Author Topic: Microphone(s) not working (Vista) (Read 310 times)

Azlad · « **on:** April 15, 2008, 08:43:52 PM »

Unfortunately as of today my microphone and the three others I tried are not working. I was just curious if anyone has any ideas as to what could be preventing me from using the microphones.

Symptoms:
No sounds recorded from microphone.
Computer Recognizes Device and says it is working properly.
The mute button on the microphone is in the functional position (To prove I am not retarded).
Plugged into the right jack.
No static or fuzz heard, which leads me to believe it is something to do with the device in the computer, not the externals at all.

If you guys have any reccomendations let me know =)

Azlad · « **Reply #1 on:** April 15, 2008, 08:52:13 PM »

Update:

It actually works, but with full microphone boost and volume adjustments maxed out, I sound faint at best.

Ghost!Ryder! · « **Reply #2 on:** April 15, 2008, 09:00:37 PM »

probably a simple setting. make sure that your soundcard software is sync'ed with your windows default. They could be conflicting.

Vert! · « **Reply #3 on:** April 15, 2008, 09:41:13 PM »

Thats how mine is Azlad.... I have my shit jacked up WAAAYYY high and people still tell me they cant hear me.

The_Phantom · « **Reply #4 on:** April 15, 2008, 09:42:06 PM »

i can hear you das you just have a cock where the mic is supposed to be

FatherTed · « **Reply #5 on:** April 15, 2008, 09:45:13 PM »

nah... azlad, i'm having the same problems. Not being a big user of ventrilo, I installed it recently and planned to start using my mic. Hmm... same problems and symptoms you are having. I went an updated drivers (crappy realtek stuff) etc... only to destroy my iw3mp.exe (multiplayer install of COD4). I've gone through countless forums and sites that describe how you can get COD4 running again by such BS remedies as uninstalling/reinstalling the sound card drivers, plugging a mic in, etc...

I'm on my 3/4th reinstall of COD4 and nothing looks good right now.

So, be careful with trying to fix your mic probs with COD4.

Also, I'm very well experienced in hi-end PC music recording, editing, hi-end mics, etc... in fact I've used this same PC to record several songs with cakewalk and audacity, so it was all working fine before install COD4 and their MILES sound system.

I'm screwed.

B34v15 · « **Reply #6 on:** April 16, 2008, 01:19:22 AM »

jebus....

Here is some advice...

Have you eliminated each layer of the problematic device(s)?

- For starters, it will be easy to see if it is Application specific. Try using the in-game chat for COD4 for one test. If that appears normal, then it is tied to the app you have issues with. You can do this with any other app that is supposed to use the mic as input, etc.

- Eliminate the OS as an issue. Find a known good system that can utilize the hardware and test that. If the good system works it properly, then it is likely OS/Driver related.

if it looks like it is hardware related, then u know the answer. If it is Application related, i would have to underscore Ghost's reply and say it is likely something very trivial in settings somewhere.

If it seems related to the OS/Driver side, this is where as each year goes by, i get further and further from understanding Windows. When i was pushing out servers 200 at a time, my procedure was basic:

- Boot to safe mode.
- Uninstall device and all drivers.

Then since this is an audio thing, do some testing...
If you can, get an analog mic or ANY known good mic you may have EVER had working on your box. Perform some of the tests above to see if things are working. If you cant do any other comparative tests post-removal... next...

- Eliminate your sound system as an issue. In most cases, when it is the sound system, it is a driver issue. Try to test your sound system to eliminate any issues that may be there.

Moving back inward, if you have gotten the system back to device-free working status, you can proceed with a new install attempt.

It is amazingly critical for Winblows that you install USB devices in VERY SPECIFIC SEQUENCES as dictated by the MFGR's instructions.

If you then follow all the instructions on re-install of the device, and it is still giving you issues. The next 2 steps are final....

1 - call tech support for the device.

2 - Get out of windows.

Some of that shit was a bit sarcastic, but most was just my logic stream.

Final idea.... if your staying in Windows, setup a "Time Machine" like backup system that u can have automated or run pre-install of ANYTHING. This is really something that FatherTed could apparently use.

In my 22 years of computer engineering experience, Windows OS/Driver issues are in general, a win or loose situation. Either a simple re-install process will remedy the situation, or it requires in-depth dissection and repair or re-install Windows.

sad but true.

Ghost!Ryder! · « **Reply #7 on:** April 16, 2008, 02:01:16 AM »

Quote from: FatherTed

nah... azlad, i'm having the same problems. Not being a big user of ventrilo, I installed it recently and planned to start using my mic. Hmm... same problems and symptoms you are having. I went an updated drivers (crappy realtek stuff) etc... only to destroy my iw3mp.exe (multiplayer install of COD4). I've gone through countless forums and sites that describe how you can get COD4 running again by such BS remedies as uninstalling/reinstalling the sound card drivers, plugging a mic in, etc...

I'm on my 3/4th reinstall of COD4 and nothing looks good right now.

So, be careful with trying to fix your mic probs with COD4.

Also, I'm very well experienced in hi-end PC music recording, editing, hi-end mics, etc... in fact I've used this same PC to record several songs with cakewalk and audacity, so it was all working fine before install COD4 and their MILES sound system.

I'm screwed.

realtek drivers? is that not for onboard sound through your motherboard? you record for a music group and dont even use a basic sound card? wowsers!

And for anyone out there that doesnt have a sound card, know that adding one will likely add 10-20 fps to your game easy. This is becuase it offloads the processing off of the motherboard. Same logic as having a GPU instead of using onboard video.

Azlad · « **Reply #8 on:** April 16, 2008, 03:53:11 AM »

I fixt it. It was global on the microphone, thats for sure. Not sure what fixed it but I modified 3 system settings on the microphone device itself and it magiced back to normal. Not sure how. Thanks for the help everyone =D

B34v15 · « **Reply #9 on:** April 16, 2008, 04:39:03 AM »

i am glad u are fixed! woohoo! now, get on my team so i can TK you!

Ghost,
When u added your card, did u add nothing else at the same time?

FatherTed · « **Reply #10 on:** April 17, 2008, 01:09:00 AM »

Mine is fixed now too, after downloading a previous version of the realtek drivers, and finding one particular setting (setting it to stereo mix) -- whatever!

Ghost, I normally don't record on this pc. When I first got it, I tried it out to see how well it would do (dual core, athlon etc...) It recorded fine, except for a little noise from the card.

Snub_Fighter · « **Reply #11 on:** April 17, 2008, 01:55:54 PM »

A quicker fix would have been to go back to xp, everyone knows vista is garbage even microsofts own execs...

ukHazard · « **Reply #12 on:** April 17, 2008, 06:31:04 PM »

Yeah I had an issue with Stereo Mix that caused CoD4 to crash... and Saturns ears to hurt on Vent cus my settings were fucked.