microphone Problem with using wired mic + wired eaphones (which also have a built-in mic) with splitter cable (single 3.5mm port on laptop)

[HottoDogu]

Hello, so i bought a Boya BY-M1, and i'm trying to use it in conjuntcion with my Blon BL-03. I use a laptop (ASUS Vivobook Pro 15), so to get around the sole 3.5 connector for both in/out i got a Ugreen 2x1 audio splitter (1 male 3.5mm, 2 female 3.5mm). But Windows (11) seems to have some problems with my setup, beacuse it keeps using the laptop mic instead of the boya (or the blon's).

 

I tried downloading Voicemeter to figure thing out, but ended up even more confused (don't even know if it's the right software for my needs).

It seems i have the following input devices/drivers:

• Intel Smart Sound mic group - default laptop mic
• Realtek Audio Microphone - whichever input device mic is prioritized by the connection
• Realtek Audio Stereo Mixer - internal windows system audio, apparently?

 

I tried to do some tests, and only the laptop mic is consistently showing sound being picked up when using headphones. Sometimes the Realtek Mic driver works with the Blon's mic, sometimes with the Boya, but not with both connected. And the Realtek Mixer only picks up windows system sounds (is this right?). Could it be the BL-03s mic interfering?  Can i even use the splitter with two input devices (Boya on one end and Blon's sound+mic on the other)?

 

When testing which device was paired with which driver, a few different cases occured:

• If both the Boya and the Blon were conected (with splitter, using "headphones with microphone" concector option) --> Audio came through Realtek Mic, but using the Blon Mic instead of the Boya.
  • If both the Boya and the Blon were conected (with splitter, using "microphone input" concector option) --> Same thing as before. Realtek Mixer gets only windows system audio (Which feedbakcs with the laptop speakers, btw, but it stops if i mute the input A channel (?)). 
• If only the Boya was directly connected (using "microphone input" concector option) --> No audio.  
  • If only the Boya was connected through splitter (same connector option) --> No audio.
• If only the Boya was directly connected (using "headphones with microphone" concector option) --> Audio came through Realtek Mic. (yay!?) 
  • If only the Boya was connected through splitter (same connector option) --> No audio.
• If only the Blon was directly connected (using "headphones with microphone" concector option) --> No luck, Realtek Mic picks up nothing and Realtek Mixer is still on system audio.   
  • If only the Blon was connected through splitter (same connector option) --> No mic input detected from the Blon.
• If only the Blon was directly connected (using "microphone input" concector option) --> Audio came through Realtek Mic. 
  • If only the Blon was connected through splitter (same connector option) --> Audio came through Realtek Mic. 

 

So, yeah... i'm confused. Any help figuring this out? I just want to use the BY-M1 Mic as input combined with the BL-03 IEMs as output.

 

Extra: Beyond that, I decided to test with another headphone as output device, the HD250BT (which does have a built-in mic, but at least it's not using the same 3.5mm port, as it's bluetooth). With the HD250s as headphones and the Boya as mic (using "headphones with microphone" conector option) the input works. This way, i can choose between the Boya, the built-in laptop mic or the HD250s mic for input device (and the HD250 is, surprisingly, the best sounding of the three? best reception at least, the Boya is low even when clipped to my chest/neckline, and only captures voice clearly when direclty in front of my mouth. Any tips for better sound capture on it? Be it with voicemeter or any other software). As it stands, if i can't make the BY-M1 work better for me then i'll probably return it and keep using the HD250s mic for calls.

[skimmilk5]

Which splitter did you get? How many rings are on the splitter? Some 3.5mm jacks have a TRRS configuration for single-pole microphone and stereo headphones, while others just have TRS to multiple TRS, simply for multiple stereo headphones.

 

Regarding your input/output devices, the Intel Smart Array is a software microphone that uses the Realtek-driven hardware. It applies software "fixes," but it's really only software. You might actually be able to remove that entire Smart Array driver and just use Realtek hardware microphones. In that case, Realtek's drivers are responsible for automixing the microphone array and switching between the different inputs. Windows doesn't like having multiple inputs and multiple outputs.

[Psittac]

This is an inherent problem with the TRRS configuration, it's just a design flaw because the mic and the output share a ground so there is bleed over, I believe that I even tested this on a schiit fulla and still got bleed over so it's the cable and the connector that are the issue, no way I know of around it.

[HottoDogu]

19 hours ago, skimmilk5 said:

Which splitter did you get? How many rings are on the splitter? Some 3.5mm jacks have a TRRS configuration for single-pole microphone and stereo headphones, while others just have TRS to multiple TRS, simply for multiple stereo headphones.

 

Regarding your input/output devices, the Intel Smart Array is a software microphone that uses the Realtek-driven hardware. It applies software "fixes," but it's really only software. You might actually be able to remove that entire Smart Array driver and just use Realtek hardware microphones. In that case, Realtek's drivers are responsible for automixing the microphone array and switching between the different inputs. Windows doesn't like having multiple inputs and multiple outputs.

It's this splitter here: https://ugreendobrasil.com.br/produto/cabo-de-audio-ugreen-av134-3-5mm-macho-para-2-femea-25cm-2/
So it has 2 stripes on the male end (TRS, right?), but the BY-M1 seems to be TRRS (it's smaller and has 3 stripes), while the BL-03 is also 2 stripes. The laptop port seems to be TRRS too, btw. 

Should i disregard voicemeter+virtual cable and just use the realtek drivers for sound I/O then?

@Psittac so there's nothing i can do to make both work? If i pair the BY-M1 with a micless headphone (like dt-770-pro), would it work through the splitter? Or maybe a 3.5mm to type-c dongle for the mic?

Also, any tips on drivers/software/Voicemeter config for making the best use of the BY-M1? i've got voicemeter setup like this to use with the HD250 as output, according to some videos/experimentation:

 

It's still having trouble capturing sound when not directly in my face and, even then, the voice is muddy when compared to the HD250 mic, so i'm on verge of just giving up and returning the Boya and sticking with the HD250 for calls.

[skimmilk5]

Essentially, how the Realtek driver detects if something is if one (and only one of the rings) is present. Different jacks do this in different ways, most have two pins around the ground ring, so if the ground ring is present, both pins show low resistance, meaning that something is plugged into the jack.

 

The issue is that your TRS splitter is only compatible with headphones. It's a pretty simple thing: the tip on the male end goes to both tips on both female ends, the ring on the male goes to both rings in both female ends, and the sleeve on the male end goes to both sleeves in both male ends. If you wanted to plug two headphones in and listen to the same thing, this splitter would work just fine.

 

My suggestion would be to get a simple USB sound card that has both a microphone input and a headphone output, like this one from Amazon US. The sound card will show up as having an single microphone input and a single audio output. In whichever application you're using, just select the sound card as the input and output device.

[HottoDogu]

2 hours ago, skimmilk5 said:

Essentially, how the Realtek driver detects if something is if one (and only one of the rings) is present. Different jacks do this in different ways, most have two pins around the ground ring, so if the ground ring is present, both pins show low resistance, meaning that something is plugged into the jack.

 

The issue is that your TRS splitter is only compatible with headphones. It's a pretty simple thing: the tip on the male end goes to both tips on both female ends, the ring on the male goes to both rings in both female ends, and the sleeve on the male end goes to both sleeves in both male ends. If you wanted to plug two headphones in and listen to the same thing, this splitter would work just fine.

 

My suggestion would be to get a simple USB sound card that has both a microphone input and a headphone output, like this one from Amazon US. The sound card will show up as having an single microphone input and a single audio output. In whichever application you're using, just select the sound card as the input and output device.

Thanks for the explanation! and yeah, i'll try that external USB adaptor. Any tips on the mic sound issue (or mauybe i should close this topic and open a separate one for that)?

[HottoDogu]

@skimmilk5 actually, i just noticed that listing says the adaptor doesn't support TRRS for the mic, so it wouldn't work for the BY-M1, no? Is this the case for all of this kind of sound card? I couldn't figure it out just by looking at similar products descriptions.

[skimmilk5]

Based on that, presumably no. I'd recommend getting a compatible mic that does TRS.