Troubleshooting

No Sound Input

Be sure your computer has a microphone. Many computers have built-in microphones; others require a separate mike to be plugged in. Your microphone should be plugged in before you start Intonia.

In the Windows version, near the upper right corner of the screen are the volume controls, that look like this:

On Windows, if the microphone icon is missing, it may mean your computer does not have a sound card, or the sound card does not support microphone input. On some Windows computers, the microphone icon will will not appear if the microphone is plugged into the input jack after Intonia is started. If your computer does not allow microphone input, you can still analyze pre-recorded .WAV files with Intonia, but you will not be able to record new sounds.

Be sure you've selected the microphone as the sound source. On Windows, go to Settings - System - Sound and choose the correct input device.

On MacOS, select the microphone as follows:

  1. Click Apple Menu -> System Prererences -> Sound
  2. Select the input device.

Low Volume for Sound Input

On Windows, the slider under the microphone icon on the volume controls controls the input level. It should be as high as it will go without causing the VU meter next to it to turn red.

On Windows there is a separate master input volume control that cannot be manipulated by Intonia. To access it, open the Control Panel and select Sound. Choose the Recording tab, and make sure the correct microphone input is selected. Then click "Properties", and select the Levels tab. The microphone volume should be as high as it will go.

On macOS, the volume sliders do not appear. To control the input volume, use the following procedure:

  1. Click Apple Menu -> System Prererences -> Sound -> Input
  2. The input level meter shows you how loud or soft the sound from the selected input device is registering.
  3. Drag the Input Volume slider left or right to lower or raise the input volume.

No Output Sound or Incorrect Volume for Output

Make sure your speakers are turned on and that they're properly connected to your computer. Make sure the volume slider is at a reasonable level, and that Mute is not checked.

In the Windows version, if the speaker icon is missing from your volume controls, it means your computer is not capable of playing sounds. You will be able to use Intonia to visually analyze pre-recorded .WAV files, but you will not be able to play the sounds back through your speakers.

On Windows, there is a separate Speaker Volume control that Intonia is not able to control. You can access it using the little speaker icon at the right end of your taskbar. Make sure the volume level is reasonable and the speaker is not muted.

On macOS, the volume sliders do not appear.

  1. Click Apple Menu -> System Prererences -> Sound
  2. Click Output.
  3. Drag the Volume slider left or right

Poor Results analyzing sound from YouTube or other Digital Sources

If your sound card supports "What You Hear" as an input source, you can send the audio from YouTube or the output of a software MP3 player directly into Intonia where it can be analyzed or saved as a .WAV file. If you do this, it is important that you set the Sample Rate For Recording on the Audio Tab of the Options dialog to match the sample rate of the source. YouTube audio has a sample rate of 22,050 KHz. MP3 files have various rates: use a tool such as Audacity to find out the sample rate of each file.

Clicking "Record" Does Not Start Recording

If you click "Record" and nothing happens, check the state of the "Pause" button. The Status Display to the right of the Transport Controls will include the word "Paused" when the pause button is depressed.

By default, One-Touch Play/Record is turned on. In this mode, Intonia will automatically open a new file in "Recording, Paused" mode, and open an existing file in "Playing, Paused" mode. This makes it easy to start and stop recording or playback by simply pressing the spacebar.

"Not a Supported Audio File Type" Error

If you get an error message "File xxx.wav is not a supported audio file type", it may be because the .wav file uses the Microsoft ADPCM encoding instead of the usual PCM encoding. Some inexpensive voice recorders create .wav files with this format. However, the Java Sound package that Intonia depends upon does not support Microsoft ADPCM.

If you have a file that is in this format, you can convert it to PCM encoding by using Audacity to read the file, then "Save As" to create a copy.