With help from Rod Hutton I found a work-around for this problem and thought it would be useful for others to know of the solution.
First, to repeat the problem: sounds from the speakers of the new Asus laptop I purchased were distorted. Chris from GW advised that changing the audio settings to disable all audio enhancements would solve the problem; however, the Conexant audio device did not have an option to disable audio enhancements, at least not in Windows 10. Rod Hutton suggested attaching a pair of USB speakers to the computer. I found a pair of Logitech S150 USB Speakers on Amazon. They're not just powered through the USB port, the audio can also be directed through the USB port. In my situation this resolved the problem. I connected the speakers, went to audio settings, selected Speakers USB Audio as the audio device, Selected configure to make those settings and then Properties. Under properties for the USB device I found a Disable Audio Enhancements checkbox. (That's the checkbox that's not present for the computer's internal audio card.) I unchecked it. Then I went into Window-Eyes, went to Devices, and for the Eloquence synthesizer I selected the USB audio device. Voila! Usable audio. I'm pleased I can now use the computer. The speakers aren't wonderful, but they cost all of $12. I'm not happy about having to use external speakers, especially since this is a travel computer, but at least I'm not in the position of having to sell the computer and start all over again. I can hope there will be a driver update. So, thanks to Rod and Chris and others who made suggestions. Richard Petty -----Original Message----- From: Talk [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Richard Petty via Talk Sent: Saturday, August 22, 2015 8:29 AM To: 'Window-Eyes Discussion List'; 'Marc Solomon'; 'Chris Grabowski' Subject: Synthesizer or Speech Card Behavior on Asus Zenbook I've written this question before and am now writing again in the hope someone else on the list has encountered and solved this problem. I purchased an Asus Zenbook notebook, installed Windows 10 and WE 9.2. The computer uses the Conexant Audio Driver. I use Eloquence, although the problem seems to occur regardless of synthesizer. In all menus and all programs, words are voiced indistinctly. Almost always the first letter is either not spoken or spoken at a lower volume level with static or a popping sound. If this can't be changed, it will be hard to work with this computer. The time has passed when I can return it. The key to the solution may be in the audio settings of windows; however, on my system there is no way to disable audio enhancements in the audio settings of Windows 10. I don't know if returning to Windows 8.1 would help, although I would be reluctantly willing to do so if it would. As far as I can tell, there are no driver updates for the Conexant Audio Driver. I've spent three weeks attempting to secure help from the Microsoft accessibility help line, and the issue has been "escalated," although there's confusion between the two call centers which seem to be somewhat independent of one another; neither center has helped at this point and I'm not getting call backs with any solution; I've been pretty patient. Asus technical support is clueless; they think there should be a disable enhancements setting, but there isn't. This is pretty much what GW tech support has been able to offer. In the meantime I have a computer that's largely unusable. I will appreciate any help. Richard Petty [email protected] _______________________________________________ Any views or opinions presented in this email are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Ai Squared. For membership options, visit http://lists.window-eyes.com/options.cgi/talk-window-eyes.com/richard.petty% 40earthlink.net. For subscription options, visit http://lists.window-eyes.com/listinfo.cgi/talk-window-eyes.com List archives can be found at http://lists.window-eyes.com/private.cgi/talk-window-eyes.com _______________________________________________ Any views or opinions presented in this email are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Ai Squared. For membership options, visit http://lists.window-eyes.com/options.cgi/talk-window-eyes.com/archive%40mail-archive.com. For subscription options, visit http://lists.window-eyes.com/listinfo.cgi/talk-window-eyes.com List archives can be found at http://lists.window-eyes.com/private.cgi/talk-window-eyes.com
