On this dialog you can select the active input and output lines of your soundcard, and you can also adjust the volume of each line. These controls are identical to the volume settings of Windows. The actual input and output lines that are available on your system depend on your soundcard.
Overtone Analyzer will never change the audio settings by itself. However, other software might (for example some internet-telephony programs), so check the input source and volume before each recording.
Recording Source
This is the input line from which to record audio data when you press the record button. In most cases you probably want to record from the microphone. Many soundcards also offer a Mono Mix or What you hear option. This records the current output of your soundcard, which can be useful to record sound from videos or internet radio, or to record the piano and overtone sounds created by Overtone Analyzer itself.
The Mic Boost button increases the sensitivity of the microphone. This button is not available on all soundcards or may be called differently.
Recording Volume
This determines the input level of your recording. This slider can also be found on the toolbar. It is very important to set this so that the full dynamic range is used without clipping to get a good recording. A clipped signal will cause artefacts in the spectrogram.
Recording Volume too high
Recording Volume ok
Active Output Lines
These are the output lines whose sound is passed on to the speakers of your computer. The actual lines available depend on your soundcard. If you are using speakers, it is important to turn off the microphone here to prevent feedback. However, if you are wearing headphones you might want to enable the microphone to hear your own voice from the outside.
Piano and Overtone Instrument
Here you can choose the instruments you hear when you press the piano keys and the overtone sliders. The available instruments are the standard MIDI instruments, and their sound depends on the quality of your soundcard. Their volume is controlled by the MIDI Volume slider.
However, there is one exception. The Pure Sine Wave option is not a MIDI instrument. Instead, it uses a sine wave generator that uses the wave output line. Consequently, its volume is controlled by the Wave Volume slider.
Overtone Analyzer can play tones of arbitrary frequencies or pitch, not just those found on the piano keyboard. However, the pitch of MIDI tones can only be set with limited accuracy, although in practice it should be good enough. The sine wave generator creates pure tones with perfect accuracy.
