[WriteLog] USB Soundcard recommendation and setup

[Wayne, W5XD]

 >my mic is hot during SSB message playback

For historical reasons there are lots of things to know to deal with 
this. My short answer is that I think you're best off by installing the 
latest WL (11.24) on Win7 or later, and do SO2R SSB with mic switching 
and RTTY AFSK using a total of three sound devices. The very long story 
follows.

As of Windows Vista, WriteLog had two very different schemes for 
supporting sound boards. As of version 11.24 there is a third. I have 
posted a couple of pages about WriteLog's new 11.24 sound support (which 
is item #3 below):
http://writelog.com/category/sound-board
(That page is in the form of a blog--to start at the beginning, you have 
to scroll to the bottom. There is more I need to say that will be added 
later.)

1. When WL first got sound board support (in the days of Windows 3.1 
circa 1993, my how time flies), boards were expensive and the best way 
to support SO2R was to build special splitter cables and put the two 
rigs on the L and R channels of a single sound board. For all Windows 
versions from 3.1 through XP, the Windows-supported way to route audio 
through the PC involved using the old Win3.1 interface to flip mixer 
bits and manipulate mixer L/R controls. All versions of WriteLog when 
installed on XP and earlier support this, but with the caveat that the 
drivers provided with the boards actually allow flipping all those bits. 
WriteLog accomplishes L/R transmit switching by sourcing a monophonic 
signal and using the sound board mixer controls to adjust the Stereo 
Balance full Left and full Right. And it supports its "Echo Mic" by 
making the one-and-only sound board internally route its audio from its 
Mic input to its Line Out. This is the mode that is documented here: 
http://writelog.com/support2/sound-board-setup, and also is the only 
mode where the old SoundBoardCheck does anything useful. Users can even 
coerce WriteLog to use this mixer-flipping method on Vista and later, 
but when WriteLog installs on Vista and later, I purposely arranged for 
it to hide this old capability because it uses old compatibility 
interfaces that modern sound board drivers don't reliably support. (If 
you really have to know: go into WriteLog's Programs folder and find and 
run the file WlogSbControl.exe instead of WlogSbControlW6.exe).

2. As of Windows Vista, Microsoft published the Windows Core Audio API.  
On Vista and later, WL no longer plays with the mixer bits and 
levels--you have to use the Windows controls to set the levels. 
WlogSbControlW6.exe is what you get in Start menu, WriteLog V11, Sound 
Board Mixer Control. For station microphone input, you need a separate 
sound board (because, using this core audio, WL doesn't try to 
manipulate a sound board's internal audio routing). WriteLog 
accomplishes L/R switching of transmit audio by sourcing a stereo signal 
that has silence on L or R, as appropriate. Echo Mic is supported inside 
WL by reading the mic sound board channel and writing that sound--copied 
to the L or R channel as appropriate and with the other silent--to the 
"other" sound board.

3. As of WriteLog 11.24 (the most recent). WriteLog can be configured to 
use a separate sound board per rig. SO2R support and mic switching, 
then, require a total of three sound devices on your PC. WL accomplishes 
L/R transmit audio switching by sourcing a monophonic sound (or 
Left-only) on the sound board connected to the rig.

The above-referenced URL I intend to update with more technical 
information as I get around to it.

Wayne, W5XD