[solved] Microphone Help

Convergence · 2011-06-10 10:16:32

I'd like to get mangler up and running so that I can play lotro with the family. The problem is that my mic isn't working so far.

The microphone works somewhat; if I blow on it, or tap on it, scratchy static sound comes from my speakers, but nothing like a human voice. I've recorded some samples using arecord, and I think that I might be able to hear my own voice a little, but it is drowned in static.

I have an audigy 2 zs soundcard. In alsamixer, I've set the microphone to 100, enabled the "mic boost" and hit f4 to also crank up the "capture" mic control (although I don't understand the difference).

This might be a case of a bad microphone (I haven't tested it in any other device). It is actually part of a logitech headset.

I don't have any kind of soundserver, and would prefer not to run one if I didn't have to.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Last edited by Convergence (2011-06-11 07:59:44)

Convergence · 2011-06-10 10:29:16

Maybe I should add the fact that it is connected via a 3.5 mm jack. I actually had to special order a part to connect the computer's audio jacks to my soundcard. maybe I would have better luck with a usb device, but I thought that this would be simpler. (I don't know how USB audio devices work with soundcards)

Convergence · 2011-06-10 19:15:17

update: So I was messing around with any control settings in alsamixer, then test recording to see if anything made any difference when I decided to unplug the microphone altogether and then record to see if it made any difference. It didn't. I get exactly the same static-y noise with the microphone completely unplugged as I do with the mic plugged in. This is discouraging. I'm thinking of just picking up a cheap USB headset, but I'm not sure the results would be any better.

ConnorBehan · 2011-06-10 19:36:33

I would think standard equipment is easier than USB. When you hit F4 are you pressing space bar to enable "L CAPTURE R" on various devices? I have it enabled on "Mic", "Capture" and "ADC".

Convergence · 2011-06-10 23:08:49

Update: OK, I definitely can get some audio out of the mic. I tried testing again, but this time I touched the mic directly to my lips, causing the mic to physically vibrate (tapping hard on the mic works as well). On playback, I could make out my own heavily distorted voice. It seems that this caused the mechanical part in the mic to move harder than it should, so it caught my voice, but due to mechanical clipping, it sounds terrible. So that means that in spite of playing with all of the controls, it is too quiet.

As an experiment, I plugged the mic directly into the soundcard's mic input, and it worked just fine. Unfortunately, this is not a viable option for me. I'm going to run back to the store and see if anything inspires me.

Connor: We're on the same page as far as usb audio devices. I've done some more digging, and apparently when you plug these things in, they register as their own soundcard. That would be fine, except that I would have to use pulseaudio or something to control my multiple soundcards. Oh, and yeah, I unmuted all relevant capture devices.

Last edited by Convergence (2011-06-10 23:10:15)

Convergence · 2011-06-11 07:59:10

Well it is probably a hardware problem. Creative never really made a way to connect the audio to the case, the hardware is there but they used a funky connector that is incompatible with standard ac97 plugs. The special plug that somebody reverse engineered and marketed to fill this gap left by Creative works fine for the case's audio out, but it doesn't work well for the audio in. However, the audio out on the card itself works fine. This link illustrates the problem: http://audigy2zshowto.blogspot.com/

My solution was to buy an extension to the TLS connector that runs from the back of the computer to the front. Ugly fix, but it works for now.

Thanks for the help.

Arch Linux

#1 2011-06-10 10:16:32

[solved] Microphone Help

#2 2011-06-10 10:29:16

Re: [solved] Microphone Help

#3 2011-06-10 19:15:17

Re: [solved] Microphone Help

#4 2011-06-10 19:36:33

Re: [solved] Microphone Help

#5 2011-06-10 23:08:49

Re: [solved] Microphone Help

#6 2011-06-11 07:59:10

Re: [solved] Microphone Help

Board footer