Ronniebootwest

Hi Ken, Thanks for your contrubution to this post. I notice that you are using the Audigy 2 ZS (same as me) Are you using the Platinum version, i.e. the one with the external control modem. It is when I use this and plug my mike in to the 'line input' on the front, that I get the problem with hum. I have done as you suggest and turned down the volume on the task bar but I cannot fine the 'advanced tab' that you refer to in order to turn off the Mike boost. Where is it please? Ron

I do not know where Creative got the idea that I need a 'mono' mike - I have always had a 'stereo connection. Before I installed the Audigy sound card, the onboard card was a stereo connection via a standard 3.5 plug and everything worked fine with the usual stick type mike supplied with the computer. When the audigy 2 card was fitted, there is an external module that houses all of the connections to the computer. The mike input is a 1/4 jack (stereo). I still use my normal mike via a standard converter plug. All I want to do is have a mike that I can wear on my head instead of my current mike which is of the desktop variety. I just thought that I could get one that would provide a better sound quality and have some directional abilty to cut out the sound from the ambient noises in the room. Ron

Maybe you have included photo files that are just too large! Use only jpeg files and NOT tiff or psd. When making the slides for your show (in Photoshop) keep the jpeg quality to 6 or 7. Let us know what file size you have been using up to now. Ron West

I am not sure how to recognise the type of jack you are talking about. At the moment I use the mike that came with the computer, that is a stereo connection via a 3.5 plug and I just use a converter plug to make it fit the normal (stereo) jack. I think that I would prefer a stereo mike anyway! Ron

Hi Brian, Here is the reply I had from Creative: --------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Ron Thank you for emailing to Creative Technical Support. About your issue, Here would be the minimum specs of that you require. MIC IN: 10 - 200 mV input range 600 ohms impedance Mono input

Hello Brian, 'a simple explanation' what on earth would one of your complex explanations be like? I guess what you are really saying is that a WAV file is going to be better in the long run and that attempting to convert an mp3 back to a WAV is not recommended. OK, that answers my question. I have my music stored on a 250gb hard drive so it will take me quite a long time before I can fill it with WAV files. For interest, I can say that currently I save WAV files which end up with a file size between 28 & 37 mb and I then save again as an mp3 at 320 which reduces the file size to an average 7 mb. I must be getting old, because I really cannot hear any difference in sound quality. I find that I need to have the WAV file in order to 'burn' onto a CD. Ron West

I think that we all know that mp3 files are a compressed music file that reduces the size on a hard drive - as opposed to a WAV file that takes up considerably more hard disk space. These days, it is quite difficult for the average person to detect any difference in the sound quality when a WAV has been converted to mp3. There must be a difference though and I am sure that the 'techies' will advise us. My question is this: If a track from a CD is recorded and then saved as an mp3 file and then later on you convert this up to a WAV file (using one of the many audio converters available); will the sound quality be much worse than saving the recorded track as a WAV file in the first place? One for you Brian I reckon! Ron West

Hello Brian, Wow! your post is certainly detailed (and daunting) I really am not a technical person and most of what you say leaves me quite cold. I make tutorial CD's on my computer and need the microphone for just that purpose. The standard mike that came with the computer works well enough but it is of the 'desktop' type and I have to keep my head in one position all the time so that my mouth faces the microphone. It also tends to pick up a lot of ambient noise (particularly the computer fans) I just want to be able to wear the mike on my head so that I have freedom of movement. It also needs to be able to cut out ambient noise (directional) As far as impedence is concerned, I have read the Creative documents and they are not very specific. The Soundcard that I am using is the Creative Audigy 2 Platinum ZS Pro. Oh! by the way, I reckon that a mono mike connected with a standard jack plug will be fine. Does any of that help? Ron West

Thanks for your responses. I have had a look at the 'Trust' web site and cannot see what I need. I have mentioned that I want a good quality HEADSET microphone, i.e. one that only has a mike and NOT headphones. Ron

Hi all, I posted this reply to an earlier thread, but nobody seems to have read it yet, so I am posting again here because I am keen to hear about your experiences with recording with a microphone. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am interested to learn about all experiences with recording with a microphone, using the Audigy 2 ZS Platinum (this is the external box type) I have just had one installed on my computer and now find that I cannot record 'voice' at all well. There seems to be 2 problems, 1. When I use the mike socket on the front panel, I have to turn up the gain to almost maximum. 2. When I plug into either of the two 'line inputs' I get a terrible hum from the speakers. I have checked the obvious, i.e grounding of the connected equipment and still the hum persists. I never had this problem with my previous card which was the first Audigy 2 that was released. While on this subject, can I ask for advice on the make of 'mike' (headset type) I should buy for this new card. I don't mind paying the price for a 'good' one. Ron West

I am interested to lrearn about all experiences with recording with a microphone, using the Audigy 2 ZS Platinum (this is the external box type) I have just had one installed on my computer and now find that I cannot record 'voice' at all well. There seems to be 2 problems, 1. When I use the mike socket on the front panel, I have to turn up the gain to almost maximum. 2. When I plug into either of the two 'line inputs' I get a terrible hum from the speakers. I have checked the obvious, i.e grounding of the connected equipment and still the hum persists. I never had this problem with my previous card which was the first Audigy 2 that was released. While on this subject, can I ask for advice on the make of 'mike' (headset type) I should buy for this new card. I don't mind paying the price for a 'good' one. Ron West

Hi Tom, That fixed it! The box was unchecked so I put the tick where it should be and all is now working fine. Thank you for your help. Ron

I have hit a problem with my tutorial CD's. When I make a CD tutorial with Photoshop and PicturesToExe I usually like to provide some written instructions along with the video tutorial. Recently I have started to convert a Word document into a pdf file and this works fine. However, if I have included an internet link (as a hyperlink) in the Word document - when I convert to pdf, this link just will not work. Any ideas anyone? Ron West

Hello Lisa, I agree with Roger on this one. Keep your resolution very low (even below 72 will produce reasonable images for viewing purposes) Please remember to tell people that the pictures that they are viewing on your CD, will be low res and that if they purchase a print from you - it will be of much higher quality. I have been following a recent thread on 'CD protection' and have now concluded that there is no way of preventing people from making copies of either the CD itself or its contents. Ron West

You will need a utility called 'FlashMeStay' made by Granot. Take a look on his web site Here: If you need help, email me when you have the utility Ron West ronniebootwest@aol.com

The utility I am talking about is called, 'Don't run twice' and you will find it almost at the bottom of Granot's very lengthy list of utilities. Ron

Have a look at this site and you will find a simple utility that will prevent a 'double click' from starting up 2 separate .exe files. It works a treat! Here: Ron West

One of Ken's suggestions is to use the services of I have used this particular service and can recommend them to you. However, if you want your customers to see your work at it.s best, then a full PTE slide show burned on to a CD as an exe file is a much better bet. Ron West

I have 'dabbled' with flash with some success in the past but I think the whole process is a little cumbersome and time consuming. I would like to see your example of a PTE show exported to flash. (I assume this will be a SWF file) Ron West

Hi Lin, I have to agree with your comments about this topic. There are so many web sites with this kind of music on offer these days and it takes an eternity to 'surf' them all. Perhaps you can suggest a few links to the best of the bunch. Ron West

I noticed the offer made by GUIDO from Italy. I emailed him this morning and he replied already (just a few hours) with a link to where I can download the music that I selected from his site. The quality is excellent and I would like to recommend Guido to you all. Give him a try, you will not be disappointed! Ron West. Thank you Guido for your very speedy response.

Hello Brian (and all others interested in this topic) Emotions are being really stirred up over the issue of 'copy protection' and I can understand why. If The suggestion to include a 4 digit pin number can help to prevent copies being made of a CD, then we all ought to be encouraging Igor to adopt the idea. Well done Brian, for your excellent explanations on this topic. Ron West

I have now been playing with this software for a few days (CD-Lock) and I am even more convinced that it is really not any good. I have dicovered that, in addition to my earlier observations, if you use Start > My computer and then right click to copy the CD contents to the desktop (or any other folder) the .exe of your slide show is then available to run or to simply copy into a folder of your choice. This process completely by-passes the need to enter a password to unlock the contents of the CD. Not much use at all! Has anyone else had any experience with this software??? Ron West

Thankyou Brian, your explanation is worthy of note - very informative. Barry! I am surprised with your attitude toward copying CD's! It is not just Slide Shows that get copied, CD tutorials get copied too! I agree that some slide shows are not worth copying but many are. Your own work is highly desireable and I have no doubt that it has been copied many many times. Surely you would like to prevent this from happening! Ron

Brian, On the face of it your post about the software called 'CD Lock' seems to be fine. I downloaded the trial version and tried it out - it does everything it says on the tin but it is not an effective 'CD copy protection' program, just a minor inconvenience to users. My 2 main observations are these:- 1. Using this program you can make a copy CD that has been 'locked' i.e. you will need access to a password (created by the person making the copy). When the copy is passed on to an end user this password is provided by the author. The end user can then make another copy (or copies) of the CD and pass it on to the next end user (together with the passward). This just defeats the object. 2. Another way around the 'Lock' is to first 'unlock it' with the password - this will give the user access to the files on the disk. All you now need to do is burn a new CD using just the .exe file of the show. I think that the kind of protection that is needed, is the old fashioned method where the master CD is encrypted in such a way that it simply CANNOT BE COPIED AT ALL Ron West