I was looking for some sound schemes for Windows Vista on the net and compiled a short list of useful sources.

This is also a short review of SoundPackager from Stardock, which is a nice tool to manage your sound schemes in Vista or XP.

SoundPackager

Ultimate Extras

First I didn’t find any sound themes for vista at all, but I knew that Microsoft offers a few alternative sound schemes to Ultimate users. If you don’t have Ultimate, you can download them here:

Download: x86-Vista | x64-Vista

What are they like? Source: WinVistaClub

One is the Glass Sound Scheme, which makes the sound seem like they are made with glass instruments. The second is the Pearl Sound Scheme, which further extends the intentionally subtle design of the Vista default sound scheme with a richer, milky palate.

You will have to right-click on “UltSound.inf” and select “install” to add the sound scheme.

XP Users:

I’m sure that many here still use Windows XP, so I will first let you know that there is an easy way to get that vista sound scheme for XP, which might be a clear improvement. Simply use the following tool:

Vista to XP Sound Theme

How to apply a sound scheme

Alright, now back to Vista. I found a useful description how to apply a sound theme at microsoft.com

To apply a sound scheme

1. Open Audio Devices and Sound Themes by clicking the Start button Picture of the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking Hardware and Sound, and then clicking Sound.
2. Click the Sounds tab, and then, under Sound Scheme, select the sound scheme you want to use.

Sound Packager

Well, still no sound scheme! But then I stumbled on

SoundPackager

SoundPackacker is a little tool that was exactly created for tuning the sound appearance of your PC!
Stardock offers 13 pages(!!) of sound packages for that tool.

Actually, I was quite impressed how easy it was to add a soundpackage. All you have to do is to click on “Import” and locate that sound package you downloaded from one of their pages. After that click on “Apply” and you are set.

Preview of your sound scheme

Open the “control panel” and double-click on “Sound”. Under the tab “Sounds” you can now hear a preview of every sound assigned to a program event. In this example I chose the rock theme, so let’s rock!

You can now easily create your own sound scheme using all the sound themes from Stardock. Restoring the default theme is also much easier with this tool and requires only a single click.

I decided to grab this tool, because it’s pretty cheap (around 19 bucks) and very easy to manage your sound schemes. Rock on!