Terrible sound when using Skype

Hi,
I ahve a PCChips M810LR Motherboard with onboard sound using the SiS 730S
chipset and my audio is coming through the Adapter SiS 7018 Audio
Accelerator. My sound when I am record a test using Skype is very low and it
sounds like I am stood in a very windy place. I have updated my Audio driver
today but this hasn't made the slightest difference. What can I do to
improve the sound that is coming from my system when using a mic?

My speakers sound OK and when someone speaks to me using Skype their sound
is spot on. The only thing that I can see that might be causing the issue is
that my Audio Drive is sharing IRQ3 with my PCI wireless card and the SIS
900 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter. I am not sure, but earlier before I updated
the driver it was sharing with my Radeon VE Graphics card.

Any thoughts greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Lenny

lenny wrote:

Hi,
I ahve a PCChips M810LR Motherboard with onboard sound using the SiS
730S chipset and my audio is coming through the Adapter SiS 7018 Audio
Accelerator. My sound when I am record a test using Skype is very low
and it sounds like I am stood in a very windy place. I have updated my
Audio driver today but this hasn't made the slightest difference. What
can I do to improve the sound that is coming from my system when using
a mic?

My speakers sound OK and when someone speaks to me using Skype their
sound is spot on. The only thing that I can see that might be causing
the issue is that my Audio Drive is sharing IRQ3 with my PCI wireless
card and the SIS 900 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter. I am not sure, but
earlier before I updated the driver it was sharing with my Radeon VE
Graphics card.

Since PCChips boards are notoriously cheapies, the onboard sound
probably isn't very good. Just go buy a PCI soundcard and install it.
Don't forget to disable onboard sound in the BIOS. You can get a
decent, basic PCI soundcard for under $25usd.

Malke
--
MS-MVP Windows User/Shell
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic"

Good advice - If necessary you can buy a USB based Turtle Beach
unit for under ~$30.00 and not even have to open the case. Looks
just like a Thumb Drive. Great replacement for lousy on-board sound.

"Malke" wrote in message
...
lenny wrote:

Hi,
I ahve a PCChips M810LR Motherboard with onboard sound using the SiS
730S chipset and my audio is coming through the Adapter SiS 7018 Audio
Accelerator. My sound when I am record a test using Skype is very low
and it sounds like I am stood in a very windy place. I have updated my
Audio driver today but this hasn't made the slightest difference. What
can I do to improve the sound that is coming from my system when using
a mic?

My speakers sound OK and when someone speaks to me using Skype their
sound is spot on. The only thing that I can see that might be causing
the issue is that my Audio Drive is sharing IRQ3 with my PCI wireless
card and the SIS 900 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter. I am not sure, but
earlier before I updated the driver it was sharing with my Radeon VE
Graphics card.

Since PCChips boards are notoriously cheapies, the onboard sound
probably isn't very good. Just go buy a PCI soundcard and install it.
Don't forget to disable onboard sound in the BIOS. You can get a
decent, basic PCI soundcard for under $25usd.

Malke
--
MS-MVP Windows User/Shell
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic"

At the moment I have both of my PCI slots filled so another PCI card is not
an option even though I have one sat on the table here. What about upgrading
the MB. Any suggestions. (I think I will post that question later as I am
sure there are plenty of thoughts)

I like the sound of that Turtle Beach unit. I have never heard of them so
will take a look.
Cheers
Lenny

"R. McCarty" wrote in message
...
Good advice - If necessary you can buy a USB based Turtle Beach
unit for under ~$30.00 and not even have to open the case. Looks
just like a Thumb Drive. Great replacement for lousy on-board sound.

"Malke" wrote in message
...
lenny wrote:

Hi,
I ahve a PCChips M810LR Motherboard with onboard sound using the SiS
730S chipset and my audio is coming through the Adapter SiS 7018 Audio
Accelerator. My sound when I am record a test using Skype is very low
and it sounds like I am stood in a very windy place. I have updated my
Audio driver today but this hasn't made the slightest difference. What
can I do to improve the sound that is coming from my system when using
a mic?

My speakers sound OK and when someone speaks to me using Skype their
sound is spot on. The only thing that I can see that might be causing
the issue is that my Audio Drive is sharing IRQ3 with my PCI wireless
card and the SIS 900 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter. I am not sure, but
earlier before I updated the driver it was sharing with my Radeon VE
Graphics card.

Since PCChips boards are notoriously cheapies, the onboard sound
probably isn't very good. Just go buy a PCI soundcard and install it.
Don't forget to disable onboard sound in the BIOS. You can get a
decent, basic PCI soundcard for under $25usd.

Malke
--
MS-MVP Windows User/Shell
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic"

"lenny" wrote in message
...
At the moment I have both of my PCI slots filled so another PCI card is
not
an option even though I have one sat on the table here. What about
upgrading
the MB. Any suggestions. (I think I will post that question later as I am
sure there are plenty of thoughts)

I like the sound of that Turtle Beach unit. I have never heard of them so
will take a look.
Cheers
Lenny


Your chipset is fine for voice. The other suggestions
are valid, but only for high-bandwidth stuff like music.

Try another microphone and / or check all your settings -
in particular, if you see "Microphone Boost" in your
Recording mixer, turn it OFF, and if you see "ALC" or
"Automatic Level Control" turn that off too, and set
manually. You will need to experiment to find the
appropriate mic gain setting. There may be an ALC setting
in Skype as well to turn off.

Also, if you see anything like "3-D effect" or other
junk, turn that off. It should NOT affect recording,
only playback, but you never know.

The "whooshing" sound is indicative of a crappy ALC
ckt. constantly ramping the mic gain looking for input,
I have had to deal with this before...

"R. McCarty" wrote in message
...
Good advice - If necessary you can buy a USB based Turtle Beach
unit for under ~$30.00 and not even have to open the case. Looks
just like a Thumb Drive. Great replacement for lousy on-board sound.

"Malke" wrote in message
...
lenny wrote:

Hi,
I ahve a PCChips M810LR Motherboard with onboard sound using the SiS
730S chipset and my audio is coming through the Adapter SiS 7018 Audio
Accelerator. My sound when I am record a test using Skype is very low
and it sounds like I am stood in a very windy place. I have updated my
Audio driver today but this hasn't made the slightest difference. What
can I do to improve the sound that is coming from my system when using
a mic?

My speakers sound OK and when someone speaks to me using Skype their
sound is spot on. The only thing that I can see that might be causing
the issue is that my Audio Drive is sharing IRQ3 with my PCI wireless
card and the SIS 900 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter. I am not sure, but
earlier before I updated the driver it was sharing with my Radeon VE
Graphics card.

Since PCChips boards are notoriously cheapies, the onboard sound
probably isn't very good. Just go buy a PCI soundcard and install it.
Don't forget to disable onboard sound in the BIOS. You can get a
decent, basic PCI soundcard for under $25usd.

Malke
--
MS-MVP Windows User/Shell
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic"

thanks for that info, I have already unticked the Gain box but when I do
the recorded sound becomes so low that it can hardly be heard.

"V Green" wrote in message
...

"lenny" wrote in message
...
At the moment I have both of my PCI slots filled so another PCI card is
not
an option even though I have one sat on the table here. What about
upgrading
the MB. Any suggestions. (I think I will post that question later as I am
sure there are plenty of thoughts)

I like the sound of that Turtle Beach unit. I have never heard of them so
will take a look.
Cheers
Lenny


Your chipset is fine for voice. The other suggestions
are valid, but only for high-bandwidth stuff like music.

Try another microphone and / or check all your settings -
in particular, if you see "Microphone Boost" in your
Recording mixer, turn it OFF, and if you see "ALC" or
"Automatic Level Control" turn that off too, and set
manually. You will need to experiment to find the
appropriate mic gain setting. There may be an ALC setting
in Skype as well to turn off.

Also, if you see anything like "3-D effect" or other
junk, turn that off. It should NOT affect recording,
only playback, but you never know.

The "whooshing" sound is indicative of a crappy ALC
ckt. constantly ramping the mic gain looking for input,
I have had to deal with this before...

"R. McCarty" wrote in message
...
Good advice - If necessary you can buy a USB based Turtle Beach
unit for under ~$30.00 and not even have to open the case. Looks
just like a Thumb Drive. Great replacement for lousy on-board sound.

"Malke" wrote in message
...
lenny wrote:

Hi,
I ahve a PCChips M810LR Motherboard with onboard sound using the SiS
730S chipset and my audio is coming through the Adapter SiS 7018
Audio
Accelerator. My sound when I am record a test using Skype is very low
and it sounds like I am stood in a very windy place. I have updated
my
Audio driver today but this hasn't made the slightest difference.
What
can I do to improve the sound that is coming from my system when
using
a mic?

My speakers sound OK and when someone speaks to me using Skype their
sound is spot on. The only thing that I can see that might be causing
the issue is that my Audio Drive is sharing IRQ3 with my PCI wireless
card and the SIS 900 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter. I am not sure, but
earlier before I updated the driver it was sharing with my Radeon VE
Graphics card.

Since PCChips boards are notoriously cheapies, the onboard sound
probably isn't very good. Just go buy a PCI soundcard and install it.
Don't forget to disable onboard sound in the BIOS. You can get a
decent, basic PCI soundcard for under $25usd.

Malke
--
MS-MVP Windows User/Shell
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic"

"lenny" wrote in message
...
thanks for that info, I have already unticked the Gain box but when I do
the recorded sound becomes so low that it can hardly be heard.

Use the sliders in the Recording mixer to raise the volume.

You also may have an incompatible microphone if you
NEED the Boost function to be on to hear it at all - when
you BOOST things, you boost the crap as well as what
you want to hear...


"V Green" wrote in message
...

"lenny" wrote in message
...
At the moment I have both of my PCI slots filled so another PCI card is
not
an option even though I have one sat on the table here. What about
upgrading
the MB. Any suggestions. (I think I will post that question later as I
am
sure there are plenty of thoughts)

I like the sound of that Turtle Beach unit. I have never heard of them
so
will take a look.
Cheers
Lenny


Your chipset is fine for voice. The other suggestions
are valid, but only for high-bandwidth stuff like music.

Try another microphone and / or check all your settings -
in particular, if you see "Microphone Boost" in your
Recording mixer, turn it OFF, and if you see "ALC" or
"Automatic Level Control" turn that off too, and set
manually. You will need to experiment to find the
appropriate mic gain setting. There may be an ALC setting
in Skype as well to turn off.

Also, if you see anything like "3-D effect" or other
junk, turn that off. It should NOT affect recording,
only playback, but you never know.

The "whooshing" sound is indicative of a crappy ALC
ckt. constantly ramping the mic gain looking for input,
I have had to deal with this before...

"R. McCarty" wrote in message
...
Good advice - If necessary you can buy a USB based Turtle Beach
unit for under ~$30.00 and not even have to open the case. Looks
just like a Thumb Drive. Great replacement for lousy on-board sound.

"Malke" wrote in message
...
lenny wrote:

Hi,
I ahve a PCChips M810LR Motherboard with onboard sound using the
SiS
730S chipset and my audio is coming through the Adapter SiS 7018
Audio
Accelerator. My sound when I am record a test using Skype is very
low
and it sounds like I am stood in a very windy place. I have updated
my
Audio driver today but this hasn't made the slightest difference.
What
can I do to improve the sound that is coming from my system when
using
a mic?

My speakers sound OK and when someone speaks to me using Skype
their
sound is spot on. The only thing that I can see that might be
causing
the issue is that my Audio Drive is sharing IRQ3 with my PCI
wireless
card and the SIS 900 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter. I am not sure, but
earlier before I updated the driver it was sharing with my Radeon
VE
Graphics card.

Since PCChips boards are notoriously cheapies, the onboard sound
probably isn't very good. Just go buy a PCI soundcard and install
it.
Don't forget to disable onboard sound in the BIOS. You can get a
decent, basic PCI soundcard for under $25usd.

Malke
--
MS-MVP Windows User/Shell
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic"

Is it by chance a Dell? If so, there are threads on Dell newsgroups about a
known issue with Dell machines and poor volume using mics.

--
David Nimon


--------------------------------
"lenny" wrote in message
...
thanks for that info, I have already unticked the Gain box but when I do
the recorded sound becomes so low that it can hardly be heard.

Lenny, when you get the mixer properties up can you get to any kinds of
sound scheme property sheet?

Some systems, and I am not familiar with yours, allow for a jack to be dual
purpose, for example either mic OR bass woofer. You might try changing this
and then reset it properly with a reboot in between.

Also check the built in XP speech facilities. Control panelspeech is it?
(Using W2003 here at the moment and can't remember). Get the mic set up
there and see if that helps any.

Charlie


"lenny" wrote in message
...
thanks for that info, I have already unticked the Gain box but when I do
the recorded sound becomes so low that it can hardly be heard.

"V Green" wrote in message
...

"lenny" wrote in message
...
At the moment I have both of my PCI slots filled so another PCI card is
not
an option even though I have one sat on the table here. What about
upgrading
the MB. Any suggestions. (I think I will post that question later as I
am
sure there are plenty of thoughts)

I like the sound of that Turtle Beach unit. I have never heard of them
so
will take a look.
Cheers
Lenny


Your chipset is fine for voice. The other suggestions
are valid, but only for high-bandwidth stuff like music.

Try another microphone and / or check all your settings -
in particular, if you see "Microphone Boost" in your
Recording mixer, turn it OFF, and if you see "ALC" or
"Automatic Level Control" turn that off too, and set
manually. You will need to experiment to find the
appropriate mic gain setting. There may be an ALC setting
in Skype as well to turn off.

Also, if you see anything like "3-D effect" or other
junk, turn that off. It should NOT affect recording,
only playback, but you never know.

The "whooshing" sound is indicative of a crappy ALC
ckt. constantly ramping the mic gain looking for input,
I have had to deal with this before...

"R. McCarty" wrote in message
...
Good advice - If necessary you can buy a USB based Turtle Beach
unit for under ~$30.00 and not even have to open the case. Looks
just like a Thumb Drive. Great replacement for lousy on-board sound.

"Malke" wrote in message
...
lenny wrote:

Hi,
I ahve a PCChips M810LR Motherboard with onboard sound using the SiS
730S chipset and my audio is coming through the Adapter SiS 7018
Audio
Accelerator. My sound when I am record a test using Skype is very
low
and it sounds like I am stood in a very windy place. I have updated
my
Audio driver today but this hasn't made the slightest difference.
What
can I do to improve the sound that is coming from my system when
using
a mic?

My speakers sound OK and when someone speaks to me using Skype their
sound is spot on. The only thing that I can see that might be
causing
the issue is that my Audio Drive is sharing IRQ3 with my PCI
wireless
card and the SIS 900 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter. I am not sure, but
earlier before I updated the driver it was sharing with my Radeon VE
Graphics card.

Since PCChips boards are notoriously cheapies, the onboard sound
probably isn't very good. Just go buy a PCI soundcard and install it.
Don't forget to disable onboard sound in the BIOS. You can get a
decent, basic PCI soundcard for under $25usd.

Malke
--
MS-MVP Windows User/Shell
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic"

I have used the sliders and have to have them at full volume. It isn't a
dell machine and without the boost setting you can't hear a thing. When I
use the windows hardware testing program to hear my own voice I just get a
very crackly line and you can only just hear my voice. I know that these
MB's might be cheap but this sound is really terrible and even bad sound
cards produce better sound than this.

I have checked the Speech set up but everything leads back to the same
windows


"Charlie Tame" wrote in message
...
Lenny, when you get the mixer properties up can you get to any kinds of
sound scheme property sheet?

Some systems, and I am not familiar with yours, allow for a jack to be
dual purpose, for example either mic OR bass woofer. You might try
changing this and then reset it properly with a reboot in between.

Also check the built in XP speech facilities. Control panelspeech is it?
(Using W2003 here at the moment and can't remember). Get the mic set up
there and see if that helps any.

Charlie


"lenny" wrote in message
...
thanks for that info, I have already unticked the Gain box but when I do
the recorded sound becomes so low that it can hardly be heard.

"V Green" wrote in message
...

"lenny" wrote in message
...
At the moment I have both of my PCI slots filled so another PCI card is
not
an option even though I have one sat on the table here. What about
upgrading
the MB. Any suggestions. (I think I will post that question later as I
am
sure there are plenty of thoughts)

I like the sound of that Turtle Beach unit. I have never heard of them
so
will take a look.
Cheers
Lenny


Your chipset is fine for voice. The other suggestions
are valid, but only for high-bandwidth stuff like music.

Try another microphone and / or check all your settings -
in particular, if you see "Microphone Boost" in your
Recording mixer, turn it OFF, and if you see "ALC" or
"Automatic Level Control" turn that off too, and set
manually. You will need to experiment to find the
appropriate mic gain setting. There may be an ALC setting
in Skype as well to turn off.

Also, if you see anything like "3-D effect" or other
junk, turn that off. It should NOT affect recording,
only playback, but you never know.

The "whooshing" sound is indicative of a crappy ALC
ckt. constantly ramping the mic gain looking for input,
I have had to deal with this before...

"R. McCarty" wrote in message
...
Good advice - If necessary you can buy a USB based Turtle Beach
unit for under ~$30.00 and not even have to open the case. Looks
just like a Thumb Drive. Great replacement for lousy on-board sound.

"Malke" wrote in message
...
lenny wrote:

Hi,
I ahve a PCChips M810LR Motherboard with onboard sound using the
SiS
730S chipset and my audio is coming through the Adapter SiS 7018
Audio
Accelerator. My sound when I am record a test using Skype is very
low
and it sounds like I am stood in a very windy place. I have updated
my
Audio driver today but this hasn't made the slightest difference.
What
can I do to improve the sound that is coming from my system when
using
a mic?

My speakers sound OK and when someone speaks to me using Skype
their
sound is spot on. The only thing that I can see that might be
causing
the issue is that my Audio Drive is sharing IRQ3 with my PCI
wireless
card and the SIS 900 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter. I am not sure, but
earlier before I updated the driver it was sharing with my Radeon
VE
Graphics card.

Since PCChips boards are notoriously cheapies, the onboard sound
probably isn't very good. Just go buy a PCI soundcard and install
it.
Don't forget to disable onboard sound in the BIOS. You can get a
decent, basic PCI soundcard for under $25usd.

Malke
--
MS-MVP Windows User/Shell
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic"

"lenny" wrote in message
...
I have used the sliders and have to have them at full volume. It isn't a
dell machine and without the boost setting you can't hear a thing. When I
use the windows hardware testing program to hear my own voice I just get a
very crackly line and you can only just hear my voice. I know that these
MB's might be cheap but this sound is really terrible and even bad sound
cards produce better sound than this.

I have checked the Speech set up but everything leads back to the same
windows

Microphone, microphone, microphone.

PLEASE at least TRY a better one.




"Charlie Tame" wrote in message
...
Lenny, when you get the mixer properties up can you get to any kinds of
sound scheme property sheet?

Some systems, and I am not familiar with yours, allow for a jack to be
dual purpose, for example either mic OR bass woofer. You might try
changing this and then reset it properly with a reboot in between.

Also check the built in XP speech facilities. Control panelspeech is
it?
(Using W2003 here at the moment and can't remember). Get the mic set up
there and see if that helps any.

Charlie


"lenny" wrote in message
...
thanks for that info, I have already unticked the Gain box but when I
do
the recorded sound becomes so low that it can hardly be heard.

"V Green" wrote in message
...

"lenny" wrote in message
...
At the moment I have both of my PCI slots filled so another PCI card
is
not
an option even though I have one sat on the table here. What about
upgrading
the MB. Any suggestions. (I think I will post that question later as
I
am
sure there are plenty of thoughts)

I like the sound of that Turtle Beach unit. I have never heard of
them
so
will take a look.
Cheers
Lenny


Your chipset is fine for voice. The other suggestions
are valid, but only for high-bandwidth stuff like music.

Try another microphone and / or check all your settings -
in particular, if you see "Microphone Boost" in your
Recording mixer, turn it OFF, and if you see "ALC" or
"Automatic Level Control" turn that off too, and set
manually. You will need to experiment to find the
appropriate mic gain setting. There may be an ALC setting
in Skype as well to turn off.

Also, if you see anything like "3-D effect" or other
junk, turn that off. It should NOT affect recording,
only playback, but you never know.

The "whooshing" sound is indicative of a crappy ALC
ckt. constantly ramping the mic gain looking for input,
I have had to deal with this before...

"R. McCarty" wrote in message
...
Good advice - If necessary you can buy a USB based Turtle Beach
unit for under ~$30.00 and not even have to open the case. Looks
just like a Thumb Drive. Great replacement for lousy on-board
sound.

"Malke" wrote in message
...
lenny wrote:

Hi,
I ahve a PCChips M810LR Motherboard with onboard sound using the
SiS
730S chipset and my audio is coming through the Adapter SiS 7018
Audio
Accelerator. My sound when I am record a test using Skype is very
low
and it sounds like I am stood in a very windy place. I have
updated
my
Audio driver today but this hasn't made the slightest difference.
What
can I do to improve the sound that is coming from my system when
using
a mic?

My speakers sound OK and when someone speaks to me using Skype
their
sound is spot on. The only thing that I can see that might be
causing
the issue is that my Audio Drive is sharing IRQ3 with my PCI
wireless
card and the SIS 900 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter. I am not sure,
but
earlier before I updated the driver it was sharing with my Radeon
VE
Graphics card.

Since PCChips boards are notoriously cheapies, the onboard sound
probably isn't very good. Just go buy a PCI soundcard and install
it.
Don't forget to disable onboard sound in the BIOS. You can get a
decent, basic PCI soundcard for under $25usd.

Malke
--
MS-MVP Windows User/Shell
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic"

Did you try the auto setup thing in the speech settings? That seems to work
and here's another strange phenomenon. I find that the Yahoo instant
messenger voice enabled version seems to have a way of adjusting the mic
level that nobody else has caught up with yet. I can't explain this but it
seems to deal with this onboard sound (Asus) better than anything else to
date.

If you should decide to download the messenger to try it by the way please
do uncheck ALL the other junk you are offered with it, one item you may have
to uncheck in two seperate instances, otherwise you'll get all kinds of
junk.

I've tried numerous microphones and W2000, 2003 and XP and it's the same
story so my thinking is it is the architecture of the card and drivers.

"lenny" wrote in message
...
I have used the sliders and have to have them at full volume. It isn't a
dell machine and without the boost setting you can't hear a thing. When I
use the windows hardware testing program to hear my own voice I just get a
very crackly line and you can only just hear my voice. I know that these
MB's might be cheap but this sound is really terrible and even bad sound
cards produce better sound than this.

I have checked the Speech set up but everything leads back to the same
windows


"Charlie Tame" wrote in message
...
Lenny, when you get the mixer properties up can you get to any kinds of
sound scheme property sheet?

Some systems, and I am not familiar with yours, allow for a jack to be
dual purpose, for example either mic OR bass woofer. You might try
changing this and then reset it properly with a reboot in between.

Also check the built in XP speech facilities. Control panelspeech is it?
(Using W2003 here at the moment and can't remember). Get the mic set up
there and see if that helps any.

Charlie


"lenny" wrote in message
...
thanks for that info, I have already unticked the Gain box but when I
do the recorded sound becomes so low that it can hardly be heard.

"V Green" wrote in message
...

"lenny" wrote in message
...
At the moment I have both of my PCI slots filled so another PCI card
is
not
an option even though I have one sat on the table here. What about
upgrading
the MB. Any suggestions. (I think I will post that question later as I
am
sure there are plenty of thoughts)

I like the sound of that Turtle Beach unit. I have never heard of them
so
will take a look.
Cheers
Lenny


Your chipset is fine for voice. The other suggestions
are valid, but only for high-bandwidth stuff like music.

Try another microphone and / or check all your settings -
in particular, if you see "Microphone Boost" in your
Recording mixer, turn it OFF, and if you see "ALC" or
"Automatic Level Control" turn that off too, and set
manually. You will need to experiment to find the
appropriate mic gain setting. There may be an ALC setting
in Skype as well to turn off.

Also, if you see anything like "3-D effect" or other
junk, turn that off. It should NOT affect recording,
only playback, but you never know.

The "whooshing" sound is indicative of a crappy ALC
ckt. constantly ramping the mic gain looking for input,
I have had to deal with this before...

"R. McCarty" wrote in message
...
Good advice - If necessary you can buy a USB based Turtle Beach
unit for under ~$30.00 and not even have to open the case. Looks
just like a Thumb Drive. Great replacement for lousy on-board sound.

"Malke" wrote in message
...
lenny wrote:

Hi,
I ahve a PCChips M810LR Motherboard with onboard sound using the
SiS
730S chipset and my audio is coming through the Adapter SiS 7018
Audio
Accelerator. My sound when I am record a test using Skype is very
low
and it sounds like I am stood in a very windy place. I have
updated my
Audio driver today but this hasn't made the slightest difference.
What
can I do to improve the sound that is coming from my system when
using
a mic?

My speakers sound OK and when someone speaks to me using Skype
their
sound is spot on. The only thing that I can see that might be
causing
the issue is that my Audio Drive is sharing IRQ3 with my PCI
wireless
card and the SIS 900 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter. I am not sure, but
earlier before I updated the driver it was sharing with my Radeon
VE
Graphics card.

Since PCChips boards are notoriously cheapies, the onboard sound
probably isn't very good. Just go buy a PCI soundcard and install
it.
Don't forget to disable onboard sound in the BIOS. You can get a
decent, basic PCI soundcard for under $25usd.

Malke
--
MS-MVP Windows User/Shell
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic"

I have tried a number of different microphones but it is always the same. I
have also plugged some speakers in now so that I can hear any noise and it
sounds like very bad interference. There is a constant beating like a fast
heart beat and when I move the mouse a very bad buzzing sound all on top of
the clock ticking sound and the low level white noise.


"Charlie Tame" wrote in message
...
Did you try the auto setup thing in the speech settings? That seems to
work and here's another strange phenomenon. I find that the Yahoo instant
messenger voice enabled version seems to have a way of adjusting the mic
level that nobody else has caught up with yet. I can't explain this but it
seems to deal with this onboard sound (Asus) better than anything else to
date.

If you should decide to download the messenger to try it by the way please
do uncheck ALL the other junk you are offered with it, one item you may
have to uncheck in two seperate instances, otherwise you'll get all kinds
of junk.

I've tried numerous microphones and W2000, 2003 and XP and it's the same
story so my thinking is it is the architecture of the card and drivers.

"lenny" wrote in message
...
I have used the sliders and have to have them at full volume. It isn't a
dell machine and without the boost setting you can't hear a thing. When I
use the windows hardware testing program to hear my own voice I just get a
very crackly line and you can only just hear my voice. I know that these
MB's might be cheap but this sound is really terrible and even bad sound
cards produce better sound than this.

I have checked the Speech set up but everything leads back to the same
windows


"Charlie Tame" wrote in message
...
Lenny, when you get the mixer properties up can you get to any kinds of
sound scheme property sheet?

Some systems, and I am not familiar with yours, allow for a jack to be
dual purpose, for example either mic OR bass woofer. You might try
changing this and then reset it properly with a reboot in between.

Also check the built in XP speech facilities. Control panelspeech is
it? (Using W2003 here at the moment and can't remember). Get the mic set
up there and see if that helps any.

Charlie


"lenny" wrote in message
...
thanks for that info, I have already unticked the Gain box but when I
do the recorded sound becomes so low that it can hardly be heard.

"V Green" wrote in message
...

"lenny" wrote in message
...
At the moment I have both of my PCI slots filled so another PCI card
is
not
an option even though I have one sat on the table here. What about
upgrading
the MB. Any suggestions. (I think I will post that question later as
I am
sure there are plenty of thoughts)

I like the sound of that Turtle Beach unit. I have never heard of
them so
will take a look.
Cheers
Lenny


Your chipset is fine for voice. The other suggestions
are valid, but only for high-bandwidth stuff like music.

Try another microphone and / or check all your settings -
in particular, if you see "Microphone Boost" in your
Recording mixer, turn it OFF, and if you see "ALC" or
"Automatic Level Control" turn that off too, and set
manually. You will need to experiment to find the
appropriate mic gain setting. There may be an ALC setting
in Skype as well to turn off.

Also, if you see anything like "3-D effect" or other
junk, turn that off. It should NOT affect recording,
only playback, but you never know.

The "whooshing" sound is indicative of a crappy ALC
ckt. constantly ramping the mic gain looking for input,
I have had to deal with this before...

"R. McCarty" wrote in message
...
Good advice - If necessary you can buy a USB based Turtle Beach
unit for under ~$30.00 and not even have to open the case. Looks
just like a Thumb Drive. Great replacement for lousy on-board
sound.

"Malke" wrote in message
...
lenny wrote:

Hi,
I ahve a PCChips M810LR Motherboard with onboard sound using the
SiS
730S chipset and my audio is coming through the Adapter SiS 7018
Audio
Accelerator. My sound when I am record a test using Skype is very
low
and it sounds like I am stood in a very windy place. I have
updated my
Audio driver today but this hasn't made the slightest difference.
What
can I do to improve the sound that is coming from my system when
using
a mic?

My speakers sound OK and when someone speaks to me using Skype
their
sound is spot on. The only thing that I can see that might be
causing
the issue is that my Audio Drive is sharing IRQ3 with my PCI
wireless
card and the SIS 900 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter. I am not sure,
but
earlier before I updated the driver it was sharing with my Radeon
VE
Graphics card.

Since PCChips boards are notoriously cheapies, the onboard sound
probably isn't very good. Just go buy a PCI soundcard and install
it.
Don't forget to disable onboard sound in the BIOS. You can get a
decent, basic PCI soundcard for under $25usd.

Malke
--
MS-MVP Windows User/Shell
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic"

Well that sounds pretty bad, there should be nothing at all coming out of
that really, although some low level "White Noise" might be heard from the
speakers.

I don't know what to suggest since it is onboard. You must have the right
drivers for the chipset if it's configurable where one jack can be dual
purpose like mine is, the drivers are not necessarily the newest, if all
lese fails reinstall the originals and try it.

Charlie

"lenny" wrote in message
...
I have tried a number of different microphones but it is always the same. I
have also plugged some speakers in now so that I can hear any noise and it
sounds like very bad interference. There is a constant beating like a fast
heart beat and when I move the mouse a very bad buzzing sound all on top of
the clock ticking sound and the low level white noise.


"Charlie Tame" wrote in message
...
Did you try the auto setup thing in the speech settings? That seems to
work and here's another strange phenomenon. I find that the Yahoo instant
messenger voice enabled version seems to have a way of adjusting the mic
level that nobody else has caught up with yet. I can't explain this but
it seems to deal with this onboard sound (Asus) better than anything else
to date.

If you should decide to download the messenger to try it by the way
please do uncheck ALL the other junk you are offered with it, one item
you may have to uncheck in two seperate instances, otherwise you'll get
all kinds of junk.

I've tried numerous microphones and W2000, 2003 and XP and it's the same
story so my thinking is it is the architecture of the card and drivers.

"lenny" wrote in message
...
I have used the sliders and have to have them at full volume. It isn't a
dell machine and without the boost setting you can't hear a thing. When I
use the windows hardware testing program to hear my own voice I just get
a very crackly line and you can only just hear my voice. I know that
these MB's might be cheap but this sound is really terrible and even bad
sound cards produce better sound than this.

I have checked the Speech set up but everything leads back to the same
windows


"Charlie Tame" wrote in message
...
Lenny, when you get the mixer properties up can you get to any kinds of
sound scheme property sheet?

Some systems, and I am not familiar with yours, allow for a jack to be
dual purpose, for example either mic OR bass woofer. You might try
changing this and then reset it properly with a reboot in between.

Also check the built in XP speech facilities. Control panelspeech is
it? (Using W2003 here at the moment and can't remember). Get the mic
set up there and see if that helps any.

Charlie


"lenny" wrote in message
...
thanks for that info, I have already unticked the Gain box but when I
do the recorded sound becomes so low that it can hardly be heard.

"V Green" wrote in message
...

"lenny" wrote in message
...
At the moment I have both of my PCI slots filled so another PCI card
is
not
an option even though I have one sat on the table here. What about
upgrading
the MB. Any suggestions. (I think I will post that question later as
I am
sure there are plenty of thoughts)

I like the sound of that Turtle Beach unit. I have never heard of
them so
will take a look.
Cheers
Lenny


Your chipset is fine for voice. The other suggestions
are valid, but only for high-bandwidth stuff like music.

Try another microphone and / or check all your settings -
in particular, if you see "Microphone Boost" in your
Recording mixer, turn it OFF, and if you see "ALC" or
"Automatic Level Control" turn that off too, and set
manually. You will need to experiment to find the
appropriate mic gain setting. There may be an ALC setting
in Skype as well to turn off.

Also, if you see anything like "3-D effect" or other
junk, turn that off. It should NOT affect recording,
only playback, but you never know.

The "whooshing" sound is indicative of a crappy ALC
ckt. constantly ramping the mic gain looking for input,
I have had to deal with this before...

"R. McCarty" wrote in message
...
Good advice - If necessary you can buy a USB based Turtle Beach
unit for under ~$30.00 and not even have to open the case. Looks
just like a Thumb Drive. Great replacement for lousy on-board
sound.

"Malke" wrote in message
...
lenny wrote:

Hi,
I ahve a PCChips M810LR Motherboard with onboard sound using the
SiS
730S chipset and my audio is coming through the Adapter SiS 7018
Audio
Accelerator. My sound when I am record a test using Skype is
very low
and it sounds like I am stood in a very windy place. I have
updated my
Audio driver today but this hasn't made the slightest
difference. What
can I do to improve the sound that is coming from my system when
using
a mic?

My speakers sound OK and when someone speaks to me using Skype
their
sound is spot on. The only thing that I can see that might be
causing
the issue is that my Audio Drive is sharing IRQ3 with my PCI
wireless
card and the SIS 900 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter. I am not sure,
but
earlier before I updated the driver it was sharing with my
Radeon VE
Graphics card.

Since PCChips boards are notoriously cheapies, the onboard sound
probably isn't very good. Just go buy a PCI soundcard and install
it.
Don't forget to disable onboard sound in the BIOS. You can get a
decent, basic PCI soundcard for under $25usd.

Malke
--
MS-MVP Windows User/Shell
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic"

thanks charlie,
All else has failed so I think I will install the original drivers although
the newest ones are years old anyway.
Lenny
"Charlie Tame" wrote in message
...
Well that sounds pretty bad, there should be nothing at all coming out of
that really, although some low level "White Noise" might be heard from the
speakers.

I don't know what to suggest since it is onboard. You must have the right
drivers for the chipset if it's configurable where one jack can be dual
purpose like mine is, the drivers are not necessarily the newest, if all
lese fails reinstall the originals and try it.

Charlie

"lenny" wrote in message
...
I have tried a number of different microphones but it is always the same.
I have also plugged some speakers in now so that I can hear any noise and
it sounds like very bad interference. There is a constant beating like a
fast heart beat and when I move the mouse a very bad buzzing sound all on
top of the clock ticking sound and the low level white noise.


"Charlie Tame" wrote in message
...
Did you try the auto setup thing in the speech settings? That seems to
work and here's another strange phenomenon. I find that the Yahoo
instant messenger voice enabled version seems to have a way of adjusting
the mic level that nobody else has caught up with yet. I can't explain
this but it seems to deal with this onboard sound (Asus) better than
anything else to date.

If you should decide to download the messenger to try it by the way
please do uncheck ALL the other junk you are offered with it, one item
you may have to uncheck in two seperate instances, otherwise you'll get
all kinds of junk.

I've tried numerous microphones and W2000, 2003 and XP and it's the same
story so my thinking is it is the architecture of the card and drivers.

"lenny" wrote in message
...
I have used the sliders and have to have them at full volume. It isn't a
dell machine and without the boost setting you can't hear a thing. When
I use the windows hardware testing program to hear my own voice I just
get a very crackly line and you can only just hear my voice. I know that
these MB's might be cheap but this sound is really terrible and even bad
sound cards produce better sound than this.

I have checked the Speech set up but everything leads back to the same
windows


"Charlie Tame" wrote in message
...
Lenny, when you get the mixer properties up can you get to any kinds
of sound scheme property sheet?

Some systems, and I am not familiar with yours, allow for a jack to be
dual purpose, for example either mic OR bass woofer. You might try
changing this and then reset it properly with a reboot in between.

Also check the built in XP speech facilities. Control panelspeech is
it? (Using W2003 here at the moment and can't remember). Get the mic
set up there and see if that helps any.

Charlie


"lenny" wrote in message
...
thanks for that info, I have already unticked the Gain box but when
I do the recorded sound becomes so low that it can hardly be heard.

"V Green" wrote in message
...

"lenny" wrote in message
...
At the moment I have both of my PCI slots filled so another PCI
card is
not
an option even though I have one sat on the table here. What about
upgrading
the MB. Any suggestions. (I think I will post that question later
as I am
sure there are plenty of thoughts)

I like the sound of that Turtle Beach unit. I have never heard of
them so
will take a look.
Cheers
Lenny


Your chipset is fine for voice. The other suggestions
are valid, but only for high-bandwidth stuff like music.

Try another microphone and / or check all your settings -
in particular, if you see "Microphone Boost" in your
Recording mixer, turn it OFF, and if you see "ALC" or
"Automatic Level Control" turn that off too, and set
manually. You will need to experiment to find the
appropriate mic gain setting. There may be an ALC setting
in Skype as well to turn off.

Also, if you see anything like "3-D effect" or other
junk, turn that off. It should NOT affect recording,
only playback, but you never know.

The "whooshing" sound is indicative of a crappy ALC
ckt. constantly ramping the mic gain looking for input,
I have had to deal with this before...

"R. McCarty" wrote in message
...
Good advice - If necessary you can buy a USB based Turtle Beach
unit for under ~$30.00 and not even have to open the case. Looks
just like a Thumb Drive. Great replacement for lousy on-board
sound.

"Malke" wrote in message
...
lenny wrote:

Hi,
I ahve a PCChips M810LR Motherboard with onboard sound using
the SiS
730S chipset and my audio is coming through the Adapter SiS
7018 Audio
Accelerator. My sound when I am record a test using Skype is
very low
and it sounds like I am stood in a very windy place. I have
updated my
Audio driver today but this hasn't made the slightest
difference. What
can I do to improve the sound that is coming from my system
when using
a mic?

My speakers sound OK and when someone speaks to me using Skype
their
sound is spot on. The only thing that I can see that might be
causing
the issue is that my Audio Drive is sharing IRQ3 with my PCI
wireless
card and the SIS 900 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter. I am not sure,
but
earlier before I updated the driver it was sharing with my
Radeon VE
Graphics card.

Since PCChips boards are notoriously cheapies, the onboard sound
probably isn't very good. Just go buy a PCI soundcard and
install it.
Don't forget to disable onboard sound in the BIOS. You can get a
decent, basic PCI soundcard for under $25usd.

Malke
--
MS-MVP Windows User/Shell
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic"