6 Audio devices

Two types of audio devices will be discussed below: the speakers and the microphone.

The speakers connect to the computer tower, and communicate sounds  (noises, music, or voice) to you. When you first connect them, a software program will generally open itself up, which will be some form of an ‘installation’ program (ie a program which will install the speakers for you). It may be called “SetUp” or “Wizard” or “Install” or something similar; but they all do the same thing. Read through the steps, follow the instructions, and you will have installed your speakers ready for use.

You may then want to adjust the speaker settings. You will probably be able to do this manually, turning the volume knob on the front of one of the speakers itself, but you may also need to adjust the settings within the computer. To do this, you will need to go to the Desktop (your initial screen) and single left click on ‘Start’. Find ‘Control Panel’, and single left click on it. You should see an option called ‘Sounds and Audio devices’ or something similar. Double left click on that option, and read through the window which opens. Under ‘Sound playback’ or ‘Voice playback’, or where you see a picture of a speaker, your computer may also tell you which ‘jack’ (slot) the speaker needs to be inserted into, in the tower. Ensure yours is in the correct ‘jack’, otherwise your speakers may not work! Adjust the settings for the speakers as you see fit, then click out of the window by pressing ‘OK’. If you don’t want to change any settings, you can click out of the window by single left clicking on the red ‘X’ in the top right corner of the window.

The microphone also connects to the computer tower, and is the device through which you can send your voice to your computer. When you first connect it, just as when you connected the speakers (above), a software program will generally open itself up, which will be some form of an ‘installation’ program. Read through the steps, follow the instructions, and you will have installed your microphone ready for use.

To check / adjust the microphone settings within the computer, you will need to go to the Desktop (your initial screen) and single left click on ‘Start’. Find ‘Control Panel’, and single left click on it. You should see an option called ‘Sounds and Audio devices’ or something similar. Double left click on that option, and read through the window which opens. Under ‘Sound recording’ or ‘Voice recording’, or where you see a microphone picture, your computer may also tell you which ‘jack’ (slot) the microphone needs to be inserted into. Ensure yours is in the correct ‘jack’, otherwise your microphone may not work! Adjust the settings for the microphone as you see fit, then click out of the window by pressing ‘OK’. If you don’t want to change any settings, you can click out of the window by single left clicking on the red ‘X’ in the top right corner of the window.