Author Topic: Turn up Microsoft Anna? (Read 10085 times)

shango · « **on:** January 12, 2012, 01:02:16 PM »

Does anyone know if you can turn up the volums of Microsoft Anna?
I cant find an option, I have windows set to attenuate volume by 80% but I still can't hear her over the music unless I set playback volume to about 20% which then it still attenuates to 80% of that before she is audible.

Read in another thread someone wanted to turn her down and he was told you can use TTS.setvolume to change the volume but it also stated it is already at 100% by default.

Edit
Should have posted this in that thread really rather than started new one

Kalle · « **Reply #1 on:** January 12, 2012, 01:58:10 PM »

Quote from: shango on January 12, 2012, 01:02:16 PM

Does anyone know if you can turn up the volums of Microsoft Anna?
I cant find an option, I have windows set to attenuate volume by 80% but I still can't hear her over the music unless I set playback volume to about 20% which then it still attenuates to 80% of that before she is audible.

Read in another thread someone wanted to turn her down and he was told you can use TTS.setvolume to change the volume but it also stated it is already at 100% by default.

Edit
Should have posted this in that thread really rather than started new one

Hi shango, you can change the TTS output (in TTS settings) to an other device (analoge-output or what you have in your system) so it can be adjust separately.

shango · « **Reply #2 on:** January 12, 2012, 02:17:41 PM »

Thanks but i don't think that is an option because I use HDMI output to an AV reciever so I can use 2 separate devices.

jitterjames · « **Reply #3 on:** January 12, 2012, 02:29:49 PM »

Quote from: shango on January 12, 2012, 01:02:16 PM

I have windows set to attenuate volume by 80% but I still can't hear her over the music unless I set playback volume to about 20% which then it still attenuates to 80% of that before she is audible.

I'm afraid I can't make sense of this statement.

The default volume for TTS voices is indeed 100% and you can't raise it any more without raising the system volume. You need to reduce your MediaPortal Volume relative to the TTS in order to hear the TTS. If you look at the default commands in 0936 for asking about what is now playing (example "what artist is this?") you will see that I am using a softmute/softmute action in the command, which should reduce the volume of mediaportal without reducing the volume of the TTS voice.

If however you have your MediaPortal volume tied to the system volume (I remember this used to be an option, but I don't know if it still is, or what the default is) then when you reduce MP volume you will be reducing system volume as well, which means that the TTS (along with every thing other than DTS type streams) will be reduced as well.

shango · « **Reply #4 on:** January 12, 2012, 02:42:28 PM »

What I was refering to was a setting i found in the windows tts setting but it has no bearing on it anyway if the attenuation is done in Vox

I believe MP has it's own volume and is not tied to system volume so I could adjust that, problem there though is that MP will be set low and will have to turn my reciever up, then any other sound from the PC will be extremely loud and when changing channels on the reciever I'd have to turn it right down.

I think I'll just leave it as it is as in reality, I'm unlikely to ask "what is this?" since you can see it on the screen anyway.

Cheers guys.

jitterjames · « **Reply #5 on:** January 12, 2012, 04:02:54 PM »

Quote from: shango on January 12, 2012, 02:42:28 PM

What I was refering to was a setting i found in the windows tts setting but it has no bearing on it anyway if the attenuation is done in Vox

I believe MP has it's own volume and is not tied to system volume so I could adjust that, problem there though is that MP will be set low and will have to turn my reciever up, then any other sound from the PC will be extremely loud and when changing channels on the reciever I'd have to turn it right down.

I think I'll just leave it as it is as in reality, I'm unlikely to ask "what is this?" since you can see it on the screen anyway.

Cheers guys.

I don't know which TTS commands you do want to be able to hear, but it's really not that complicated. YOu just need add softmute commands to whichever TTS you are using.

softmute will adjust the MediaPortal volume to a percentage of its current level.

MpWifi.SoftMute 50
TTS.speaksync "blah blah blah"
MpWifi.SoftUnmute

shango · « **Reply #6 on:** January 13, 2012, 01:02:58 PM »

MP does soft mute to whatever level it is set to by default but she is not audible, even if the MP volume is muted I can still bearly hear what she says.

My normal listening volume on my reciever is around 20, for TTS to be heard at the same level the reciever has to be set around the 40 mark.

The volume of TTS seems to be at a much lower lever than any other system sounds.

jitterjames · « **Reply #7 on:** January 13, 2012, 02:40:17 PM »

Well I do not have this problem here, and I have not heard of others complaining about it either. Are you absolutely sure that MP is not lowering the system volume when the MP volume is lowered?

Try pausing MP instead of using softmute and see what the TTS level is like.

Also look in your windows sound mixer:
- Right-Click the speaker in the notification area and choose "Open Volume Mixer". Make sure that VoxCommando is not being attenuated. Additionally if you want, you can lower your other system sounds here.

You mentioned something about having volume settings in your TTS settings so you should verify that it is set to 100% there.

If you want to be sure you can always send VC a command to set the TTS level to 100%

You can test a voice in Windows TTS settings too to see what level it is at. It should be the same as in VC.

shango · « **Reply #8 on:** January 16, 2012, 01:33:17 PM »

Quote from: jitterjames on January 13, 2012, 02:40:17 PM

Well I do not have this problem here, and I have not heard of others complaining about it either. Are you absolutely sure that MP is not lowering the system volume when the MP volume is lowered?

Try pausing MP instead of using softmute and see what the TTS level is like.

I tried this and the level is very low which is why i cannot hear it when MP is softmuted

Quote from: jitterjames on January 13, 2012, 02:40:17 PM

Also look in your windows sound mixer:
- Right-Click the speaker in the notification area and choose "Open Volume Mixer". Make sure that VoxCommando is not being attenuated. Additionally if you want, you can lower your other system sounds here.

Done this, I have 4 volume devices when MP is running, Default device, system sounds, vox and MP, when requesting artist info, the only volume that is lowered is MP as required.

Quote from: jitterjames on January 13, 2012, 02:40:17 PM

You mentioned something about having volume settings in your TTS settings so you should verify that it is set to 100% there.

I couldnt find any volume setting for TTS which is why I made the original thread to ask if there was any. there are some setting about softmuting but none of these make any dif to Vox.

Quote from: jitterjames on January 13, 2012, 02:40:17 PM

If you want to be sure you can always send VC a command to set the TTS level to 100%

I done this to make sure it was at 100%, the command is working as i set it to different levels to be sure then back to 100.

Quote from: jitterjames on January 13, 2012, 02:40:17 PM

You can test a voice in Windows TTS settings too to see what level it is at. It should be the same as in VC.

When testing it in windows it is at the same level as in VC, very low, obviously whatever the reason it's low is nothing to do with VC

Don't know what the craic is TBH, I've set MP softmute to 5% now and that is just about enough attenuation to hear TTS so guess I'll leave it at that for now and have a bit more of a poke around in the windows settings and do a bit of Googling.

Cheers for all the suggestions.

Kalle · « **Reply #9 on:** January 16, 2012, 01:56:35 PM »

Hi shango, I'm not sure but it's worth a try.
right click at your audio input device -> click on "communication" tab, maybe there is something wrong selected. See picture for my settings.
Take also a look in output device properties in "advanced" tab.

Kalle

shango · « **Reply #10 on:** January 16, 2012, 02:00:21 PM »

Thats the setting that i was refering to in the original post, I have it set to 'do nothing' like yours but it doesnt seem to do anything different with the others selected anyway.

Cheers

Kalle · « **Reply #11 on:** January 16, 2012, 02:06:33 PM »

Quote from: shango on January 16, 2012, 02:00:21 PM

Thats the setting that i was refering to in the original post, I have it set to 'do nothing' like yours but it doesnt seem to do anything different with the others selected anyway.

Cheers

Do you have a chance to test an other soundcard (like a ext. USB-Soundcard)? So you can figured better out where the problem is.
Do you have a other TTS Voice as Anna?

Ok, I've read the thread again from scratch, I'm not sure, that the HDMI audio output is the problem. Can you hear the TTS voice better with the analog output (headphones)?

shango · « **Reply #12 on:** January 16, 2012, 02:28:45 PM »

My HDMI I use is on my GFX card, I've tried the on board HDMI and SPDIF on the motherboard with same results. I have no headphone output.

Did a quick bit of googling and seen various threads on adjusting the volume of TTS (mostly from teamspeak/mumble forums) as many people do seem to want to increase or decrease the volume but windows has no individual volume control for it.

jitterjames · « **Reply #13 on:** January 16, 2012, 03:32:06 PM »

sounds to me like you have tried everything.

still I don't see why you cannot do something like this: (see attached)

It is important to keep your system volume high (100%) because it will affect everything (except direct digital like 5.1 DTS etc), but you can lower the system sounds and the MP sounds relative to that. Then adjust the volume on your Stereo so that MediaPortal is at a decent volume. When you softmute for TTS you will have louder TTS.

The only reason I can think of that this will not work is if your computer does not remember the volume settings between reboots. That would be too annoying to have to readjust. But in any case you should be keeping your system volume at 100% all the time.

shango · « **Reply #14 on:** January 16, 2012, 03:54:01 PM »

Yes I could do that but its not really a practical solution, if i turn MP down, i then have to turm my amp up meaning any other audio source is going to be very loud in comparrison, Ie if i went online and watched videos or streamed music id have to turn the amp back down again, MP and my pc volume output is at the correct level, its the same as any other source plugged into my amp, ps3,dvd tv etc. it's just the wondows default sounds that are quiet.

Not really a big problem anyway, ive just set MP to almost mute so i can hear the tts and i doubt it'll be used that often anyway.

Kalle · « **Reply #15 on:** January 16, 2012, 03:59:28 PM »

Quote from: shango on January 16, 2012, 02:28:45 PM

My HDMI I use is on my GFX card, I've tried the on board HDMI and SPDIF on the motherboard with same results. I have no headphone output.

Did a quick bit of googling and seen various threads on adjusting the volume of TTS (mostly from teamspeak/mumble forums) as many people do seem to want to increase or decrease the volume but windows has no individual volume control for it.

I can in VC or in Windows TTS settings each device select individually, and adjust for TTS. Music/Movie -> HDMI, and TTS -> S/PDIF or whatever I want.

shango · « **Reply #16 on:** January 16, 2012, 04:03:26 PM »

Yes i can do that but my amp can't play sound from 2 separate inputs at the same time, i'd need 2 amps for that

jitterjames · « **Reply #17 on:** January 16, 2012, 04:35:25 PM »

Quote from: Kalle on January 16, 2012, 03:59:28 PM

I can in VC or in Windows TTS settings each device select individually, and adjust for TTS. Music/Movie -> HDMI, and TTS -> S/PDIF or whatever I want.

Kalle, I think it is time for you to do some more shopping. You don't have enough audio devices...

Kalle · « **Reply #18 on:** January 16, 2012, 04:51:02 PM »

Quote from: jitterjames on January 16, 2012, 04:35:25 PM

Kalle, I think it is time for you to do some more shopping. You don't have enough audio devices...

Haha, that is not the complete list, If you could see them, you would cry

@James: eight bottles of killed

jitterjames · « **Reply #19 on:** January 16, 2012, 05:02:41 PM »

Quote from: Kalle on January 16, 2012, 04:51:02 PM

@James: eight bottles of killed

You better start practicing because you must drink must faster when you are in Morin-Heights.

Kalle · « **Reply #20 on:** January 16, 2012, 05:14:29 PM »

Quote from: shango on January 16, 2012, 04:03:26 PM

Yes i can do that but my amp can't play sound from 2 separate inputs at the same time, i'd need 2 amps for that

Ok, I figured out how it can work. You need VAC (VirtualAudioCable). This program create virtual audiocards and can route the audiosignal to any device (output). If you will test it PM me

It can also route the TTS-Voice (when you want) to a specific channel from your S/PDIF-Output

You can take a look here for what the program can do.

http://software.muzychenko.net/eng/vac.htm

Kalle

Kalle · « **Reply #21 on:** January 16, 2012, 05:17:33 PM »

Quote from: jitterjames on January 16, 2012, 05:02:41 PM

You better start practicing because you must drink must faster when you are in Morin-Heights.

I think it is intended a great fun

jitterjames · « **Reply #22 on:** January 16, 2012, 06:23:09 PM »

I think that playing charades for a week is guaranteed to be fun, especially if we are drunk the whole time.

Talk about "off topic" ! sorry shango

jitterjames · « **Reply #23 on:** January 16, 2012, 06:25:28 PM »

Quote from: Kalle on January 16, 2012, 05:14:29 PM

Ok, I figured out how it can work. You need VAC (VirtualAudioCable). This program create virtual audiocards and can route the audiosignal to any device (output). If you will test it PM me
It can also route the TTS-Voice (when you want) to a specific channel from your S/PDIF-Output
You can take a look here for what the program can do.

http://software.muzychenko.net/eng/vac.htm

Kalle

This is very cool. Kalle, do you know if this works even when you are playing 5.1 digital direct to the receiver with DTS or AC3? I thought that in this mode the stream was being sent "pure" and could not be modified. If it does work does it replace the channel you choose, or mix the TTS into the existing audio for that channel?

I don't see how this could help shango though, the TTS will still be too quiet.

Kalle · « **Reply #24 on:** January 17, 2012, 06:21:57 AM »

Quote from: jitterjames on January 16, 2012, 06:25:28 PM

This is very cool. Kalle, do you know if this works even when you are playing 5.1 digital direct to the receiver with DTS or AC3? I thought that in this mode the stream was being sent "pure" and could not be modified. If it does work does it replace the channel you choose, or mix the TTS into the existing audio for that channel?

I don't see how this could help shango though, the TTS will still be too quiet.

Yes, that is a cool thing, and a new feature to use it with home theatre systems. That is the same as the MS-Soundmapper, if you setup your speakersytem on PC (choose speaker headphone, stereo, 5.1 and so on), in there is a test button, which redirects the audio output to different channels (a voice said: "front left" - "front right" ....).
The settings in VAC is very easy,when you want the TTS-voice come out on a specific channel on your system (like, only at the front center box), you must set in VAC repeater channel settings to "custom" with " 1 channel" and mark the channel-checkbox "FC" to use the "front center" channel. VAC route the TTS-voice to this channel, when you have select in VAC a output that can use this channel (digital-output). I have this tested with stereo on my office pc (tts voice to left or right channel) and it works.
The TTS ouput in VC TTS-Settings ->advanced must set to Line1(VAC)

shango can use the separately volume control for VAC to adjust the tts voice volume. The tts volume from VAC ist very loud, so I must adjust the VAC volume to 15%

shango · « **Reply #25 on:** January 17, 2012, 12:01:27 PM »

So with vac i can set my tts output to spdif and vac can re route it out of my hdmi?

jitterjames · « **Reply #26 on:** January 17, 2012, 12:04:14 PM »

actually I think you sould set your sound output to a VAC line and then that would get routed. I doubt it will raise the volume any higher though.

shango · « **Reply #27 on:** January 17, 2012, 12:42:14 PM »

Might give it a try, it's not free though and it's not worth paying for just for that use.

Kalle · « **Reply #28 on:** January 17, 2012, 02:54:00 PM »

Quote from: shango on January 17, 2012, 12:01:27 PM

So with vac i can set my tts output to spdif and vac can re route it out of my hdmi?

I've tried with 4.1 Sound on my office pc too, and it works, i can route the tts to all speakers separately