No sound?

  1. Play a CD. Do you have sound there?
  2. Check that you still have a connection to the Internet
  3. Make sure your computer has a soundcard installed. What is a soundcard?
  4. Are the speaker wires connected to the correct socket in the soundcard? Often times the wires from the speaker are plugged into the wrong soundcard socket by mistake.
  5. In Windows:
    1. Bring up the Volume control panel by double-clicking the "Volume" icon at the bottom right of the task bar. If you don't see that speaker icon...
      • Go to start, scroll down to Settings and over to Control Panels. Double-click on Multimedia in the control panel window. Under the audio tab, look for a check-box that says “Show volume control on the task bar.” Click in the box, click apply, then OK and you should see the little speaker in your task bar.
      • If there is no such check-box that probably means you need to re-install your sound card's software.
  6. Try rebooting your computer. When it restarts, do not start any other applications. In other words, after rebooting, go directly to the Internet and directly to the page where you found our audio link. Now try to play the item again.
  7. Media player software is made in different versions for different years of PCs and Macs. Did the person who downloaded the software select the correct version for your computer system?
  8. If you are using an AOL browser, try using a Netscape browser instead.
  9. Browsers: Netscape & Internet Explorer - if you are using one of them, then try using the other one.
  10. Firewalls: If you should try to use a RealPlayer at work AND NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO you can not play it, this may be due to a Firewall that your company has set up on your network. A Firewall can work two ways, it can keep certain programs/applications from being sent out and/or from coming in. Try from home if possible.
  11. WebTV does not support streaming media.

Sound level is too low?
If our audio should seem to be too low you may want to check your volume levels. Almost all computers have, at least, 3 volume settings. They are:

  1. The Player - Which has a slider on it that can raise or lower the volume.
  2. The Speakers or Amplifier - Which should have some sort of real, physical knob or slider.
  3. The Computer - Which has a digital (not a manual knob) volume setting.

Internet Issues:

  1. Poor sound/video quality, excessive buffering, and/or delays in connectivity are usually due to stressed or strained bandwidth on behalf of your ISP and the bandwidth that your ISP has available for Internet connectivity. Many Internet users are probably dialed-in to your ISP, causing congested lines and using up most or all of the bandwidth. When everyone is online it makes it hard for your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to supply the uninterrupted session which is necessary for streaming media. The worst time to visit is Sundays through Fridays from 4pm to 10pm--no matter where you live. (Saturdays and holidays are bad too.) If you are accessing us through a LAN (Local Area Network), you may experience similar problems as a result of the number of users and/or PCs on your LAN. This condition is almost always temporary, and if you try back later, you will usually experience better results.
  2. You may also experience these types of problems when your computer's resources are limited. Try not to run other applications while accessing streaming media.
  3. Intentional Interruption of Service: Most ISPs can't or won't see any activity while you're listening. They may disconnect you during your session because they may think that you're not doing anything. May we suggest that when you'd like to hear a broadcast uninterrupted that you start a new session. Clicking on any link during a broadcast may also help fool your ISP.
  4. It may also be a good idea to ask your phone company to check your phone line for noise. You can often do a good job of this your self as well…