Hello,I'm trying to set my system up to use a headset along with voice control FS2crew for the Level-D 767. I want to have the aircraft sounds come out of my speakers while the ATC (Proflight Emulator) and FS2crew sounds come through my headset. I'm running Windows7 x64 and using FSX. I've searched the PFE forums and a couple of forums here at Avsim to get suggestions. So far I've only been able to get it to work once.My headset is a Microsoft Lifechat 3000. I have an onboard sound card. Do I require a second sound card? Right now when I change my default sound device to my headset, all sounds come through the headset. Does anyone have foolproof method of setting this up? Any help would be appreciated.

Hi,Yes, you do need 2 sound cards.

Thanks for the reply Jim. I'm sure I have a spare one laying around here somewhere.

If you don't have a second sound card, I believe you can also use a USB headset - they register as a second audio device.

Bill, I'm using a USB headset, but I still can't get the sound to separate.

As far as I know, the only way of separating voice and engine noise is to go into Settings/Sounds in FSX. There you see a list of 4 sound categories:1. Engines2. Cockpit3. Environment4. Voiceand below that you can direct Sounds (1-3 above) to one sound output (e.g. speakers via your sound card) and Voice (4 above) to another (e.g. your USB headset). That certainly separates the default FSX ATC voices from other sounds. However, it depends where/how FS2Crew presents its output to FSX as to whether it considers them as Voice or one of the other categories. If it considers them as Cockpit or Environment, they will be output together with the Engine sounds. If it considers them as Voice, then they should be output in the same way as FSX default ATC. I'm afraid I'm not that familiar with FS2Crew - maybe someone using that product could comment.If it turns out that the FS2Crew voices are output as Cockpit or Environment, there is another solution which may (may) help - the GoFlight GF-ATC module takes all the output from your sound card and splits it into two outputs - one is the unmodified sound as it comes from the card (feed this to your speakers), and the other is filtered to remove (as far as possible) other sounds and optimise the presentation of voice. This can be fed to a headset, but note that it as to be analog, not USB, so you would need a different headset too. I tried going down this route myself with another product, and it worked - sort of. But I found that the analog mike on the headset was far inferior to a USB version for voice reco purposes, so I went back to piping everything through the headset, with the engine and other sounds at a lower volume in FSX.Hope that helps.

If you don't have a second sound card, I believe you can also use a USB headset - they register as a second audio device.

A USB headset has a built in sound card.

As far as I know, the only way of separating voice and engine noise is to go into Settings/Sounds in FSX. There you see a list of 4 sound categories:1. Engines2. Cockpit3. Environment4. Voiceand below that you can direct Sounds (1-3 above) to one sound output (e.g. speakers via your sound card) and Voice (4 above) to another (e.g. your USB headset). That certainly separates the default FSX ATC voices from other sounds. However, it depends where/how FS2Crew presents its output to FSX as to whether it considers them as Voice or one of the other categories. If it considers them as Cockpit or Environment, they will be output together with the Engine sounds. If it considers them as Voice, then they should be output in the same way as FSX default ATC. I'm afraid I'm not that familiar with FS2Crew - maybe someone using that product could comment.If it turns out that the FS2Crew voices are output as Cockpit or Environment, there is another solution which may (may) help - the GoFlight GF-ATC module takes all the output from your sound card and splits it into two outputs - one is the unmodified sound as it comes from the card (feed this to your speakers), and the other is filtered to remove (as far as possible) other sounds and optimise the presentation of voice. This can be fed to a headset, but note that it as to be analog, not USB, so you would need a different headset too. I tried going down this route myself with another product, and it worked - sort of. But I found that the analog mike on the headset was far inferior to a USB version for voice reco purposes, so I went back to piping everything through the headset, with the engine and other sounds at a lower volume in FSX.Hope that helps.

Dick, Thanks for the reply. FS2crew is working fine. My problem is getting my ATC(Proflight Emulator). I start all of the programs that I want to the default sound device (FSX, ASE) then I switch the default device in Windows to my headset. Then I start Proflight Emulator. In theory that should keep all cockpit and engine noise in my speakers and my ATC in my headset. Unfortunately, all sounds go to my headset and nothing from my speakers. What's frustrating is that I actually was able to get it to work correctly for one flight, but haven't been able to do it again.

Dick, Thanks for the reply. FS2crew is working fine. My problem is getting my ATC(Proflight Emulator). I start all of the programs that I want to the default sound device (FSX, ASE) then I switch the default device in Windows to my headset. Then I start Proflight Emulator. In theory that should keep all cockpit and engine noise in my speakers and my ATC in my headset. Unfortunately, all sounds go to my headset and nothing from my speakers. What's frustrating is that I actually was able to get it to work correctly for one flight, but haven't been able to do it again.

Hi Mike - the way you describe it, seems to me that all your sounds would go to your headset, if that's what you have set as the default sound device in Windows. Not sure how Proflight (or FSX) would know to separate voice and send other sounds to your speakers/soundcard unless you specify that somewhere. But that's probably my ignorance about how Proflight works. I'll leave someone more knowledgeable about that product to comment ! One observation I will make is that I've found the sound definitions within FSX sometimes change all by themselves when I do something external (like change Windows defaults or plug/unplug USB sound cards/headsets). Might explain why it worked once and then didn't !Good luck !

My actual setup is that the engine sound comes out of my speakers an the ATC through the headset. You have to register the headset as a second sound devcice, but I don´t know it anymore how this goes and you will certainly have another system as I have. It´s different on every system, but it gives you far more realism. Maybe you check the sound tab of the control panel.

SP, I checked and it's already showing as a sound device in the device manager and the sound tab. Frankly, I'm stumped.

As indicated in one of the other responses, a lot depends on how FS2Crew directs its output. The following works with a USB headset and Radar Contact which always uses the default sound device. This should also work as long as Fs2Crew sends its voice to either the system default or to FSX Voice.Simply set your default sound device in Windows to the headset. Then in FSX sound, set voice to default and others to the speakers. The Windows change is about two clicks in the control panel. To make it even easier, I put a shortcut on my desktop. Quick change to the headset when I start FSX and a quick change back when I'm done. It adds about ten seconds to your FSX preflight.

Tom, What you posted makes perfect sense to me, but I'm not having any luck. It almost seems like the problem lies when I use jet aircraft. I've tried it with the Level-d 767, the PMDG 747 and Md-11 and the sound always reverts to the headset. If I use a prop aircraft, Default Cessna 172, Real Air Duke,or the Quest Kodiak, the engine sound comes from the speakers and the voice goes to the headset. Here are some pics of my sound settings. Click on the thumbnails for a better look.

Hi,Why is Voice turned off in your FSX?

Jim, That's to block out the default ATC.