monitoring the sound input device (usually the microphone) for your outbound voice stream. When the option is not checked the program will use the old style Wave API's.

Input device

> This option lets you chose which sound card to use for the input source (i.e. the Microphone).

Hardware Input Mixer

> Mixer

> > If you do not select a Mixer then you should be aware of what is involved with manipulating your systems recording and playback mixing control. Click here for configuring system wide mixer controls. However, selecting a Mixer in Ventrilo is the easiest route and will afford you better control over your input device.

> > This option lets you enable more advanced control over the input source. When "None" is selected then all input controls must be manually configured via the "Recording Control" panel. If you have more then one input source (sound card or USB devices) please make sure then your match the correct mixer with the same "Input device" option. When selecting a specific mixer the program will then enable the Mux, Line and Line Volume controls.

> > When this option is enabled the program will do several things in an effort to make the system more useable:

> > 1) The Mixer, Mux, Line and Hardware Volume info is saved and restored each time you start the program. This means you shouldn't have to worry about resetting the input source and hardware volume level.

> > 2) The program will cycle through all of the possible input sources and then finally select the desired line. This is an effort to get around a Creative Labs bug in their drivers that doesn't correctly use the selected input source when you install their drivers or install updated versions of their drivers.

> > 3) When using Ventrilo in it's normal operation mode, the program will generate messages to the "ventrilo.log" file if another program try's to change the input level. Very useful for detecting sound input problems caused by Microsoft Office XP or any other microphone monitoring program.

> Mux

> > Under normal conditions there should be only one possible selection displayed in this option. If so then you will have no choice but to use it, as you should. However, if you do see more then one then please let us know what Operating System and Sound Card you are using. The option exists should that scenario ever occur.

> Line

> > This option lets you chose the input source line for outgoing voice communication. Normally you would set this to the "Microphone" option or what ever your sound card calls it. What ever you chose here will determine which fader is controlled in the "Line Volume" slider.

> Line Volume

> > This option is only active when a Mixer, Mux and valid Line have been selected. It gives you direct control over your sound cards input fader, usually associated with the Microphone but can be any source Line that you select. This is the best way for controlling the signal strength as most of the work will be done by hardware rather then consuming CPU time. It will also produce the best sound quality versus using the Outbound Amplify option.

> > Note: If you are having problems getting a reasonable signal strength from your microphone then you should go to your systems sound settings and make sure that you have any signal boost options enabled. When using Creative Labs sound cards this is usually called a "Microphone +20db Boost" but might be called something else on other sound cards.

Amplifiers

> Outbound

> > This is a software amplification option that is useful for when you have the Hardware Volume turned up all the way but its still not loud enough. It can be handy for when your microphone just isn't up to snuff and should be used as a last resort. When the Amplify value is set to 0 no amplification or attenuation is performed and will not consume any CPU time.

> Inbound

> > This is a software amplification option that is used for increasing or decreasing the volume of incoming voice streams. Very useful for when incoming voice comm's are drowning out game sounds. When the Amplify value is set to 0 no amplification or attenuation is performed and will not consume any CPU time.

System Sound Control Panels

> Playback (Output)

> > This button will open the Operating Systems Sound Playback control panel.

> > Please note that if you have more then one sound card then you will need to tell the sound playback control panel which device it is you wish to manipulate.

> Recording (Input)

> > This button will open the Operating Systems Sound Recording control panel. If your are having problems selecting the sound input source line or the hardware mixer options are not functioning properly then this control panel will aid you selecting the sound input source.

> > Please note that if you have more then one sound card then you will need to tell the sound playback control panel which device it is you wish to manipulate.