Need help desperately - audio problem

[Vyprath]

Sound that I hear through my headset, also gets played through my microphone there fore my friends can hear pretty much everything I hear.

My voice is rather quiet, other audio is loud for them, lots of static also coming from my mic.

Im using a Hyperx Cloud Alpha, I know for a fact its not the headset as I have tested it on other computers without a problem as well as owning multiple in the past with the same issues.

My PC Specs:
Computer:
CPU - Intel i5 Core 6600k - $350
CPU Cooler - H100 Liquid Cooler - $110
Motherboard - Asrock Z170 Pro4 - $270
Memory - Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 Black - $260
Storage 1 - Samsung 850 EVO 500GB SSD - $240
Storage 2 - Western Digital WD Blue 2TB - $85
Video Card - Galax GeForce GTX 1080 White HOF 8GB Video Card - $810
Case - Corsair Carbide Series Air 740 High Airflow ATX Cube Case - $195
Power Supply - Corsair CX-750 Modular 80+ Bronze Power Supply - $120
Operating System - Windows 10 PRO - 

Desperately need help, I want to fix this issue I just dont know what to replace!

[RuffRuffmcgruff]

Welcome to the forums! I'd first start by reinstalling your audio drivers for the headset. Just google *headsetname* drivers, after then check if there's an application that get's installed with hyperx and see if that's altering your voice volume etc.

[Vyprath]

3 minutes ago, RuffRuffmcgruff said:

Welcome to the forums! I'd first start by reinstalling your audio drivers for the headset. Just google *headsetname* drivers, after then check if there's an application that get's installed with hyperx and see if that's altering your voice volume etc.

No drivers are needed for my headset, I also re-installed my realtek/audio drivers not long ago which did not resolve the problem

[RuffRuffmcgruff]

Have you got another headset that you could test it with? Could be an issue with the headset controller.

[Vyprath]

18 minutes ago, RuffRuffmcgruff said:

Have you got another headset that you could test it with? Could be an issue with the headset controller.

As I said, ive had the problem with several headsets in the past, plantronics, steelseries, turtle beach and now hyperx.

[Vyprath]

12 minutes ago, Horthal said:

Have you changed the settings for the microphone under the audio settings? When I had lots of static in my microphone I found out that messing a bit with that got rid of a lot of static, of course there will be some but not as much as at first.

Yep, boost lowered the amount of static but does not solve other problems

[Vyprath]

42 minutes ago, Horthal said:

Well all I could recommend for that is to turn the audio of whatever it is you're doing down or something, not much you can do about that as far as I know.

Its pretty obvious that this is a hardware problem, im wondering whether it is my motherboard?

[RuffRuffmcgruff]

17 minutes ago, Vyprath said:

Its pretty obvious that this is a hardware problem, im wondering whether it is my motherboard?

Bit of a stretch but does anyone you know have a audio card you could test out?

[EsaT]

1 hour ago, Vyprath said:

Its pretty obvious that this is a hardware problem, im wondering whether it is my motherboard?

Some badly made gaming trinkets have had signal from headphone leak to mic.

Would require some major scew up from motherboard's designer to do same, but it's not impossible.

 

One thing to check would be that there's no Realtek/Windows setting which makes it record also played back signal.

[Blasteque]

11 hours ago, Vyprath said:

 

You may have already tried this, but proximity is important.  Have you tried placing the mic very close to your mouth?  Like touching-your-lips close.

[Vyprath]

I’ve tried everything I’ve been suggested, this issue is so frustrating because my friends can barely tell the difference between their game audio and mine. I haven’t got a sound card I can try unfortunately.

[Spotty]

17 hours ago, Vyprath said:

Sound that I hear through my headset, also gets played through my microphone there fore my friends can hear pretty much everything I hear.

Make sure you're using the split mic/headset jacks that come with the headset and not just the single line in cable.

Make sure that the mic is set as the default audio device/default communications device in windows sound settings. Disable any other things in recording that aren't being used.

 

Are you listening to your audio at a really loud level that is causing the mic to pick up the noise coming from the headphones?

[Vyprath]

28 minutes ago, Spotty said:

Make sure you're using the split mic/headset jacks that come with the headset and not just the single line in cable.

Make sure that the mic is set as the default audio device/default communications device in windows sound settings. Disable any other things in recording that aren't being used.

 

Are you listening to your audio at a really loud level that is causing the mic to pick up the noise coming from the headphones?

Yep mines already like that, I use the splitter and no it’s not very loud, I can have it rather quiet and they can hear it. I have reset BIOS, reinstalled audio drivers, tried front and back connectors, put software audio settings on what is advised, but I still have this issue.

[Spotty]

What program are you using to talk to your friends? Steam chat? Discord?

Make sure the Microphone is set as the input device in those programs as well. If they're set to anything else they will override the default windows settings for within that program.

 

Also, in discord make sure you set the input sensitivity if you are using Voice Activity.

You need the slider to be above what the general background noise is, but below your talking volume. This will mean that it will only broadcast your voice through discord when it detects noise loud enough to trigger it.

Background noise:

 

Talking:

[sh4z]

If your microphone is picking up sound in your room by the mic, the gain may be up too high. Make sure all the connections are tight for the headphones. After trying all these different things and you still have noise issues it could be a faulty headset. Is it still under warranty? Since you don't think it's the headphones, that really just leaves the mainboard/onboard audio ... You could try booting from a different SSD/HDD/CD (Live Linux or PE Boot with Audio) to test it out (Maybe it is software related?)

 

I've found using a cheaper power board can introduce noise (humming/ ground noise and the like, but it doesn't sound like the issue your having), so make sure you have a decent quality power board (If your using one) and a surge protector.

[Vyprath]

2 hours ago, Spotty said:

What program are you using to talk to your friends? Steam chat? Discord?

Make sure the Microphone is set as the input device in those programs as well. If they're set to anything else they will override the default windows settings for within that program.

 

Also, in discord make sure you set the input sensitivity if you are using Voice Activity.

You need the slider to be above what the general background noise is, but below your talking volume. This will mean that it will only broadcast your voice through discord when it detects noise loud enough to trigger it.

Background noise:

 

Talking:

Yes mine was like that, doesnt really make a difference as its still the same in any other program, voice recording for example. I have attached a voice recording, that static you hear is not from a fan, all fans are off, except inside the computer of course. My music is rather quiet for me but is still heard, the more I turn it up the more you can hear it. Through out the recording I am increasing and decreasing my music volume.

Recording (12).m4a

[Vyprath]

2 hours ago, sh4z said:

If your microphone is picking up sound in your room by the mic, the gain may be up too high. Make sure all the connections are tight for the headphones. After trying all these different things and you still have noise issues it could be a faulty headset. Is it still under warranty? Since you don't think it's the headphones, that really just leaves the mainboard/onboard audio ... You could try booting from a different SSD/HDD/CD (Live Linux or PE Boot with Audio) to test it out (Maybe it is software related?)

 

I've found using a cheaper power board can introduce noise (humming/ ground noise and the like, but it doesn't sound like the issue your having), so make sure you have a decent quality power board (If your using one) and a surge protector.

I might try a new powerboard.

[Spotty]

1 hour ago, Vyprath said:

I have attached a voice recording, that static you hear is not from a fan, all fans are off, except inside the computer of course. My music is rather quiet for me but is still heard, the more I turn it up the more you can hear it. Through out the recording I am increasing and decreasing my music volume.

Sounds like the mic is picking up the music being played through the headphones. If the input device was capturing the output audio the music would be much louder and clearer. Listening to that the music sounds very faint, distant, and distorted. Sounds more like the mic attached to the headset is picking it up in the background from the ear cups.

Try unplugging the headphone cable but leaving the mic cable plugged in and try recording a message again. This will stop the music being played through the ear cups. Once you've finished recording, plug your headphone cable back in and listen to the recording and see if there is any music in the background. If there's no music in the background, it's a pretty good chance that your mic is just picking up what's being played through the headset.

[Vyprath]

22 hours ago, Spotty said:

Sounds like the mic is picking up the music being played through the headphones. If the input device was capturing the output audio the music would be much louder and clearer. Listening to that the music sounds very faint, distant, and distorted. Sounds more like the mic attached to the headset is picking it up in the background from the ear cups.

Try unplugging the headphone cable but leaving the mic cable plugged in and try recording a message again. This will stop the music being played through the ear cups. Once you've finished recording, plug your headphone cable back in and listen to the recording and see if there is any music in the background. If there's no music in the background, it's a pretty good chance that your mic is just picking up what's being played through the headset.

Well im not sure if its good news or not, but I did what you suggested and no music was heard at all, what does that mean? Also my microphone seems to pick up a LOT of noise, i can hear my mum in the kltchen or just someone talking that can be on the other side of the house through my mic. Also picks up my keyboard and mouse clicks.

Microphone settings:

[Spotty]

2 minutes ago, Vyprath said:

Well im not sure if its good news or not, but I did what you suggested and no music was heard at all, what does that mean? Also my microphone seems to pick up a LOT of noise, i can hear my mum in the kltchen or just someone talking that can be on the other side of the house through my mic. Also picks up my keyboard and mouse clicks.

It means that the mic was picking up the noise as it was being played through your headset. Either your headset volume is too loud, or your mic is too sensitive.

Go in to the recording options and disable/turn down mic boost and adjust the volume slider.
If available, try enabling the enhancements for echo cancellation and seeing if that improves the situation.

[Vyprath]

1 minute ago, Spotty said:

It means that the mic was picking up the noise as it was being played through your headset. Either your headset volume is too loud, or your mic is too sensitive.

Go in to the recording options and disable/turn down mic boost and adjust the volume slider.
If available, try enabling the enhancements for echo cancellation and seeing if that improves the situation.

Should I make these changes through realtek or windows settings? Or do they do it with each other

[Spotty]

2 minutes ago, Vyprath said:

Should I make these changes through realtek or windows settings? Or do they do it with each other

It's shared, so if you make the changes in one it will apply to the other.
Turn mic boost down to 0db, and enable echo cancellation. Or noise suppression. Or both. Experiment to see which sounds best.
If you are still picking up background noises, turn the mic volume slider down to 80 or lower and test again. Make sure the headset mic is close to your face (2-3 centimetres) and turn the mic volume down as low as you can but where you can still be clearly heard.

[Vyprath]

20 minutes ago, Spotty said:

It's shared, so if you make the changes in one it will apply to the other.
Turn mic boost down to 0db, and enable echo cancellation. Or noise suppression. Or both. Experiment to see which sounds best.
If you are still picking up background noises, turn the mic volume slider down to 80 or lower and test again. Make sure the headset mic is close to your face (2-3 centimetres) and turn the mic volume down as low as you can but where you can still be clearly heard.

The problem is my microphone is already very quiet on 10 boost, i've turned that off and turned on the other settings but there is little to no difference

[Vyprath]

I have noticed that I have speakers in my playback devices, it seems to think my headphones are speakers or what? I have no other speakers/headphones connected to my computer besides my headset.