Larian Studios Forums General Chat Chat (Anything) Microphone<->Sound issue

I'm having some issues with my headset: whenever I talk to someone using my headset and I have any kind of sound in the background(i.e. Music playing on my pc, the sounds of a game, windows message sounds ...) the person I'm talking to also hears this, just as loud as I hear the sound. At first I just paused my music player, disabled in-game sounds and so on and when the conversation was over I just turned everything back on. I thought it had something do to with my headset, maybe my microphone was to close to my headphone. After a while I got tired of having to disable all those things, then turning them back on. So I tried to find the problem and it appears that even when my headset isn't connected(both michropone and headphone) the person is still able to hear my music, even though I can't speak to that person. So I guess my pc has some kind of build in microphonelikethingy. Anyone knows how I can disable it?

Huh?

Isn't a microphone created to capture ALL feedback from its' surroundings? I hate to say this but you're probably going to have to turn down or off all other sounds.

There is probably some setting where you have Output turned to Input + Line In, or something like that.

Lews: Can't seem to find any option which states that my Output is set as Input+Line In, it states that my default output device is 'Realtak HD Audio Output'

Raito: Don't know how I could explain it better, so I'll try an exemple. Me and my friend are playing an game. We got voice chat enabled, we both got our sound enabled and we both use headsets(headphones and microphone in the same device, so not like using speakers and a microphone), I only hear his voice, while he hears everything. I.E. he's firing a weapon, I don't hear it, but he does, then he says something, that I do hear. I'm saying something, he hears it, but when I fire a weapon or there is some background music playing or any other kind of sound, he also hears it, while my speakers are disabled and I only got my headphone active.

EDIT: The situation is getting kinda weird, I unplugged all my sound devices, this means: my speakers, my headphone and my microphone. So all my 'sound'-slots or whatever you call them were empty. I tried voicechat with someone, started my music player and the other person was able to hear, he also heard me typing on my keyboard(it makes some noise) yet when I said something he didn't hear that. Now Lews, here your thougths could be right, yet it wouldn't explain why he's able to hear me type, and if I would actually have a build-in microphone(which would be kinda weird in a stationary pc), then why isn't he able to hear me talking?
Thanks for all your help guys. I'll try to borrow someone esle's headset to see if I still have the problem.

[color:"orange"]my default output device is 'Realtak HD Audio Output'[/color]

Can you change that to something else? AFAIK (have not been paying attention recent developments in sound card technology) Realtek only makes chips for onboard sound. If you have onboard sound enabled and have a separate sound card, that could be part of the problem (at least for PC generated sounds).
If your audio connectors are on the back of the computer, onboard sound will probably be arranged vertically (mid to high on the case, near one side) with a bunch of other connectors, while a separate soundcard will most likely be horizontal (and lower).


The initial description sounded like your microphone was simply much more sensitive than your friend's, but unplugging it eliminates that possibility.


[color:"orange"]I tried voicechat with someone, started my music player and the other person was able to hear, he also heard me typing on my keyboard(it makes some noise) yet when I said something he didn't hear that.[/color]

Some monitors (and possibly keyboards) have built-in microphones, but they would likely be visible even if they were not labeled.
There are programs, and possibly options under Windows accessibility features, to make a sound on each key press. That may have been what your friend heard, or there is a microphone close to the keyboard that could pick up the sound of physically hitting the keys, but was not sensitive enough to pick your voice. If your friend can tell the difference between hitting a key normally and hitting it hard, then the sound is not from a program or accessibility feature.

[color:"orange"] Can you change that to something else? [/color]
No, Realtek HD audio Output is the only option.
It's an onboard-card.

[color:"orange"] The initial description sounded like your microphone was simply much more sensitive than your friend's, but unplugging it eliminates that possibility. [/color]
This was my first thought too, so first thing I tried was disabling my headphone and enabling my speakers, but my friend told me that the volume nor the quality of the sound hadn't changed a bit.

[color:"orange"] Some monitors (and possibly keyboards) have built-in microphones, but they would likely be visible even if they were not labeled. [/color]
My monitor is rather old(almost 10 years IIRC, definetly more then 7 years), I don't see any kind of microphone on my keyboard.

[color:"orange"] If your friend can tell the difference between hitting a key normally and hitting it hard, then the sound is not from a program or accessibility feature. [/color]
Next thing to test.

Another thing that might be usefull: for 'recording sound' and 'recording speech' I can use the following devices: Realtek HD audio Input, Realtek HD Digital Input and 713x BDA Analog Audio Capture. Both Realtek Inputs seem to work, but when I select the Audio Capture, my headphone doesn't work.

Thanks for your help so far.

Do you have a TV tuner card in your computer? They showed up predominantly in the list when I Googled '713x BDA Analog Audio Capture' (only looked at the first page of results). The capture option may be part of the Realtek sound chip, though (another person posted their dxdiag info in a WoW forum for a framerate problem, which included the same audio capture entry, but no mention of additional cards besides the video card and Realtek sound device).

What type of headphones do you have? Specifically, are they USB or do they plug into the microphone / headset jacks?


If you run dxdiag (click Start | Run, type in dxdiag and hit Enter), then switch to the sound tab there are some tests you can try.

I assume you already went through the Control Panel sound options, double clicked on volume control task bar icon, etc and checked options and settings to see if they appeared normal?

[color:"orange"] Do you have a TV tuner card in your computer? [/color]
Yes, I got a TV tuner card. It's not connected though.

[color:"orange"] What type of headphones do you have? Specifically, are they USB or do they plug into the microphone / headset jacks?
[/color]
Trust HS 2200, using Microphone and Headset jacks.

[color:"orange"] If you run dxdiag (click Start | Run, type in dxdiag and hit Enter), then switch to the sound tab there are some tests you can try. [/color]
Everything is running fine according to dxdiag.

[color:"orange"] I assume you already went through the Control Panel sound options, double clicked on volume control task bar icon, etc and checked options and settings to see if they appeared normal? [/color]
Yes I did, all volume options are set mid to high, and all the I don't know how it's called in english, but in Dutch it's 'Dempen' are unchecked.

I tested the keyboard thing again and he didn't hear any noticable difference, to double check this, I put my speakers at highest volume, slowly lowering it. My friend didn't hear any difference in volume.

I'm not sure why a TV tuner card would be doing anything with PC generated sounds (assuming it can), but that could be part of the problem.

I think the English word you are looking for is mute. If there are any entries in the volume control for something like 'auxiliary output', you might want to try muting it. You may need to go into the options to enable some entries for playback / recording in the sound control applet (if you enable everything, and then start checking off the mute boxes, you may be able to determine what is outputting system sounds to your friends).


In the multi-player game and voice chat programs you have, are there any options to select the source of your voice? Perhaps they are set to 'what you hear' rather than 'microphone', or something.


For your keyboard/speaker test, were you changing the volume on the speakers directly, or through the Windows volume control?
Since your friend did not hear a difference, I assume you you were turning a nob on the speaker itself, which means the sounds are coming from your system, not some phantom microphone somewhere. That implies that if you press a key softly, you should hear a difference yourself as you change the speaker volume (either through the windows master volume control or at the speakers).

[color:"orange"] I'm not sure why a TV tuner card would be doing anything with PC generated sounds (assuming it can), but that could be part of the problem. [/color]
The weird thing is, my computer states that it's also a webcam.

[color:"orange"] I think the English word you are looking for is mute. [/color]
I feel really dumb now, I use that word almost every single day, and when I actually need it, I can't remember the word. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/silly.gif" alt="" />

K, now back to the serieus stuff: the problem is fixed and it was all my fault!
I've got this program called Realtek HD Audio Manager, and it has a 'Mixer' tab, where you can choose which lines he has to play and which to record, I had enabled all on both, so it was recording all my music and stuff, I've muted them all except for the 'Microphone Volume', and now everything is fine, I can hear the other person talk, he can hear me, but he doesn't hear my music/sound.

Thanks all for your help, I'm happy the problem is solved, I can finally keep my music playing while talking with other people.