..........Software ISDN Audio Codec for PC
...............Software Audio over Network for PC
........Software Audio over DSL, ADSL and Internet

AudioTX Communicator Manual

1. Getting Started:  The Basics
1.1 Installation
1.2 Quick Start
        - The main AudioTX Communicator window
        - Audio controls and the Windows mixer
        - Basic operation
        - File playback during live connections
1.3 Information on Communicator's intelligent adaptive technology

Back to index page

Before you start...

• AudioTX Communicator runs on a Windows 98/NT/2000 PC with a standard Soundcard.
• For ISDN connections you will also need a CAPI 2.0 compatible ISDN card
• For Network connections, you will need a correctly installed and configured network adapter and Windows networking setup.
• You can find details of cards that we have tested and recommend (together with a list of cards that you can buy from us) in the 'Soundcard and ISDN Card' section of this site.
• We recommend a minimum PC specification of a Pentium II 300 machine and a PII 400 or above is ideal.

You should setup and test your Sound Card & ISDN cards and/or Networking setup if you haven't done so already before installing AudioTX Communicator.

To start the installation and setup process for the trial version of Communicator, simply double-click on the AudioTXCommunicator.EXE file that you downloaded from the web. Or insert the CD into your PC and if the installation does not start automatically, run the AudioTXCommunicator.EXE file from the CD. Follow the onscreen instructions, reading the instructions given, until installation is complete.

The software has now been installed, and runs in trial mode until you purchase either a software unlock key or a hardware dongle. Both of these options are explained in section 4 of this manual.

When first installed, Communicator runs in trial mode. This allows you to try out the program. All functionality is as the full, paid for version except:

• Connections are disconnected in between 8 and 30 minutes (randomly)
• Communicator 'times out' one hour after you start - you can then restart to continue testing

...Top of section    ...Back to index page

...Top of section    ...Back to index page

Audio controls and the Windows mixer

Before making your first connection, you will need to tell AudioTX Communicator which soundcard and inputs or outputs to use.

• Clicking on the Input 'Select' button bringsup a list of available soundcard(s) and their input channels (e.g. wave, mic, aux, line, cd). On most cards, you will want to select the Mic or Line input.
• Clicking on the Output 'Select' button will bring up a list of the soundcard(s) you have in your machine, and you should select the correct (or only!) one.

Once you have made these selections, you will be able to use the sliders to adjust the input and output levels where your card uses the windows mixer and just the output levels if not. (Professional sound cards do not use the Windows mixer in most cases).

Next, if your soundcard uses the Windows mixer, you should check the Windows mixer settings.

• In the record settings, select only the input channel you want to use and the main volume output (if present). On some soundcards, this just means muting the unused inputs rather than selecting the used ones.
• In the playback settings, make sure that the Wave Out channel and main volume (if present) are selected (or, as above, simply mute the others if that's the way your soundcard does it.)

Selecting an soundcard input in Communicator (e.g. Line in) does not automatically shut off any other inputs (e.g. cd, mic, aux)... you'll probably want to do this once as detailed above in the Windows Mixer and then leave alone.

Similarly, you may want to mute all outputs in your Windows mixer other than Wave Out (and the main volume).

...Top of section    ...Back to index page

Basic Operation

You should now be ready to place and receive ISDN and Network calls using AudioTX Communicator.

Most of Communicator is fairly simple to use - it's designed to be as simple as possible and work in an intuitive way.

• Outgoing connection details are entered once into the ISDN or Network phonebook and you then simply select your entry and click on the 'Dial' button.
• Incoming connections are, by default, automatically answered on either ISDN or Network.

There's more information on phonebook entries and dialling in section 2 of this manual and on answer settings in section 3.

...Top of section    ...Back to index page

File Playback during live connections

Open up the audio library - by clicking on the 'File Playback' menu bar. You can now add WAV files to AudioTX's audio library before dialling your connection. The files in your audio library can be placed in the desired order simply by dragging them to the new position in the list.

You can playback these items at any time during a live connection by highlighting the correct item and clicking on the Play button in the audio library window. The live input (say your microphone) is automatically muted during playback.

Playback can be stopped or paused at any time. When playback stops at the end of a file, the next item in the list is automatically highlighted - cued ready for playback. At any time, you can click on another file in the list and that item will be cued for playback next.

...Top of section    ...Back to index page

ISDN compatibilty issues are legendary! Communicator helps overcome these by detecting the type of unit at the remote end and helpfully reconfiguring to provide maximum compatibility. In most cases and with frequently encountered devices, e.g. CDQ Prima, Telos Zephyr, Glensound etc, this is done transparently.

In addition to this, and to make life easier, AudioTX Communicator has a level of intelligence built in that's well above what you will have been used to with other codecs.

• When a call comes in over ISDN or Network, Communicator automatically detects the type of coding - e.g. MPEG2, MPEG3, G.722, Mono, Joint-Stereo, Sample Rate etc - and sends a return using exactly the same settings. (This behaviour can be overridden using the answer settings - see section 3)
• At all times, the decoder (your receiver) will continue to detect the incoming type - so if the remote end changes its mind, AudioTX will adapt and continue to decode (play) the audio received. This also means that if the remote system is set for, say, a Joint-Stereo MPEG2 connection and you dial a Mono connection, AudioTX will send JS as requested, but will still decode the Mono audio being received from the remote device. This is often intentional rather than accidental and known as a dual-coded connection. Dual-coded connections for incoming calls are defined in the answer settings - see section 3)

...Top of section    ...Back to index page