Users can adjust audio output/input level and select which devices are used to reproduce or capture audio signal.
¶ Versatile Audio
Select the option Enable versatile audio when your thin client has more than one audio device connected to it and you need to use them, you will need to establish a hierarchy for their use. Typical examples are thin clients having several audio peripherals connected simultaneously like: integrated micro and speakers in the device, display connected via HDMI with integrated speakers and micro, further micro integrated in a connected webcam, headsets/headphones connected via USB, bluetooth or jack-in/out, etc.
Be aware that enabling the Versatile Audio will disable the hotplug option.
Also, the default output device will change to ThinOX Audio Out with volume 100% and the default input device will change to ThinOX Audio In with gain 100%.
Deselecting the Enable versatile audio will automatically revert all parameters to the previous settings if the thin client has not been restarted; otherwise, the output and input devices will be reset to any of the existing ones and the volume and gain will be reset to 100% and 25%.
¶ Enable Versatile Audio
Select the Versatile Audio option. A pop-up window will warn you, it is necessary to reboot the thin client to apply changes. Click on Yes.
Then, click on OK to close the Sound Configuration Applet window.
Click on Confirm Changes to close the Configuration Settings window.
A pop-up window will warn you The system needs to reboot to apply changes. Click on Yes to proceed.
After the reboot, open again the Sound Configuration Applet configurator. You will now see the Versatile Audio is enabled.
Proceed by configuring the Versatile Audio, you need to create specific rules on the Versatile Audio Out and Versatile Audio In tabs.
A specific device can be selected to create the reproduction/recording rules for the specific VID and PID of the device in a specific bus and port where the device is connected (e.g. PCI or USB). Alternatively VID, PID, BUS and PORT can be left empty in order to match any device of the same type independently from how it is connected.
The sound will be played/recorded only on/from all the devices included in the toppest rule, if and only if all the devices included are active, i.e. they are all connected, turned on and connected accordingly to bus/port indicated in the rule definition.
¶ Detected Devices.
The list of detected devices is reported on the left side of each Versatile Audio tab.
ThinOX updates the list automatically, whenever it detects any changes in the available audio devices (e.g. devices are plugged-in/out). Every column header in the device list can be clicked to order the device list.
¶ Activation Rules
The list of activation rules is reported in the right side of each Versatile Audio tab.
The rules represent the way audio devices must be used for the sound reproduction or recording.
A rule can be composed by a single device or by a set of devices. A group is active if and only if all the devices in the group are detected and properly connected to the system.
The order of the rules represent its priority. ThinOX will play/record sound through all the devices included in the topmost active group of devices. A group is active only when all the devices combined in the same rule are detected and properly connected to the bus/port defined in the rule.
To give the highest priority to a rule, place it at the top of the Activation rules list. Use the Move Up and Move Down buttons to change a rule position.
¶ Creating Rules
¶ Rules with a single device
Select a devices to create one rule. It is possible to create more than one rule at the same time. Once the devices selected, the button Create Rule(s) is enabled and can be used to create a new rule for each selected device.
E.g. Select two or more devices as shown in the image below.
Press the Create Rule(s) button.
It will create a rule for each detected device that has been selected.
¶ Rules with multiple, composite devices
Use the Combine & Create button to create a rule involving two or more devices (to enable the button, you need to select at least two devices).
The new rules created either via the Create Rule(s) or the Combine & Create commands will be appended to the rule list. If necessary, their priority can be later be changed through the buttons Move Up and Mode Down.
¶ Adding devices to rules
The button Add to Rule(s) can be used to include another audio device (e.g. a new device just plugged-in the system) to already existing rules. I.e. it results in composing the new device with the other devices already grouped in the selected rules.
When one or more devices in the Detected devices and one or more rules in the Activation rules are selected, the button Add to Rule(s) is enabled. If all the selected audio devices on the left-side list are pressed, they will be automatically added to all the selected rules on the right-side list.
NOTE
Added devices are always appended to the selected rules, even if the same devices are already included in the respective groups. Rules can be edited (see the section below) to remove devices from the group. However, duplicated devices do not create any issue to the rules.
¶ Editing Rules
To edit a rule, select it and double click on it.
It is possible to modified the specific parameters of each device entry (bus, port name, VID, PID, volume).
Click on the Save button or press Enter from the keyboard to confirm the changes. Viceversa, the changes performed can be cancelled/discharged by clicking the Discard button or pressing ESC from the keyboard.
¶ Editing rules to flexibly match different audio devices.
When editing a rule, it is possible to clean some of the parameters and leave one or more fields empty. When the bus, the port number, the VID and/or the PID fields are empty, the rule will match any value of the respective parameter.
For example, it is possible to:
- Define rules matching any device of a specific vendor: in this case, set a value of the VID and leave the PID empty.
- Define rules matching a specific device (setting the VID and PID) independently from how it is connected to the system: in this case, leave the bus and port name empty.
¶ Removing single audio devices from a rule
When editing a rule, the button X (remove) is available on every row of the rule/group (see image below).
Click on the X to remove the row instantaneously and permanently.
Be careful when removing devices from Rules:
The button Discard (or the keyboard button ESC) will not have any effect once you removed devices through the X button.
¶ Resetting rules Volume/Gain
To change the volume/gain of one or more groups at once, first write the desired volume (see image below). Then, press the button Reset Volume to.
Note:
The default volume of 60% and the default gain of 40% have been determined to be a good choice for having a good experience when the option Enable versatile echo cancellation & noise suppression is enabled. The Reset volume/gain to value is used when using the buttons Create Rule(s), Add to Rule(s) and Combine & Create.
¶ Rules Testing
In the Detected devices area of the Versatile Audio Output/Input tab, select the devices to test which rule will be applied.
The button Test Rules simulates a runtime condition where ThinOX detects exactly the selected devices on the left-side list and allows to see which rule in the right-side list would be used by ThinOX during runtime for the sound reproduction/recording. As above explained ThinOX applies the first matching rule, so at most only one group of devices (the top-most matching one) could result from the test function.
In the example below, we want to test which rule will be applied with the 2 devices that have been detected. Resulting the first group which includes only the device with PID 3198.
If we change the priority of the rules in the above example, moving up the Group 3 to be the top most rule; this will be the rule to be selected.
Instead, if we want to test which rule will be applied with the device PID=3198 and Port Name: analog-output-speaker, the rule to match is the Group 3. Neither group 1 nor group 2 do not match since the first one refers to another Port Name and the second one requires both devices.
Finally, if there is no rule matching the selected device(s), a message will appear.
¶ Enable versatile echo cancellation & noise suppresion
By enabling the option Enable versatile echo cancellation & noise suppression, the sound is processed to identify and remove noise coming from the environment. E.g. a monitor that includes audio speakers and microphone, the mic receives as input also the sound coming from the speakers (output audio) creating an echo.