Microphone Issues

[blankaex]

It's been bugging me for a while now, though not really a major issue. After trying a bunch of crap to try and fix my problem, I've given up and decided to ask the technologically learned community of Hidden-Street yet another favour and request help in the repairing of my goddamn stupid microphone.

I haven't been on the forums in a while, since, well, I'd left before, but after coming back half on whim, and half on needing help to fix my microphone, I am, well, back. I don't really play Maple much any more (but then again, who ever did on this forum?), but I'll try to stay as active as I was before. Sorry for letting my DB guide drop, emaily! Ill fix it ASAP. ASAP as in whenever I'm bothered to check out any DB changes. On a completely unrelated note, this is not what Tech Support is for, so down to business.

I have this headset that I've been using for a while. Fairly pleased with the sound quality, though it hurts to wear it for a while. I'm really hating it now. Regardless of my loathing of it, it's still pretty much all I have for now, so I'm left with no alternative but to use it. I frequently use the microphone on the headset to chat with my friends on Skype while playing games and such - I also started playing LoL, I think. Help me, guys! - but suddenly, my microphone stopped working. No, seriously, that's it.

I use my microphone all night before playing Eden Eternal with a couple of mates, then log off and go to bed. I wake up, and everyone logs on, we all call each other on Skype, and suddenly no one can hear me. Nothing physically happened to my microphone overnight (or rather, over-day, since that was when I slept), as far as I can tell and see. I've tried all the obvious:

-Reinstalling the drivers
-Checking if it's plugged in to the right port
-Checking the volume

And such and such. I've yet to try it with another computer, but the built-in microphone on my laptop, albeit a piece of junk, still works, along with the microphone on my other set of earphones which I've been using as a temporary solution.

If anyone has any suggestions on what I could try to resolve the issue, I'd be willing to try, and would be very grateful for any useful replies. I'm also ready to answer any questions if the information supplied is insufficient. I'm counting on you guys!

Also, another minor problem:

Spoiler!

I normally play Tetris on this site with my friends using Chrome, since it's my default browser. It always worked before, but now whenever I load any of the games it gets stuck on the loading crap, with the spinny circle and stuff. I've left it there for an age with no avail, when previously it would load in a matter of seconds. I tried on my secondary browser, Pale Moon, and it worked fine there, but I'd rather play on Chrome. I don't suppose anyone would know what's causing this, would they?

I don't think I've installed any add-ons or anything stupid that would make it stop working. I tried clearing the cache before, as well, but that didn't really do anything.

[Wyatt]

Without having much technical knowledge of headphones, my first guess is the wiring inside of the microphone boom (where it attaches to the headset) has gone bad, and needs to be soldered back, or is just broken altogether. I can't say I know a fix, but at least I THINK I know the problem, where someone else may know the fix. I'll edit this post if I find anything else out.

[Dae314]

If you're on Windows right click the speaker icon and go to recording devices (while your mic is plugged in). Make sure the system's pulling sound from your mic. You also see the green bar on the right of your microphones. You can use that to test if your mic's actually transmitting any sound. If it's not then the mic's probably bad. Check for any switches on your headset that might disable the mic, but if not you might just have to get a new one. I'm not an expert in buying mics, but what I usually read "the experts" saying is "just get a clip-on mic". If that's all you need and you don't really care you could probably find one in a local store for pretty cheap or get one online example for pretty cheap.

[blankaex]

I forgot to mention in the original post, I was testing if the microphone actually produced any sound with Windows 7's default sound recording device. I spoke into it for a few seconds and the volume(?) bar thing went up and down, but upon playback it was like, something that could put TF2's Pyro to shame. It was just all mumbling crap.

Well, I do suppose the mic is dead. The headset was pretty painful to wear, anyways. I guess I'll just stick with a simple pair of those earphones that go around your ear, kind of like glasses. I'm using one right now, but it's pretty old and the sound gets stuffed up sometimes if the wires aren't straight and all. The ones I'm using now are that pair, and it has a mic on it, but I'm looking to get a better one. I'll be on the lookout for these kinds of earphones, preferably with a mic, otherwise I'll also be looking for that interesting clip-on mic you've shown. Any suggestions? Please bear in mind that I'm in Japan, and don't really have much access to online shopping either.

[Dae314]

I have no idea about product availability in Japan. What you're looking for is called a "headset" which is a combination of headphones and a mic. There are usually 2 different interfaces for these: 3.5mm and USB. The USB type will plug in with 1 USB cable, but I think these usually require drivers (either it'll be installed when you plug in or it'll need to be installed). With 3.5mm you have the normal little antenna thing that you put into your computer's audio and mic jacks. Sound quality across those 2 connections is pretty much the same, the only difference being most sound cards use 3.5mm jacks not USB so if you have a sound card you want 3.5mm interfaces so you can take advantage of it.

If you go with a clip-on mic like the one I showed you (it won't be that hard to find it in Japan I think...) you can get a nice pair of headphones to use with it instead of being tied to whatever headsets there are. Most people recommend a separate mic and headphone setup (as opposed to an integrated mic setup in headsets) if you're looking for sound quality. My advice to you would be to look for recognized brands in the headset/headphone industry:

headsets:
Logitech
Razer
SteelSeries
Sennheiser
Creative
etc...

headphones:
Sennheiser
Audio-Technica
Creative
etc...

Heck most brands make both headphones and headsets :P. Look around, try some out.

[FanOfKOTOKO]

I'm pretty sure basic Logitech USB microphones will be readily available in Japan, I'm pretty sure I saw Logitech products last time I visited o_o
Otherwise, get the Blue Snowball if you can for funsies. It just sounds so amazing :D

[blankaex]

Thanks for replies, you two. I am pretty sure there are a bunch of headphones, headsets and microphones available in Japan - I've been to Akihabara a bunch of times. I got my (now broken) headset there too, and I saw heaps of different accessories. I don't think I'd have much trouble finding them, just wondering about which to get. :P

Blue Snowball looks pretty cool, and probably works well too. I really want one of those, after doing a bit of research, but I've never seen it before. And I think a non-USB headset would be better, since I only have one free USB port. The other two are taken by my mouse and cooler.

[FanOfKOTOKO]

If you have the money, you can do a XLR setup that connects directly to a sound card via PCI instead, thus removing USB from the picture! :D

(assuming you're on a desktop computer that you can freely upgrade and exchange the hardware inside it)