![[H]ard|Forum](/styles/hardforum/xenforo/logo_dark.png){kind=logo}
i just got my first headset to get my zombie killing on in left 4 dead and i'm having a major barrier to entry. i really need someone with audio expertise to read this entire post and help me figure out what the hell the problem is with my setup. i've been tweaking settings for over a week with no good outcome. i need to deduce where the problem is and how to fix it. i am sooooo confused about all of this.
here's my setup:
i've had a pair of koss ur30 headphones for over 5 years and they are the most comfortable headphones i've ever owned and they sound pretty good to boot. i specifically chose this headset because it had the exact same circumaural headphone design, but with an attached microphone. i really do not want to hear any replies such as "this headset sucks" or "get a better headset" or basically anything that is playing the blame game. i am convinced there has to be a solution to this problem somehow but i do not have enough expertise to fully deduce the problem or formulate a solution.
here's the problem:
if i plug my microphone into the line-in jack (blue) and then fire up steam and do a mic test, i can hear myself, but i basically have to shout because the input volume is so low. the volume is all the way up and the "mic boost" checkbox is greyed out--i'm assuming this is because you can only boost the levels on the microphone jack (pink), not the line-in jack (blue).
if i plug my microphone into the microphone jack (pink), i get no input levels whatsoever. i have moved the volume slider all over the place, restarted steam, rebooted, tried using audacity to record input, nothing works.
so at this point you may think the microphone jack is possibly faulty... however, if i use a male/male 3.5mm cord and plug one end in the front speaker jack (green) and the other into the microphone jack, i do get levels. i can, for example, play an mp3, fire up audacity, hit record, and i can see the input jumping up and down to the music. then i can plug my speakers back in and play what i just recorded and it sounds great--great volume (i even had to turn it down because it was causing some distortion) and crisp sound.
i posted on the m-audio forums to see what kind of responses i could get and a company representative said to try the microphone using my on-board audio to ensure that the microphone is functioning properly.
so i removed the m-audio card from the pc, turned on the ac97 audio controller in the bios, booted up, installed the latest realtek drivers, rebooted and gave it a go. the on-board line-in jack exhibits pretty much the exact same behavior as the m-audio, but the microphone jack results were very different. this time i got immediate ear piercing feedback from the mic. even turning the input level down to almost nothing produced the same result. i tried speaking into the microphone and it picked up a small chunk of my sentence and began looping it over and over again. with this knowledge, i don't really know where the problem lies.
taking things a step further, i emailed koss to ask them whether they thought there could be a problem with the microphone. they sent a reply saying it's possible that the sound card is not supplying enough power to the microphone, which would explain why i am not getting any levels using the m-audio card, but still doesn't explain the strangeness with the on-board audio feedback issue. they suggested i purchase an external power supply to power the mic--something they called a "bias supply" which they said could be purchased through them or from radio shack or best buy. i've googled that for over a half hour and can't find any product related to this, even on koss's own website.
i'm extremely confused at this point, because my research suggests that the microphone on this headset is an electret condenser mic, which should mean that it doesn't need any kind of external power supply! making matters even worse, i found this koss m5 microphone, which clearly states in the description that it also is an electret condenser mic, but specifically states that the M5 does require a DC voltage bias supply to power the microphone. is this something that most sound cards should have built in and the m-audio card just doesn't have it for whatever reason? and if the ac97 on-board controller does have it, why is my feedback so insane?
i sent this info from koss to the guys at m-audio, and here is their reply:
so they say it's dynamic, but other sources say it's an electret condenser mic. can it be both at the same time? i've also seen some websites specify it is a boom mic. so is it really an electret condenser dynamic boom mic?
can someone please provide me some information that can help me come to a resolution on this problem. it's driving me absolutely insane and really just shouldn't be this damn hard to get working. all i want to do is use it for chatting with my friends in game and not sound like total crap or like i'm talking through a pillow behind a brick wall.
here's my setup:
- dual boot with vista x64 and win xp pro (32 bit)
- all gaming is done in xp, but i have the same microphone symptoms in both operating systems
- m-audio revolution 7.1 sound card
- realtec ac97 on-board audio
- koss sb40 headset
i've had a pair of koss ur30 headphones for over 5 years and they are the most comfortable headphones i've ever owned and they sound pretty good to boot. i specifically chose this headset because it had the exact same circumaural headphone design, but with an attached microphone. i really do not want to hear any replies such as "this headset sucks" or "get a better headset" or basically anything that is playing the blame game. i am convinced there has to be a solution to this problem somehow but i do not have enough expertise to fully deduce the problem or formulate a solution.
here's the problem:
if i plug my microphone into the line-in jack (blue) and then fire up steam and do a mic test, i can hear myself, but i basically have to shout because the input volume is so low. the volume is all the way up and the "mic boost" checkbox is greyed out--i'm assuming this is because you can only boost the levels on the microphone jack (pink), not the line-in jack (blue).
if i plug my microphone into the microphone jack (pink), i get no input levels whatsoever. i have moved the volume slider all over the place, restarted steam, rebooted, tried using audacity to record input, nothing works.
so at this point you may think the microphone jack is possibly faulty... however, if i use a male/male 3.5mm cord and plug one end in the front speaker jack (green) and the other into the microphone jack, i do get levels. i can, for example, play an mp3, fire up audacity, hit record, and i can see the input jumping up and down to the music. then i can plug my speakers back in and play what i just recorded and it sounds great--great volume (i even had to turn it down because it was causing some distortion) and crisp sound.
i posted on the m-audio forums to see what kind of responses i could get and a company representative said to try the microphone using my on-board audio to ensure that the microphone is functioning properly.
so i removed the m-audio card from the pc, turned on the ac97 audio controller in the bios, booted up, installed the latest realtek drivers, rebooted and gave it a go. the on-board line-in jack exhibits pretty much the exact same behavior as the m-audio, but the microphone jack results were very different. this time i got immediate ear piercing feedback from the mic. even turning the input level down to almost nothing produced the same result. i tried speaking into the microphone and it picked up a small chunk of my sentence and began looping it over and over again. with this knowledge, i don't really know where the problem lies.
taking things a step further, i emailed koss to ask them whether they thought there could be a problem with the microphone. they sent a reply saying it's possible that the sound card is not supplying enough power to the microphone, which would explain why i am not getting any levels using the m-audio card, but still doesn't explain the strangeness with the on-board audio feedback issue. they suggested i purchase an external power supply to power the mic--something they called a "bias supply" which they said could be purchased through them or from radio shack or best buy. i've googled that for over a half hour and can't find any product related to this, even on koss's own website.
i'm extremely confused at this point, because my research suggests that the microphone on this headset is an electret condenser mic, which should mean that it doesn't need any kind of external power supply! making matters even worse, i found this koss m5 microphone, which clearly states in the description that it also is an electret condenser mic, but specifically states that the M5 does require a DC voltage bias supply to power the microphone. is this something that most sound cards should have built in and the m-audio card just doesn't have it for whatever reason? and if the ac97 on-board controller does have it, why is my feedback so insane?
i sent this info from koss to the guys at m-audio, and here is their reply:
so they say it's dynamic, but other sources say it's an electret condenser mic. can it be both at the same time? i've also seen some websites specify it is a boom mic. so is it really an electret condenser dynamic boom mic?
can someone please provide me some information that can help me come to a resolution on this problem. it's driving me absolutely insane and really just shouldn't be this damn hard to get working. all i want to do is use it for chatting with my friends in game and not sound like total crap or like i'm talking through a pillow behind a brick wall.
