FAQ

Speech Production and Perception I - Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Does Speech Production and Perception I run on Windows^® XP, Windows^® 2000 or Windows^® Vista?

A. Due to a number of incompatibilities with Windows^® 2000, Windows^® XP, and Windows^® Vista we cannot recommend use of SPPI with these operating systems.

Speech Production and Perception I will not operate in a "limited user" account on Windows^® XP. It is necessary install and run the program in an "Administrator" or a "Power User" account.

All video clips in the unit on Consonant Acoustics are lacking audio playback from within the course. These videos can be played properly through Windows^® Media Player. There have been reports of occasional program crashes, and an inability to record on some machines.

Q. I have installed Speech Production and Perception I successfully on Windows XP, but when I double click the CBCAP icon on the desktop the program fails to run. What's wrong?

A.The program will run under Windows XP, but XP doesn’t like to associate the .tbk files to the proper executable without some coaxing.

Here are the steps to manually associate the .tbk files:

1. With the SPPI disc in the drive navigate to your CD-ROM drive through “my computer” and right click on the cbcap.tbk file

2. Select properties from the drop-down list

3. On the general tab in properties, next to “opens with” click on the change button

4. Click “browse” under the opens with dialog box and navigate to C:\WINDOWS\ASYM\RUNTIME… Select the executable MTB30RUN.EXE and click open.

5. Click “OK” on the opens with dialog box and “OK” on the properties dialog box.

6. Now try running the program from the CBCAP icon in the start menu or the desktop shortcut.

This should do the trick. If you are still having trouble, please write us at support@sens.com, and provide a full description of the problem.

Q. Does Speech Production and Perception I require any additional PC hardware to be installed in order to function?

A. No. Speech Production and Perception I utilizes your Windows^® compatible sound card or audio adapter, but requires no installation of additional hardware. Some PC’s are sold without sound cards or audio adapters. Users must acquire and install their own.

Q. Does Speech Production and Perception I require any additional peripherals for the PC?

A. Yes. If you want to record your own spectrograms using the courseware, you will need a microphone. Additionally, in order to hear the audio output from SPPI, the PC must be equipped with either loudspeakers or headphones (more desirable for lab and library settings).

Q. Can Speech Production and Perception I be installed on a server, or must it be installed on individual PC’s?

A. SPPI’s license agreement stipulates that each disk may be installed on only one CPU. However, for lab settings, server installations are possible, provided that license monitoring software is in place, or another means of enforcing license policies is in effect. Contact Sensimetrics directly for questions about discounts available for multiple licenses and server installations.

Q. Does the Speech Production and Perception I CD-ROM have to be in the CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drive to run?

A. Yes, unless you have an authorized server-based installation. SPPI contains over 100MB of sounds and images, and so is most efficiently stored on a CD-ROM.

Q. What sound card should I use with Speech Production and Perception?

A. Speech Production and Perception has been used successfully with Creative Labs SoundBlaster 16 series sound cards, including SoundBlaster 16 Value Pack (both ISA and Plug and Play) and Creative Labs SoundBlaster AWE 32 sound cards (both ISA and Plug and Play). SPPI has also been used successfully with built-in (motherboard) audio chipsets compatible with the Creative Labs SoundBlaster series.

Q. What microphones can be used with Speech Production and Perception I?

A. Any microphone compatible with the PC’s sound card can be used. The best results are obtained with directional microphones that have a flat frequency response from approximately 50 Hz to at least 15 kHz. A blast shield or windscreen (to prevent overloading transients from stop consonants when the microphone is held too close to the mouth) is also desirable.

Q. What headphones can be used with Speech Production and Perception I?

A. Any headphone compatible with the PC’s sound card can be used. The best results are obtained with headphones that have a flat frequency response from approximately 50 Hz to at least 15 kHz. Many headphones that would be used in moderate-fidelity music-listening systems are adequate. Users have used Sony Walkman headphones, insert-style headphones, and traditional padded "cup"-style headphones successfully.

Q. Can I print from Speech Production and Perception I?

A. No. Not all printers (even laser printers) support printing detailed gray-scale images, therefore a printing facility is not available within the program. However, shareware and commercial screen-shot software may be used to produce printable images of SPPI displays.

Q. The buttons in the Speech Production and Perception I window look funny and have gray borders around them. What’s wrong?

A. Speech Production and Perception I is designed to be used with 640 x 480 displays. When run on a 640 x 480 display, SPPI uses the entire screen; this is usually optimal for overhead projection or classroom demonstrations on a monitor. When used with 800 x 600 or higher resolutions, Windows^® must be set to use small fonts. In the Windows^® Control Panel, select Display … | Settings … to find an appropriate display resolution.

Q. The "flying gray strip" appears in "Spectrograms/Going from spectra to a spectrogram 4" disappears on subsequent pages. What’s wrong?

A. Generally, this is due to video acceleration features on various graphics controllers. Since the flying strip is made by painting the gray shading and then "unpainting" it, some controllers appear to optimize away the operation. This is especially prevalent on PCs that run fast enough that the paint/unpaint operations would occur within a single video frame time (typically 1/30th of a second.)