Posted on 08 April 2011.
The Realtek High Definition Audio codecs are compliant with Microsoft’s UAA (Universal Audio Architecture). The top series provide 10 DAC channels that simultaneously support 7.1 sound playback, plus 2 channels of independent stereo sound output (multiple streaming) through the front panel stereo output. Flexible mixing, mute, and fine gain control…
View full post on FileHippo.com
Posted in DownloadsComments (0)
Posted on 07 March 2011.
But wait: is English any different? In fact, we may not be paying attention because to most of us speaking and pronouncing English comes naturally.
There are many though, for whom English is a second or a third language and it takes some effort on their part to understand the way the words are spelled and spoken. This is where pronunciation guides become useful.
Forvo.com is one of the most broad based audio pronunciation guides available on the web today. The figures sum it up – 903,848 words; 909,460 pronunciations in 267 languages. Forvo in its aim to index all the words spoken worldwide also allows “bad words” as long as they are politely pronounced and appear in well-known dictionaries. You can also find short idioms and a few known titles in the index. Everyone can record pronunciations, thus contributing to the index. The most covered languages are English, Portuguese, and Russian. The audio pronunciations are also organized in various categories like sports, science, politics etc.
The site with an ‘unpronounceable’ name defines itself as a free online talking dictionary of English pronunciation. You have to simply type in the word and mouseover the result to hear it spoken as it should be spoken. Words are pre-recorded in human voice. Pronunciation is in Standard British English, with World English alternatives like American English also provided. (See
When it’s the Queen’s Language, the BBC’s World Service has to be an important educational resource. The pronunciation tips are less of a straightforward guide and more of a how-to on the methods one can employ to understand how a word is spoken. The spelling of a word is not always an accurate guide to how it is pronounced, and that’s why BBC helps out with the sounds behind the English language.
The English pronunciation guide covers names of – people, places, and sundry other subjects like sports, religion, food, drink, and many more. For instance, if you don’t know how “Lager” is said out aloud in a bar, check out the site. Both phonetic and audio pronunciations are available. The pronunciations are in American English spoken in the general American accent. If you are still having trouble, check out the link to the pronunciation key that’s on each page. (See
Every culture has its own dialect and its own diction. Getting names right in the correct accent can save you from a red face when you visits a foreign country (or even in one’s own). This site helps out by giving you a name pronunciation guide across different languages. The names are spoken by native speakers. Some languages have few entries, but the collection is good because it attempts to cover languages which we might consider uncommon. (See
We had listed this website when we had gone over
Learning pronunciation can be fun as the series of videos on this website set out to prove. The videos are well made and each goes into the nuances of American English. Videos explain how different sounds come together to form a word. Each sound has two videos. The first is a very short video, simply the sound and an example word. The second video is a how-to video which goes deeper how the tongue vocalizes the sound. Each video also has a video text with the transcript.
SayIt takes the SMS route to help you out with word pronunciations. When you hit a difficult word, just send a SMS to the service’s number and the app will call you back with the exact pronunciation. You can also choose to hear the complete definition of the word. It is a U.S only service, though. Carrier charges may apply. The pronunciation by SMS service uses Forvo.com’s pronunciation guide at the backend. (See
Correct pronunciation also helps in spelling a word correctly. The reverse is also true to a certain extent. If you carefully examine your speech, you will see a lot of common errors we make every day when it comes to pronouncing words correctly. These useful online guides help to nip those faults in the bud.
Tell us about your struggle with pronunciations and any resource that you used to crack it.
Image Credit:
View full post on MakeUseOf.com
Posted in Useful APPsComments (0)
Posted on 03 March 2011.
The Realtek High Definition Audio codecs are compliant with Microsoft’s UAA (Universal Audio Architecture). The top series provide 10 DAC channels that simultaneously support 7.1 sound playback, plus 2 channels of independent stereo sound output (multiple streaming) through the front panel stereo output. Flexible mixing, mute, and fine gain control…
View full post on FileHippo.com
Posted in DownloadsComments (0)
Posted on 29 January 2011.
The Realtek High Definition Audio codecs are compliant with Microsoft’s UAA (Universal Audio Architecture). The top series provide 10 DAC channels that simultaneously support 7.1 sound playback, plus 2 channels of independent stereo sound output (multiple streaming) through the front panel stereo output. Flexible mixing, mute, and fine gain control…
View full post on FileHippo.com
Posted in DownloadsComments (0)
Posted on 05 January 2011.
The Realtek High Definition Audio codecs are compliant with Microsoft’s UAA (Universal Audio Architecture). The top series provide 10 DAC channels that simultaneously support 7.1 sound playback, plus 2 channels of independent stereo sound output (multiple streaming) through the front panel stereo output. Flexible mixing, mute, and fine gain control…
View full post on FileHippo.com
Posted in DownloadsComments (0)
Posted on 05 December 2010.
The Realtek High Definition Audio codecs are compliant with Microsoft’s UAA (Universal Audio Architecture). The top series provide 10 DAC channels that simultaneously support 7.1 sound playback, plus 2 channels of independent stereo sound output (multiple streaming) through the front panel stereo output. Flexible mixing, mute, and fine gain control…
View full post on FileHippo.com
Posted in DownloadsComments (0)
Posted on 06 November 2010.
The Realtek High Definition Audio codecs are compliant with Microsoft’s UAA (Universal Audio Architecture). The top series provide 10 DAC channels that simultaneously support 7.1 sound playback, plus 2 channels of independent stereo sound output (multiple streaming) through the front panel stereo output. Flexible mixing, mute, and fine gain control…
View full post on FileHippo.com
Posted in DownloadsComments (0)
Posted on 12 October 2010.
The Realtek High Definition Audio codecs are compliant with Microsoft’s UAA (Universal Audio Architecture). The top series provide 10 DAC channels that simultaneously support 7.1 sound playback, plus 2 channels of independent stereo sound output (multiple streaming) through the front panel stereo output. Flexible mixing, mute, and fine gain control…
View full post on FileHippo.com
Posted in DownloadsComments (0)
Posted on 07 September 2010.
The Realtek High Definition Audio codecs are compliant with Microsoft’s UAA (Universal Audio Architecture). The top series provide 10 DAC channels that simultaneously support 7.1 sound playback, plus 2 channels of independent stereo sound output (multiple streaming) through the front panel stereo output. Flexible mixing, mute, and fine gain control…
View full post on FileHippo.com
Posted in DownloadsComments (0)
Posted on 13 August 2010.
You’re ready to take the plunge – do you know a safe and effective method to download audio hardware drivers? It’s worth your while to scan these helpful guidelines first – it’ll surely have an impact on your present techniques. Your windows’ various parts need occasional updating, and your drivers can become obsolete or damaged – do you take any measures to maintain your various drivers intact? I strongly advise you, before your next web search for drivers, to hear what i have to say in this brief but informative report – it’s sure to save you some hassles and headaches!
Click here to download audio hardware drivers now!
You’ve likely encountered the common and frustrating case that many of us run into where you need particular drivers and a quick web search leads back to square one: where do i find what i need? No matter what, in a situation where you seek for drivers, always try to verify you choose a legitimate and state-of-the-art version of the called-for driver(s). What are drivers anyway? This is a type of software which contains essential data on an application or peripheral device so your pc will be able to actually activate it. As you can tell, drivers can be a difficult area, but there happens to be a program which first of all examines all your devices and then quickly finds the latest version of the correct driver(s). After a simple installation of your new scanner tool, it will detect corrupted and outdated drivers and instantly replace them with new versions.
In our fast-paced society, we simply lack the necessary hours and skills to take care of our computer’s many drivers. Such a utility achieves more than a simple auto-update feature of windows as it discovers and replaces as necessary the drivers that may be found on your computer. Stay away from any drivers which were obtained from uncertain urls – believe me, you want to steer clear of trojan horses, worms etc.
Any computer user who’s about to download audio hardware drivers – the technique you’ve just become aware of brings many advantages that weren’t available in past solutions. Overall, these tools are the way to go for anyone who uses a pc, but especially for anyone who isn’t very technically-inclined or informed about these components. So now i heartily recommend that you “test drive” one of these utilities – see how it works and how it finds/updates the driver(s) that you were searching for. With each passing day, computers are growing ever more complicated and powerful; and eventually this means more potential problems and lost time for the end user. Now that you’ve reached the end of this article, hopefully you have enjoyed reading it and i’m sure it helped you to find a solution to your driver(s) issue.
Posted in UtilitiesComments (0)
Posted on 11 August 2010.
Moving Picture Experts Group-1 Audio Layer 3 or MP3 as it is commonly known is a form of audio media compression.
Digital music uses numbers to represent an analog audio waveform, which takes up a lot of space. When we rip a CD to our computer, we are bringing in an exact replica of the CD’s contents. This means using up a lot of space on our Hard drives etc.
The purpose of the MP3 is to compress a sound file for the ease of portability or transferability. When dealing with MP3 encoding, we are dealing with low frequency or auditory “masking“. This is when the MP3 algorithm uses psychoacoustics to take away frequencies that lie outside of the human hearing range, since humans can’t hear them anyway. This is also known as lossy compression, the removal of unnecessary bits that deal with the reduction of volume [removed]Amplititude).
By stripping away the low frequencies, which is needed for a proper balance of the audio file the amount of high frequencies(loudness) increases. In a stereo audio file the MP3 algorithm also removes redundant data, since the same data is duplicated on each channel.
When performing lossy audio encoding, as in the creation of an MP3 file, the creator is allowed to set a bit rate, which specifies how many kilobits the file may use per second of audio. When a lower bit rate is used it provides a relatively lower audio quality as it produces a smaller file size. Files encoded with a lower bit rate will normally play back at a lower quality.
The increase in loudness may be evident when playing an MP3 file on a car stereo or CD Player, for example. Most often there will be distortion though it may be subtle. CD and other audio players have a maximum output level, defined by the manufacturer and CD standard. Distortion occurs when the output level of the MP3 goes beyond the maximum level of the playback device. The output level of playback devices can vary.
For most people the standard MP3 encoding would be fine, but for the ones with sensitive hearing it will affect their appreciation for the song.
For the discerning music listener, one way to get around this problem would be to:
– Convert song to a wave file
– Lower the master output level approx. 1 dB for headroom (this so when it is converted to MP3 format there is no peak or clipping, which could lead to distortion)
– Re-burn the audio file
– Convert the audio file back to MP3 (using a bit rate 196 or higher)
This extra step might very well be worth the while for a better enjoyment of the music.
Posted in UtilitiesComments (0)
Posted on 08 August 2010.
VoIP, or voice over IP, can save you a lot of money. Services like Skype offer free calls overseas to other computers and really cheap rates to overseas phones.
That’s all well and good, but frequently using such services results in complaints on the other end about poor VoIP audio quality. If you find yourself in this situation, don’t panic: in all likelihood this is a problem you can solve easily. You just need to tweak your home network, and your computer, to use VoIP to its fullest potential.
Again, don’t panic; it’s easier than it sounds. Take a deep breath and we’ll go over a few things you can try.
Most ISPs provide a much better rate for downloading than they do for uploading. This is important, because when you’re having a conversation on Skype or any other VoIP service you’re depending on your uploading capabilities quite a bit.
If you like downloading things from peer to peer networks such as bittorrent, you’re also uploading quite a bit. High upload rates on such services could be hogging bandwidth you need to ensure high VoIP audio quality, causing delays in your conversation or even distortion.
As such, anyone who makes use of both P2P and VoIP should seriously consider capping their upload rate in their file-sharing application of choice; you’ll find the option to do so in the network settings panel of most peer to peer programs.
I myself cap uploads at 30 kb/s, and find this leaves my calls sounding great without comprising my commitment to seeding one to one. Your sweet spot might be different, depending on the speed of your Internet access, so experiment (and post your findings below!)
You might not be getting all you possibly could out of your wireless network. If not, the VoIP audio quality of conversations made using that network will certainly be compromised.
One common problem with WiFi setups, particularly in urban areas, is using a saturated channel. WiFi uses radio waves, and too many networks on the same frequency can lead to a slow connection…and lag in VoIP conversations.
Free web app WiFi Stumbler can show you how many networks are on a given channel, meaning it’s the perfect way to find out if this problem is affecting you. If your channel is crowded simply access your router’s configuration tools and change the setting to an empty one. Not only will your VoIP work better…your Internet will be faster in general.
Speaking of your wireless network: is it secured? If not your neighbours could be using up all your uploading capability without you even realizing it. It’s admirable to want to share your Internet access with the community, but if you want to make high-quality phone calls over your internet connection it might be time to raise your shields.
Access your router’s configuration tools and enable WPA encryption. For more detailed information check out Aibek’s article How To Secure Your Wireless Network.
Still having trouble? The problem might not be your Internet connection. Check your computer’s volume levels and ensure your microphone is loud enough. It may seem obvious, but you’d be amazing how many times I heard complaints about being hard to hear only to realize my mic settings were too low. It never hurts to check!
Still have problems? Your microphone might not be ideal for what you’re trying to do. Many microphones built into laptops, for example, pick up not only those sitting directly in front of the computer but also a lot of background noise as well. White noise you don’t even notice may be interfering with your call, making you hard to understand.
The best fix for this is to get a better microphone. Headsets tend to work quite nicely at not picking up white noise, and can be easily found at any electronics store.
VoIP can be a very cheap alternative to a traditional phone line, particularly if you tend to make a lot of long-distance calls. Ensuring that you sound good can take some tweaking, but it’s typically worth it.
Do you have any tips to share with frustrated VoIPers? Type them in the comments below and help reduce any suffering that might be out there. Also feel free to chime in if you have any questions; the MakeUseOf community is a helpful one.
Similar MakeUseOf Articles
View full post on MakeUseOf.com
Posted in Useful APPsComments (2)
Posted on 07 August 2010.
If you’re a bit of an audiophile, then you’ll have no doubt sacrificed a couple of gigabytes for some wonderful lossless FLAC files. For newbies, FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec and is used as a high-quality alternative to lossy audio formats such as MP3 and AAC.
FLAC files are compressed by 30-50% of their original size, as opposed to the average 80% compression used by the MP3 format which makes it perfect for archiving.
There’s a world of software out there for listening to FLAC on your PC, and if you’ve used Rockbox on your iPod, Archos or iRiver then you’ll know that it works on your MP3 player too. When it comes to burning CDs a quick search reveals that there’s not much choice for the FLAC-junky. But enter Burrrn, a lightweight application for Windows that does just that.
I’ve read some pretty long-winded guides for getting albums in the FLAC format onto shiny disc. Most of them entail converting the FLAC to WAV format and then burning WAV data with your choice of CD creation software. I’ve even seen a couple that suggest converting to MP3 and doing it that way. Somewhat defeats the point of a lossless audio format, really.
Burrrn is a breath of fresh air if you want to get the job done in no time. You can grab the installer from the download section, it only weighs in at a tiny 2MB.
Upon first start you’ll be asked to set a couple of parameters, including which burner to use. If you’re a fan of virtual drives, make sure you pick the right burner here!
Did I mention just how many formats Burrrn is compatible with? As well as the obscure FLAC, Ogg Vorbis and CUE sheets there is support for MP3, AAC and APE audio amongst others. You can change which decoders are to be used on the Decoders tab, though Burrrn has already assigned some for you.
There is also built-in support for Replay Gain, designed to normalize the CD you are about to burn by adjusting the volume of each track so that it is in line with the rest of the album. You can tweak settings related to Replay Gain on the final tab in the settings window.
The GUI is clear and easy to get along with. Everything you need to get going is contained within the main window, so changing writing speed and applying ReplayGain is simple. You can even hit the On Top button to keep Burrrn in the foreground whilst you’re building a mix.
Utilising a simple drag and drop interface, creating a playlist is easy. Simply drag the files you want across and Burrrn will attempt to read any tag information it finds. You can make adjustments to titles after you have added your files, useful if you’re not the keenest of taggers. As you can see below, Burrrn has detected the tags within the FLAC files on the left and amended each field accordingly:
Those of you with single MP3 files that rely on a CUE sheet (often used for live mixes and recordings) will be pleased to know by simply dragging the CUE sheet into burn individual tracks will be created – just make sure the MP3 file is in the same directory and named accordingly.
You can also use multiple filetypes to create a mix, so bring your FLACs, WAVs, OGGs and MP3s together for one big party on the same CD.
As it stands, Burrrn is still my number one choice when I need to burn an audio CD. I started using it for FLAC and gradually became sick of Nero’s resource-intensive way of doing things so I switched completely. If you’ve been looking for a better way to burn FLAC, CUE or OGG to CD, then look no further than Burrrn.
Do you have any tips for burning FLAC to CD? Is there another application you have found works better? Have you recently ditched Nero or other paid software for freeware? Let us know in the comments!
Similar MakeUseOf Articles
View full post on MakeUseOf.com
Posted in Useful APPsComments (6)
Posted on 07 August 2010.
If you’re a bit of an audiophile, then you’ll have no doubt sacrificed a couple of gigabytes for some wonderful lossless FLAC files. For newbies, FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec and is used as a high-quality alternative to lossy audio formats such as MP3 and AAC.
FLAC files are compressed by 30-50% of their original size, as opposed to the average 80% compression used by the MP3 format which makes it perfect for archiving.
There’s a world of software out there for listening to FLAC on your PC, and if you’ve used Rockbox on your iPod, Archos or iRiver then you’ll know that it works on your MP3 player too. When it comes to burning CDs a quick search reveals that there’s not much choice for the FLAC-junky. But enter Burrrn, a lightweight application for Windows that does just that.
I’ve read some pretty long-winded guides for getting albums in the FLAC format onto shiny disc. Most of them entail converting the FLAC to WAV format and then burning WAV data with your choice of CD creation software. I’ve even seen a couple that suggest converting to MP3 and doing it that way. Somewhat defeats the point of a lossless audio format, really.
Burrrn is a breath of fresh air if you want to get the job done in no time. You can grab the installer from the download section, it only weighs in at a tiny 2MB.
Upon first start you’ll be asked to set a couple of parameters, including which burner to use. If you’re a fan of virtual drives, make sure you pick the right burner here!
Did I mention just how many formats Burrrn is compatible with? As well as the obscure FLAC, Ogg Vorbis and CUE sheets there is support for MP3, AAC and APE audio amongst others. You can change which decoders are to be used on the Decoders tab, though Burrrn has already assigned some for you.
There is also built-in support for Replay Gain, designed to normalize the CD you are about to burn by adjusting the volume of each track so that it is in line with the rest of the album. You can tweak settings related to Replay Gain on the final tab in the settings window.
The GUI is clear and easy to get along with. Everything you need to get going is contained within the main window, so changing writing speed and applying ReplayGain is simple. You can even hit the On Top button to keep Burrrn in the foreground whilst you’re building a mix.
Utilising a simple drag and drop interface, creating a playlist is easy. Simply drag the files you want across and Burrrn will attempt to read any tag information it finds. You can make adjustments to titles after you have added your files, useful if you’re not the keenest of taggers. As you can see below, Burrrn has detected the tags within the FLAC files on the left and amended each field accordingly:
Those of you with single MP3 files that rely on a CUE sheet (often used for live mixes and recordings) will be pleased to know by simply dragging the CUE sheet into burn individual tracks will be created – just make sure the MP3 file is in the same directory and named accordingly.
You can also use multiple filetypes to create a mix, so bring your FLACs, WAVs, OGGs and MP3s together for one big party on the same CD.
As it stands, Burrrn is still my number one choice when I need to burn an audio CD. I started using it for FLAC and gradually became sick of Nero’s resource-intensive way of doing things so I switched completely. If you’ve been looking for a better way to burn FLAC, CUE or OGG to CD, then look no further than Burrrn.
Do you have any tips for burning FLAC to CD? Is there another application you have found works better? Have you recently ditched Nero or other paid software for freeware? Let us know in the comments!
Similar MakeUseOf Articles
View full post on MakeUseOf.com
Posted in Useful APPsComments (5)
Posted on 07 August 2010.
If you’re a bit of an audiophile, then you’ll have no doubt sacrificed a couple of gigabytes for some wonderful lossless FLAC files. For newbies, FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec and is used as a high-quality alternative to lossy audio formats such as MP3 and AAC.
FLAC files are compressed by 30-50% of their original size, as opposed to the average 80% compression used by the MP3 format which makes it perfect for archiving.
There’s a world of software out there for listening to FLAC on your PC, and if you’ve used Rockbox on your iPod, Archos or iRiver then you’ll know that it works on your MP3 player too. When it comes to burning CDs a quick search reveals that there’s not much choice for the FLAC-junky. But enter Burrrn, a lightweight application for Windows that does just that.
I’ve read some pretty long-winded guides for getting albums in the FLAC format onto shiny disc. Most of them entail converting the FLAC to WAV format and then burning WAV data with your choice of CD creation software. I’ve even seen a couple that suggest converting to MP3 and doing it that way. Somewhat defeats the point of a lossless audio format, really.
Burrrn is a breath of fresh air if you want to get the job done in no time. You can grab the installer from the download section, it only weighs in at a tiny 2MB.
Upon first start you’ll be asked to set a couple of parameters, including which burner to use. If you’re a fan of virtual drives, make sure you pick the right burner here!
Did I mention just how many formats Burrrn is compatible with? As well as the obscure FLAC, Ogg Vorbis and CUE sheets there is support for MP3, AAC and APE audio amongst others. You can change which decoders are to be used on the Decoders tab, though Burrrn has already assigned some for you.
There is also built-in support for Replay Gain, designed to normalize the CD you are about to burn by adjusting the volume of each track so that it is in line with the rest of the album. You can tweak settings related to Replay Gain on the final tab in the settings window.
The GUI is clear and easy to get along with. Everything you need to get going is contained within the main window, so changing writing speed and applying ReplayGain is simple. You can even hit the On Top button to keep Burrrn in the foreground whilst you’re building a mix.
Utilising a simple drag and drop interface, creating a playlist is easy. Simply drag the files you want across and Burrrn will attempt to read any tag information it finds. You can make adjustments to titles after you have added your files, useful if you’re not the keenest of taggers. As you can see below, Burrrn has detected the tags within the FLAC files on the left and amended each field accordingly:
Those of you with single MP3 files that rely on a CUE sheet (often used for live mixes and recordings) will be pleased to know by simply dragging the CUE sheet into burn individual tracks will be created – just make sure the MP3 file is in the same directory and named accordingly.
You can also use multiple filetypes to create a mix, so bring your FLACs, WAVs, OGGs and MP3s together for one big party on the same CD.
As it stands, Burrrn is still my number one choice when I need to burn an audio CD. I started using it for FLAC and gradually became sick of Nero’s resource-intensive way of doing things so I switched completely. If you’ve been looking for a better way to burn FLAC, CUE or OGG to CD, then look no further than Burrrn.
Do you have any tips for burning FLAC to CD? Is there another application you have found works better? Have you recently ditched Nero or other paid software for freeware? Let us know in the comments!
Similar MakeUseOf Articles
View full post on MakeUseOf.com
Posted in Useful APPsComments (3)
Posted on 04 August 2010.
The Realtek High Definition Audio codecs are compliant with Microsoft’s UAA (Universal Audio Architecture). The top series provide 10 DAC channels that simultaneously support 7.1 sound playback, plus 2 channels of independent stereo sound output (multiple streaming) through the front panel stereo output. Flexible mixing, mute, and fine gain control…
View full post on FileHippo.com
Posted in DownloadsComments (0)
Florin Ardelian: What an amazing feature! Didn’t Firefox h...
StantonCarla: my buddy’s step-sister makes $64/hr on th...
Tug: For me it’s simply a matter of convenienc...
Justin Winokur: It is really hard for me to say one of these se...
Achraf Almouloudi: Hi, personally I were using Google docs for alm...
© 2011 APPnox. Powered by Wordpress.
