ANY-maze Help > I/O devices supported by ANY-maze > Other I/O devices supported by ANY-maze > Using soundcards as I/O audio devices > Soundcard configuration

Soundcard configuration

Introduction

The way Windows generates audio on a soundcard involves filling 'buffers' with the sound to play, and then asking Windows to play them. When a buffer has been played, it needs refilling before Windows can play it again. This process obviously means that there is a very short delay between switching on a sound, and the sound actually playing (due to the time it takes to fill the buffers). This delay is usually negligible, and you probably won't notice it - ANY-maze tries to keep the buffers as small as possible to minimise this delay.

In addition, starting (or changing) a sound can cause a tiny 'pop' or 'click' when the audio starts playing. ANY-maze tries to reduce this by ramping up the volume of the sound, rather than starting it immediately at full volume. This means that there's a very short period of time as the audio 'smoothly' starts, which increases the delay. As I said, this probably isn't something that you'll even really notice, but it makes the starting and stopping of audio much smoother.

If you really need the audio to start as soon as possible, and you don't mind if this causes a slight 'pop' in the sound when the audio starts, then you can configure the soundcard to minimise latency rather than to avoid pops. You can do this using the Soundcard configuration window, which allows you to change the settings for each soundcard independently:

Figure 1. The ANY-maze Soundcard configuration window

Configuring the soundcard

There are two places where you can configure the soundcard, either on the I/O page or in an I/O Device element of the protocol, when the soundcard is the I/O device you have selected.

Configuring the soundcard using the I/O page

To configure the soundcard on the I/O page, you should follow these steps:

Switch to the I/O page.

Select the soundcard in the list on the left side of the page (if it doesn't appear, it might need to be enabled using the

Set up devices button in the ribbon bar).

Click the

Configure this device button in the ribbon bar.

The soundcard's configuration window will open, where you can choose whether to minimise pops when audio starts/stops, or minimise the time it takes for sounds to start.

Note that changes to the configuration made on the I/O page will alter the default configuration of the soundcard. This is the configuration used when no experiment is open, and is the default configuration used in a protocol when you select the soundcard as an I/O device.

Configuring the soundcard from with the protocol

To alter the configuration from within the protocol, you should follow these steps:

Switch to the Protocol page.

In the protocol list select the I/O device that represents the soundcard. If you've not included such a device in the protocol yet, then add an I/O device to the protocol and then select the soundcard as the physical device. If the soundcard doesn't appear in the list of available devices, it may need to be enabled using the

Set up devices button in the I/O Page's ribbon bar.

In the 'settings' pane, to the right of the protocol list, click the Configure this device... button.