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PC microphone troubleshooting guide

I hear a lot of stories about people not being able to get their microphones to work with their PC, with many folk even buying several mic's thinking they are faulty. I thought I could write a section on the website to help with troubleshooting.

We are going to look at firstly connecting the microphone to the PC soundcard, and then accessing control of the soundcard via Windows volume control.

In many ways this principle is similar to setting up to record from tape or vinyl, except this time we are not using the blue AUX IN port, but the pink MIC input.

At this point, I am going to assume that you have speakers/headphones connected to your soundcard output.

NOTE: the headphone output of your CDROM drive will not suffice, as this does not give you access to all the channels on your soundcard.

Your next task is to get the microphone signal audible through your PC speakers via your soundcard. Connect the mic and open up your PC volume control (usually a speaker icon on bottom right of your taskbar - Windows) If this only shows a single volume control, try double-clicking the icon to get a 'mixer' panel, or (Windows) START, All programs, accessories, entertainment, volume control.

Compare Credit Cards Compare over 300 credit cards online - apply here now! www.applyhere.co.uk     If you can't see a channel marked 'Microphone', click on properties and select microphone from the selection boxes. Connection to PC soundcard is via 'MIC' not 'Line In', try swapping it round if you are not sure. (Where colour coding is used, the 'MIC' should be pink) If you get no sound check the following: 1. Where there is a separate volume control for your speakers/headphones, check that it is sufficiently high to be audible. 2. Check 'options/properties' in your volume control mixer to see if you need to select your soundcard from a drop-down list. Now you should be ready to use your PC microphone. For USB mics, you may find that your USB device is listed as if it were a separate soundcard in the 'Mixer device' drop-down menu.

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latest update 19/01/08

Mic port type 1

Mic port type 2

Making the connection