Configuring Multiple Soundcards

Windows supports multiple soundcards, identifying them by product name in order from soundcard 0 to soundcard N. One of these soundcards devices -- the preferred device -- is used to play Windows sounds, such as those that can be played when open a folder with Windows Explorer, or when an error occurs. If your PC has two soundcards, or has integral soundcard functions on its motherboard and an add-on soundcard, you can

designate one soundcard output device as the Windows preferred device for Windows sounds and SpotCollector's audible DX announcements
designate the other soundcard output for PSK31, PSK63, AFSK RTTY via WinWarbler, and/or Phone transmission

Configuring your soundcards in this way will avoid inadvertent transmission of DX announcements and Windows sounds when you are operating PSK31, PSK63, AFSK RTTY, or Phone. To do so,

Decide which soundcard you want to use for SpotCollector's audible DX announcements and which card you will use with WinWarbler. If your PC's motherboard has integral soundcard functions on its the motherboard, this will likely already be configured as soundcard 0, and is a good candidate for playing Windows sounds and SpotCollector announcements.
Open the Windows Control Panel, run the Sounds and Multimedia Properties applet, and select its Audio tab
Note the order in which your soundcards are listed in the Sound Playback panel's preferred device selector; the first soundcard listed is soundcard 0, and the second is soundcard 1. If your two soundcards are identical, determine which is soundcard 0 and which is soundcard 1:
- switch to the Sounds and Multimedia Properties applet's Sounds tab
- select a Sound Event that shows a loudspeaker icon (e.g. "Critical Stop")
- set the Sound Volume slider to 75%
- with speakers connected to one of your soundcards, play the selected sound by clicking the button bearing a left-facing black triangle; if you hear nothing, connect the speakers to the other soundcard
- the soundcard from which sound is heard when you play a Windows sound is the one designated as the preferred device on the Audio tab; if its the first soundcard in the preferred device selector's list, then its soundcard 0; if its the second soundcard in the selector's list, then its soundcard 1.
On the Audio tab, set both the Sound Playback and Sound Recording panels' preferred device selectors to the soundcard you have chosen to play Windows sounds and SpotCollector's audible DX announcements.
On the Soundcard tab of WinWarbler's Configuration window, select the soundcard device not specified in step 4 in both in the PSK & RTTY and Phone Transmission panels

SpotCollector plays its audible DX announcements on the preferred device, so no configuration of that application is required.

Windows 7 and Windows 8

When running on Windows 7 or Windows 8, applications do not directly control the sound hardware; instead, Windows provides each application with virtual interface to the hardware managed via the Sounds window in the Windows Control Panel.

to adjust receive levels,

select the Sounds window's Recording tab

select the appropriate device by clicking its entry, and then click the Properties button to display a Properties window

select the Properties window's Levels tab, adjust the levels, and click the OK button

to adjust WinWarbler's transmit levels

right-click the Speaker icon at the right end of the Windows Task Bar

in the popup menu that appears, select Open Volume Mixer

in the Volume Mixer window, adjust the WinWarbler.exe slider

to adjust the volume of SpotCollector's audible DX announcements

right-click the Speaker icon at the right end of the Windows Task Bar

in the popup menu that appears, select Open Volume Mixer

in the Volume Mixer window, adjust the System Sounds slider

Note that in Windows 7 and Windows 8, the default output device is referred to as the default device (rather than preferred device as used in Windows 2000 and XP)