Mic just refuses to work....

[Tanar]

I have 4 different mic.All of them work on other pc. I tried directly plugging them to my pc.Doesn't work. I bought USB sound card and connected mic in it.Doesn't work.I tried using bluetooth.I can only hear sound.Mic doesn't work. I checked control panel and everything seems to be normal. Mic gets detected but just doesn't work. I don't understand why?

[DraconisMaximus]

I'm going to assume this is Windows 10/11.

Two easy things to miss are double checking that you have selected the correct active audio devices in Windows settings / action center (some unexpected devices like game controllers can override these. Then, make sure that your Windows privacy settings allow for audio use both generally and in your chosen application.

 

[Blasty Blosty]

Have you made sure it isn't disabled in control panel? Or you have set that mic to the default?

[Tanar]

Just now, Blasty Blosty said:

Have you made sure it isn't disabled in control panel? Or you have set that mic to the default?

Yes. Enabled and set to default.

[TatamiMatt]

What audio device is selected?

What connector does it have 2.5mm jack

or 2x3.5mm jacks on a built in splitter

or USB etc

 

Im assuming its a built in mic/headphone combo?

[Tanar]

6 minutes ago, TatamiMatt said:

What audio device is selected?

What connector does it have 2.5mm jack

or 2x3.5mm jacks on a built in splitter

or USB etc

 

Im assuming its a built in mic/headphone combo?

I make sure to select the device that i plug in.

connectors are 3.5mm.

I have a 1 mic/headphone combo 1 bluetooth earbud and 3 separate headphones and mics. Only headphones work. Mic part doesn't work.

[OddOod]

Welcome to the forums!
What make and model are your mics?
Have you tried front panel and rear and sound card inputs?
Are you sure they're plugging into the correct jacks? Most PCs don't have headphone/mic combo jacks.
Have you updated drivers for your mobo and devices?
Is this new behavior or has it never to your knowledge worked?
How are you testing? Audacity? Discord? Zoom?
Can you screenshot your Recording tab in the old Sound panel?

[TatamiMatt]

15 hours ago, Tanar said:

I make sure to select the device that i plug in.

connectors are 3.5mm.

I have a 1 mic/headphone combo 1 bluetooth earbud and 3 separate headphones and mics. Only headphones work. Mic part doesn't work.

I know that in realtek at least there is a headset option instead of a headphones option, the headset option being a mic/headphone combo if you have 1 single audio jack, which will tell realtek to use both at once (the mic and speakers) through one jack

[Tanar]

15 hours ago, OddOod said:

Welcome to the forums!
What make and model are your mics?
Have you tried front panel and rear and sound card inputs?
Are you sure they're plugging into the correct jacks? Most PCs don't have headphone/mic combo jacks.
Have you updated drivers for your mobo and devices?
Is this new behavior or has it never to your knowledge worked?
How are you testing? Audacity? Discord? Zoom?
Can you screenshot your Recording tab in the old Sound panel?

One of my mic is BOA BY-M1. Others are generic mic and headphones.

I tried every input of front and rear panel . I also selected 'mic in' in realtek audio console to detect the mic.

I updated drivers,BiOS and reinstalled windows.

It worked before but suddenly it is not working.
Tested in audacity, zoom, whatsapp, messenger, voice recorder.

 

 here's a screenshot..

[Tanar]

1 hour ago, TatamiMatt said:

I know that in realtek at least there is a headset option instead of a headphones option, the headset option being a mic/headphone combo if you have 1 single audio jack, which will tell realtek to use both at once (the mic and speakers) through one jack

I don't see a headset option in the software. But I have 5 audio jacks. all of them can be configured as 'mic in' , 'speakers' or , 'headphones'.

[OddOod]

This is very strange. 
The 3.5mm combo jack you have on the headsets should be able to pass audio in correctly to at least a mic jack. You should in fact be able to plug an aux cable into the headphone and the mic jacks and see the output audio as a mic source (used to do that to get pandora into the mumble chat #oldSchoolCool). Something is going terribly wrong if none of these solutions work. 
Is it possible that you are going too fast in your testing to really truly verify a specific solution is not working?
Another option would be to try booting to a linux live USB and see if there's just something weird going on in windows. 

[Tanar]

3 hours ago, OddOod said:

This is very strange. 
The 3.5mm combo jack you have on the headsets should be able to pass audio in correctly to at least a mic jack. You should in fact be able to plug an aux cable into the headphone and the mic jacks and see the output audio as a mic source (used to do that to get pandora into the mumble chat #oldSchoolCool). Something is going terribly wrong if none of these solutions work. 
Is it possible that you are going too fast in your testing to really truly verify a specific solution is not working?
Another option would be to try booting to a linux live USB and see if there's just something weird going on in windows. 

I have been trying different things for months now. Can you explain the Linux live USB thing a little bit? I haven't tried that one yet..

[NinJake]

This is a very thorough guide into creating a bootable linux (ubuntu) usb. You essentially set this up on a USB, plug it in to your PC, and boot from the USB rather than from your SSD/HDD and boot manager for windows. (It will not affect any of your files unless you explicitly start messing around with the files on your drives, if you really want to be safe, unplug any sata cables or unseat any m.2 drives) It will help sort out if it's a windows problem or a hardware problem.

 

https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/create-a-usb-stick-on-ubuntu#1-overview

[Matacks]

On 2/19/2025 at 12:25 PM, OddOod said:

Welcome to the forums!
What make and model are your mics?
Have you tried front panel and rear and sound card inputs?
Are you sure they're plugging into the correct jacks? Most PCs don't have headphone/mic combo jacks.
Have you updated drivers for your mobo and devices?
Is this new behavior or has it never to your knowledge worked?
How are you testing? Audacity? Discord? Zoom?
Can you screenshot your Recording tab in the old Sound panel?

btw this window is very elusive.   this used to be a piece of cake to find.  i just put my PC into god mode so I can get to this particular menu more easily. 

 

 

[Tanar]

18 hours ago, OddOod said:

This is very strange. 
The 3.5mm combo jack you have on the headsets should be able to pass audio in correctly to at least a mic jack. You should in fact be able to plug an aux cable into the headphone and the mic jacks and see the output audio as a mic source (used to do that to get pandora into the mumble chat #oldSchoolCool). Something is going terribly wrong if none of these solutions work. 
Is it possible that you are going too fast in your testing to really truly verify a specific solution is not working?
Another option would be to try booting to a linux live USB and see if there's just something weird going on in windows. 

Tried live usb today. Detects the mic. Doesn't work. If its hardware issue, shoudn't the usb sound card work? It works on my laptop.

[OddOod]

This is a combo 3.5mm, right? Can you get your hands on a splitter?

[Tanar]

23 hours ago, OddOod said:

This is a combo 3.5mm, right? Can you get your hands on a splitter?

I'm going to buy one as soon as I find it. It's not available where I live right now, but I'll get back to you once I have it.

[Tanar]

On 2/22/2025 at 11:47 PM, OddOod said:

This is a combo 3.5mm, right? Can you get your hands on a splitter?

It works! After months of fiddling with settings, buying sound cards, and trying different headphones, I finally found the solution—a splitter.

Honestly, I didn't realize that my mic jacks had 3 lines(don't know the name) and my PC only has 2 line ports. My 3 line headphones worked fine, but the mic didn’t, which was super confusing.Still don't know why. I had no idea about these compatibility issues.

Thanks a lot!!!

[NinJake]

TRS vs TRRS (rings on the jack)

 

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