Ventrilo - Voice Setup
Ventrilo requires a sound card that is completely full duplex. Full duplex means that it must be able to play a sound and simultaneously be able to monitor the microphone port. Some older sound cards and not fully compliant. Bluetooth headsets will switch to a mono audio when the microphone is used.
Enable outgoing voice communications
This option enables or disables the program from transmitting voice communications when connected to a server. Another option is to mute the microphone from the main window. Disabling this option will prevent the program from monitoring the microphone port.
Use Push-To-Talk Hotkey (PTT Mode)
This option enables the Push-To-Talk mode, also called PTT Mode. Instead of using voice-activation the User can press a specified "hotkey" that instructs Ventrilo to transmit only when the key is pressed. When the key is released transmitting stops.
Use DirectInput to detect Hotkey (Windows only)
This option will turn on DirectInput mode when monitoring for Keyboard or Mouse events that would trigger the Push-To-Talk option. It will also be needed for certain games when played on the XP platform. If you are unable to get Push-to-talk to work then enable this option. One downside to this option is that the detection is passive, meaning the program cannot intercept the mouse / keyboard event and prevent it from being processed by other programs. This is why the "Discard Hotkey" option is grayed out when DirectInput is enabled.
This option must be enabled in order to detect Mouse buttons 4 through 8 and any buttons on game controllers such as joysticks and game pads.
Discard Hotkey (Windows only)
When "Use Push-To-Talk" is enabled this option will let you discard the "hotkey" whenever it is pressed. This prevents the rest of the system from trying to use the PTT key. For example, if your designated hotkey is the "ESC" key and this option is enabled, then no other program will see the "ESC" whenever its pressed or released. If this option is not enabled Ventrilo will still see the ESC key being pressed and released but all other programs will see it as well. The severity of not having this option enabled will depend on which key you chose to assign as the "hotkey" and what other applications you have running at the same time.
It is highly recommended that you enable this option if you enable PTT mode.
Play Key Clicks
This option enables or disables key click sounds whenever the signal strength reaches or drops below your sensitivity value when using Voice Activation. It is an audible feedback when starting/stopping transmitting a voice stream but not when other Users are transmitting, and only you will hear them. They will also be played when using Push-To-Talk option.
Hotkey
This field specifies the hotkey when "Use Push-To-Talk" is enabled. Once focus is in this edit window you will not be able to "tab out" of it and the word "TAB" will be displayed as the hotkey. It is possible that the TAB key might be what the User wants to use as the hotkey. This also applies to all other keys once focus is set to the hotkey edit box. Use the mouse to move out of the edit box to change the focus and the rest of the keyboard will become fully functional again.
Multi-button hotkey support requires that you have "Use Direct Input to detect Hotkey" enabled. You simply need to hold down one button and/or key while you press another button and/or key. Multi-button support is unique in that it can be any combination of keys and buttons from multiple devices. It can be two keyboard keys, two mouse buttons or two game controller buttons. It can also be a keyboard key combined with a mouse button or game controller button. There is no limit to the combination or sequence of devices.
If you want to always use PTT Mode but wish to always rely on the PTT Advanced binding system then you can enter two buttons that would be very unlikely to be pressed at the same time, such as F1 and F12. This way you would satisfy the need for the hotkey while at the same time be telling the program to activate when these two button would never be pressed at the same time.
Game controllers or third party devices that provide Direct Input button events are automatically detected when the "Use Direct Input to detect Hotkey" option is enabled. You need only have focus set to the Hotkey field and the program will automatically detect the device button and its associated details.
Silence time
This option is used with voice activation and controls the amount of time that the signal coming from the microphone must be consistently below the Sensitivity value before it will automatically stop transmitting.
Sensitivity
This option is used for voice activation only. Enter a number that will indicate the signal strength at which point you want the voice activation to start transmitting. Click here to see extended help information on using this option.
Ducking (Windows 7 or newer only)
This button will open the Ducking setup window.
Test with
Codec
Note: The server dictates the codec and format that will be used when communicating with other Users on the same server. This option is provided for you to experiment with the different codecs and format selections. If you are currently connected to a server then these options will be set to what the server has dictated so that you can see what the configuration currently is.
When you click the "Test" button the Codec and the selected Format will be used so that you can here what it will sound like when the recording is played back.
Format
This option is the second part of the Test with - Codec. However, it allows you select the specific formatting to be used for the selected codec. It will also show the average bandwidth usage for the selected codec and format. Please note, these numbers are averages and actual bandwidth consumption will be slightly higher due to network and protocol overhead.
If you are currently connected to a server and then press the Setup button then the Codec and Format fields will be automatically set to what the server has defined for use. Changing these values while connected or disconnected will not effect which codec and format is used when communicating with other Users on the same server. The codec and format is dictated by the owner of the server.
Monitor
This button is used to start monitoring the selected input source (i.e. microphone). It is used when trying to determine a good sensitivity value. The tall list box next to the button will display numbers showing the signal strength. Press the Monitor button again to end monitor mode. See Sensitivity for more details.
Test
This button is similar to the Monitor button. Instead of displaying a continuous scrolling signal strength meter in the tall list box it will wait for the voice activation signal strength to be reached (or the Push-To-Talk key to be pressed) and will begin recording your voice. When the signal strength drops below the specified sensitivity value for a period specified by "Silence time" (or you release the Push-To-Talk hotkey) the program will stop recording and playback everything that was recorded. See Sensitivity for more details.
If you selected a Codec and Format then the recording will be compressed and then decompressed before it is played back to you.
SFX (currently not available on Macintosh)
This button will open the Special Effects setup window where you can define special effects that can be applied to all inbound voice streams.
Output device
This option lets you choose which audio device to send incoming voice streams to (ie: Speaker/Headphone). Note: This option appears in different tabs of the setup program. The one appearing on the Setup Voice tab is for incoming Voice streams only.
Input device
This option lets you choose which audio device to use for the input source (i.e. the Microphone).
Level (Macintosh only)
This slider controls the strength of the microphone signal.
Hardware Input Mixer (Windows only)
Mixer
If you do not select a Mixer then you should be aware of what is involved with manipulating your systems recording and playback mixing control. Click here for configuring system wide mixer controls. However, selecting a Mixer in Ventrilo is the easiest route and will afford you better control over your input device.
This option lets you enable more advanced control over the input source. When "None" is selected then all input controls must be manually configured via the "Recording Control" panel. If you have more then one input source (sound card or USB devices) please make sure that you match the correct mixer with the same "Input device" option. When selecting a specific mixer the program will then enable the Mux, Line and Line Volume controls.
When this option is enabled the program will do several things in an effort to make the system more usable:
1) The Mixer, Mux, Line and Line Volume info is saved and restored each time you start the program. This means you shouldn't have to worry about resetting the input source and hardware volume level.
2) The program will cycle through all of the possible input sources and then finally select the desired line.
3) When using Ventrilo in its normal operation mode, the program will generate messages to the "ventrilo.log" file if another program tries to change the input level. This is very useful for detecting sound input problems caused by any other microphone monitoring program.
Mux
Under normal conditions there should be only one possible selection displayed in this option. However, if you do see more than one then please let us know what Operating System and Sound Card you are using. The option exists should that scenario ever occur.
Line
This option lets you choose the input source line for outgoing voice communication. Normally you would set this to the "Microphone" option or whatever your sound card calls it. Which one you choose here will determine which fader is controlled in the "Line Volume" slider.
Line Volume
This option is only active when a Mixer, Mux and valid Line have been selected. It gives you direct control over your sound cards input fader, usually associated with the Microphone but can be any source Line that you select. This is the best way for controlling the signal strength as most of the work will be done by hardware rather then consuming CPU time. It will also produce the best sound quality versus using the Outbound Amplify option.
Note: If you are having problems getting a reasonable signal strength from your microphone then go to your systems sound settings and make sure that you have any signal boost options enabled.
Amplifiers
Outbound
This is a software amplification option that is useful for when you have the Hardware Volume turned up all the way but its still not loud enough. It can be handy for when your microphone just isn't up to snuff and should be used as a last resort. When the Amplify value is set to 0 no amplification or attenuation is performed and will not consume any CPU time.
Inbound
This is a software amplification option that is used for increasing or decreasing the volume of incoming voice streams. This is useful for when incoming voice comms are drowning out game sounds. When the Amplify value is set to 0 no amplification or attenuation is performed and will not consume any CPU time.
System Sound Control Panels (Windows only)
Playback (Output)
This button will open the Operating Systems Sound Playback control panel.
Please note that if you have more then one sound card then you will need to tell the sound playback control panel which device it is you wish to manipulate.
Recording (Input)
This button will open the Operating Systems Sound Recording control panel. If your are having problems selecting the sound input source line or the hardware mixer options are not functioning properly then this control panel will aid you selecting the sound input source.
Please note that if you have more than one sound card then you will need to tell the sound playback control panel which device it is you wish to manipulate.