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Azza ☠ Feb 14, 2015 @ 8:16am 
What kind of microphone is he using? Attached to a headset or separate?

Try connecting to the rear, rather than using front panel. It should be minimum difference in most cases, but some motherboards / pc cases have lower quality connector cables at the front panel, which affects audio slightly. Another option is to disable other port microphones.

Update to the latest RealTek drivers.

Start -> Control Panel -> Sound -> Recording -> Microphone -> Properties -> Enhancements -> Disable all sound effects

DC Offset Cancellation which mutes the microphone if it determines it is "too loud". You want to remove that and just reduce loudness yourself.

Under "Realtek HD Audio Manager" at the top-right > "Device advanced settings" > Select it to separate all devices.

Under "Microphone Effects" just have "Noise Suppression" enable, to help reduce any static.

Microphone levels at 100 + boost of +30.0db is far too high. My own microphone level is at only 25, however for Realtek I believe it should be around 85 and/or the boost needs to be reduced slightly. If you want level at 100, reduce boost to around +10db. The trick is reduce the levels to zero then slowly bring them back up, then match to what works best for you. Watch the microphone green bar (Control Panel > Sound > Recording > Next to Mic), while speaking normally into it. Make sure it's not too low or high, no static, etc.

Locate the program "MicCal.exe" under Reaktek or select "Microphone Calibration" under the Audio Manager. Give that a try, if all else fails. This could make it better or worst.

Also, under Steam > Settings > Voice. Detect Audio Devices. Test Microphone and set volume levels for that so it stays in the greens.
Last edited by Azza ☠; Feb 14, 2015 @ 8:30am
#1
Cloughster Feb 14, 2015 @ 9:04am 
Hi thanks for the fast replys, he is using a headset with the mic attached, this one:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/E-Blue-Headset-Headphone-Earphone-Microphone/dp/B00G65MIU8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423347540&sr=8-1&keywords=e-blue+headset

I will ask him to try these things when he comes back online thank you very much!
#2
Azza ☠ Feb 14, 2015 @ 9:56am 
Ohm levels on that headset are low 16 ohms (standard is 32 ohms). At lower power levels, lower impedance in the headphones can allow higher volume levels (sensitivity being equal).

High-impedance headphones are designed for studio-like applications where there may be multiple phones wired in parallel receiving an input signal from one source. Low-impedance headphones are designed to be plugged directly into a single source, and can more effeciently generate sound from the lower level input signal.

Aka - The more direct to the source they are and disabling other sound sources, the better they should work.

Microphone sensitivity: ≥58dB

It's quite high, so hopefully the noise cancellation will cut out the background. However if the background noise is too close and louder than the voice, it might be assuming it to be the voice. Therefore noise cancellation might be lowing the voice volume instead - toogle this to check.

You should probably get a can of compress air and clean out the pc fans from dust, if they really are that loud. Move the PC case away from walls, ensure a good airflow, no blockages. This will also lower heat, and the fans shouldn't have to work so hard (spin faster = more noise).

All the best with solving that issues!
Last edited by Azza ☠; Feb 14, 2015 @ 9:57am
#3
Cloughster Feb 15, 2015 @ 4:03am 
Thanks for your help the problem is resolved!
#4
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All Discussions > Steam Forums > Hardware and Operating Systems > Topic Details
Date Posted: Feb 14, 2015 @ 7:12am
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