That title says it all. I desperately try to become a regular user of MCE but, so far, met with a so dismal level of SR that it is unusable for my flights, and quite frustrating.

Of course, I first trained the SR engine at length both with the default Microsoft and MCE training programmes, and this much more than once(!!!) so as to make sure I would have no excuse for the programme not to perform up to requirements, but in spite of that and of my brand new hardware (Intel I7 940, 4GB, onboard sound card SoundMax with latest drivers, Windows XP3, FS9.1), I can eventually get my IFR clearance after five to ten trials, but loose it after being unable to get my acknowledgement understood by ATC...

Just for info, I am an FAA Instrument licensed pilot with a couple of thousand hours under the belt, so this phraseology is not really new to me, I make sure to follow what is in the MCE manuals and speak at the same speed and tone as during the trainings. So I am really curious to understand what I do wrong and what you do right as you seem to enjoy a no fault score?!

Is any of you (successful users) using a computer with a soundcard integrated on the motherboard? Can this be a factor? If so, what sound card are you using? I asked the MCE support (excellent by the way) but their answer was less than clear. the fact that this system is brand new and very powerful should allow normally any programme to perform as advertised. My microphone is also top notch and my room absolutely dead silent. So what else can you figure?

Thank you for your precious input.
Best regards from Switzerland.

Jean-Claude

It certainly works fine on my system with integrated SoundMAX card.

Had it working previously with a Realtek onboard sound.

Have you checked your sound drivers?

From my experience, recognition is better when i talk in a more casual way, rather than be extremely careful with what i say.

Hope it helps.

From what i gathered, although you may benefit from having a top of the range dedicated sound card, it is the last bit you should consider, after CPU, RAM.

Thanks for your feedback. Because one of you is using (successfully) the same hardware than mine, I could clearly understand that this was not a hardware problem and lead me to the software side to discover that the technician of the shop where I bought my PC a couple of months ago, had not completely installed the SoundMax software. This was very difficult to identify since my training sessions were giving a 99% successful recognition rate, and all my sound and voice recognition settings had been thoroughly checked by the MCE support.

To make a long story short, I installed the SoundMax software from scratch and immediately my SR level with MCE jumped to a very decent 75 to 80% rate. That's what I call a breakthrough and I want to take this opportunity to repeat my laudative comments of the MCE support, even though my problem was impossible for them to identify from a distance, they patiently guided me and answered my numerous questions which - for most - were not for them to resolve...

I am now waiting for their addons support for PMDG, LevelD and a few other top aircraft, it promises to raise the bar even higher. Again thanks to all and have a great time with MCE.

Warm regards.

Jean-Claude