Reaktek microphone boost decreases automatically
I have an MSI GX660R laptop with an i7 processor, 6 GB RAM, and Realtek HD audio, which is managed by its "Sound Manager." I'm using OpenOffice Writer v3.4 and Dragon Naturally Speaking v12 with its bundled Vanaudio headset, but mic input is too quiet, so dictation suffers. If I boost input from its default of 10 dB to +20 or +30 dB, things get better, but very quickly, the boost reverts to +10 dB by itself. I've used the Dragon microphone setup over and over as well as the Windows version, setting Win's to 100 for volume, and +30 for boost. No joy! Dragon passes my microphone during setup, but then is too quiet unless I shout. I have not been able to find any solution to the self-adjusting boost problem and I'm not even sure what's causing it. If I use Dragonpad, the built-in utility for Naturally Speaking, it seemed to take the words OK, but I'm writing a novel, so its lack of features is a stopper. Dragon claims it will work with OO 3.4, and it does, but suffers from the microphone volume issue. I'm hoping someone will know how to fix this.
SOLUTION
membership
Create a free account to see this answer
Signing up is free and takes 30 seconds. No credit card required.
SOLUTION
membership
Create a free account to see this answer
Signing up is free and takes 30 seconds. No credit card required.
You need to enable MicCal by switching on Boost in the main RealTek menu.
Not easy to find. Here's a quick YouTube tutorial, ignore the theme music!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RelmsDtRkvM
Not easy to find. Here's a quick YouTube tutorial, ignore the theme music!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RelmsDtRkvM
ASKER
Hi Masqueraid, I've seen the video before, but I think he's using XP with an earlier version of Sound Manager. See my screen shot to see what I see when I have the Mic tab of sound manager open. There's no "..." option that I see. The Mic boost is under the Microphone icon next to the Mute icon. Clicking on that brings up the boost level. My frustration comes when I set the boost to +20 or +30 and Dragon Naturally Speaking readjusts it down to +10 dB, even though that seems too soft for good speech recognition. I appreciate your interest.
ASKER
I forgot to attach the file
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
membership
Create a free account to see this answer
Signing up is free and takes 30 seconds. No credit card required.
ASKER
Although I always learn something from the expert suggestions, Audacity's only value to me was validating my mic input. MicCal.exe was unknown to me and as best I can tell only is useful for earlier versions of Windows/Realtek software. I had already viewed the video suggested by Masqueraid dealing with boost. It does not apply to the more recent versions of Realtek Sound Manager, so was of no benefit. I still think the problem lies with Dragon (Nuance), which modifies Mic boost to suit itself, but leaving loudness at a marginal level (at least on my system). I hope to "cure" the problem using a USB headset, which many have recommended as the best way to communicate to Dragon, even though they bundle a standard two-plug headset by Vanaudio.
Thanks to both experts.
Thanks to both experts.
ASKER
To Masqueraid, I was unaware of MicCal.exe until your post. I found it, but it registers no Mic input at all, even though boost is +30 dB and Volume is 100. ???
Still a work in progress, but I am beginning to think it's related to Dragon Naturally Speaking, because I have not opened the program as I've been working on your suggestions, and the Mic boost has remained at +30.
I'm going to look into Audacity next, without Dragon then with it open to see what happens.
Thanks for your input!