People you call on Skype all say they hear noise in the sound coming from your PC’s microphone , so you’ve decided to investigate it and figure out if the situation can be solved or if it’s time to buy a new microphone. The problem, however, is that you can’t hear the audio coming from your microphone in the PC speakers .
Does this show that the microphone is broken? No, absolutely. It just turns out that you have Windows or macOS configured so that you do not hear the sound of the microphone in the speakers and that, obviously, you do not yet know how to hear the microphone in the speakers of the computer. How about learning now how?
I assure you that this is an extremely simple procedure to complete and that, regardless of the version of Windows or macOS you use, you will be able to do everything in a matter of minutes, indeed, seconds. You just have to carve out some free time, carefully read the instructions I am about to give you and put them into practice. This way you will find out if there is really something wrong with the microphone you use on your PC. I cross my fingers for you!
Index
- How to hear the microphone in speakers on Windows
- Hear the microphone in the speakers on Windows 11
- Hear the microphone in the speakers on Windows 10
- Hear the microphone in the speakers on older versions of Windows
- How to hear the microphone in speakers with Mac
- QuickTime Player
- AU Lab
- How not to hear the microphone in the speakers
How to hear the microphone in speakers on Windows
If you agree, I would say start this tutorial on how to hear the microphone in speakers on Windows , talking about the various versions of the Microsoft operating system (which involve slightly different steps to achieve this). Find, therefore, the edition of Windows installed on your computer among those listed below and follow my instructions to activate listening to the microphone through the speakers of the PC.
Hear the microphone in the speakers on Windows 11
If your PC is equipped with Windows 11 , you can easily set the microphone listening on the speakers from the operating system settings. To do this, press the Windows Start button and launch the Settings application .
In the screen that is shown to you, select the System tab on the sidebar and then press on the Audio item . Now, scroll through the different items you see, locate the Advanced section and press the Other audio settings button to open the Windows input and output devices panel.
Once this is done, select the Recording tab , to locate the list of audio capture devices, then click on the microphone you are using and on the Properties button at the bottom. In the new screen that is shown to you, go to the Listening tab and check the Listen to device box . Then press the Apply button and that’s it!
Now you should finally be able to hear the microphone in the computer speakers. If not, I’m sorry, but the microphone you are using most likely has problems and needs to be replaced. If, in this regard, you are looking for advice on the best microphones to buy , take a look at my dedicated post.
As a last resort , try to verify the correct connection of the device to the computer (if it is an external microphone or headphones with microphone) and the correct installation of the related drivers. As for the physical connection of the microphone, my guide on how to connect the microphone to the PC may be useful .
If, on the other hand, you don’t know where to find the drivers for your microphone, try to Google [microphone model] drivers and download the drivers from the manufacturer’s official website (don’t go to external sites or you might run into some malware!) or try to follow the instructions in my tutorial on missing driver programs .
Finally, if you are using wireless headphones with a microphone, my tutorial on how to connect Bluetooth headphones to your PC may come in handy .
Hear the microphone in the speakers on Windows 10
If you have a computer equipped with Windows 10 , the first step you need to take is to click on the Start button (the flag icon located in the lower left corner of the screen) and select the gear icon from the menu that appears, to access the System Settings menu .
In the window that opens, click on the System icon , select the Audio item from the left sidebar and scroll down the screen that opens. Then click on the Device Properties item located in the Input section and then click on the Additional Device Properties heading , which you will find on the right.
Once this is done, you will be shown the screen to adjust the properties of the microphone currently in use on the PC. Select the Listening tab , put the check mark next to the item Listen to the device and press the Apply button . From now on, you should be able to hear the microphone sound through the computer speakers.
If not, go back to the microphone properties window, select the Levels tab and raise the volume level of the device using the appropriate adjustment bar. If this does not solve the situation, go back to the Settings> System> Audio menu of Windows 10 and check that the microphone you are using is actually selected in the Choose input device drop-down menu , otherwise select it yourself.
If once again you encounter problems such that you cannot hear your voice on the speakers, perhaps the microphone you are using could be damaged so you should replace it. But first you can check if the drivers are correctly installed and, therefore, you can consult the advice I gave you in the previous chapter .
Hear the microphone in the speakers on older versions of Windows
Are you using Windows 7 ( should you upgrade to Windows 11 or 10, it’s an outdated operating system now )? All you have to do is right-click on the speaker icon located in the notification area (next to the Windows clock) and select the Recording Devices item from the menu that appears.
In the window that opens, double-click the Microphone icon, go to the Listening tab , put the check mark next to the item Listen to the device and click first on Apply and then on OK twice consecutively to save the settings. If the microphone is plugged into the PC and working properly, at this point, you should be able to hear what you say from the PC speakers (or headphones, if you connect the headphones to the PC).
If, on the other hand, you are still using the now obsolete Windows XP ( bad! It is a highly insecure operating system! ), You can achieve the same result by double clicking on the speaker icon located in the notification area (next to the Windows clock). In the window that opens, select the Properties item from the Options menu , put the check mark next to the Mic Volume item and click the OK button to make the microphone audio appear in the list of items whose volume can be adjusted.
At this point, all you have to do is remove the check mark from the item Disable located under the heading Volume Mic in the volume control panel, adjust the volume level as you want and you should be able to hear the audio of the microphone in the speakers of the PC ( or headphones).
In the event that the procedures described above did not allow you to activate listening to the microphone through the PC speakers, go back to the window for managing recording devices , select the microphone currently in use on the computer and click on the Default button , to make it the default. Then double-click on its name, select the Levels tab in the window that opens and move the volume indicator to the right, in order to increase the microphone output volume.
If even these precautions have not had the desired effect, try to check the physical connection of the microphone to the computer and (if it is an external device) and the correct configuration of the drivers . In this regard, you may find my tutorial on missing driver programs useful , in which I have pointed out software and procedures to find the missing drivers on your computer. If, on the other hand, you are using wireless headphones with built-in microphone, my guide on how to connect Bluetooth headphones to your PC may be useful .
How to hear the microphone in speakers with Mac
Do you have a Mac ? In this case, things get slightly more complicated, as macOS does not have a native function, like that of Windows, which allows you to hear the microphone in the speakers of the computer. What you have to do, therefore, is to turn to some applications and use them to listen to the audio coming from the microphone. Here everything is explained in detail.
QuickTime Player
QuickTime Player , the media player included “standard” in all versions of macOS, is capable of creating audio recordings, video recordings and screen recordings. Thanks to its sound recording function, it also allows you to listen to the microphone through the speakers of the Mac.
To use the QuickTime Player audio recording function, start the latter via its icon in the Launchpad (in the Other folder ) or by searching for it in Spotlight and choose the New audio recording option from the File menu , located at the top left .
If necessary, answer OK to the program ‘s request for access to the microphone and move the volume indicator slightly forward , located at the bottom of the QuickTime screen that appears on the screen. At this point, you should already be able to hear the microphone sound through the computer speakers.
If there is excessive noise and / or reverberation, go to System Preferences (the gear icon located on the Dock bar), select the Sound icon, go to the Input tab , click on the name of the microphone currently in use (e.g. internal microphone ) and decrease the value of the input volume , using the appropriate indicator.
AU Lab
If QuickTime Player didn’t satisfy you, you can try Apple’s AU Lab , a completely free audio mixer application. To download it, connect to this web page and click on the AU Lab link at the bottom of the page.
Once the download is complete, open the .app package you obtained, to view the Document Configuration panel . Select the Stereo In / Stereo Out tab and leave the default settings. In case you want to use different input and output devices, select them from the respective drop-down menus. Once this is done, click on the Create Document button .
If everything works correctly, you will see a new panel with the two sections relating to input and output and the wording Audio Engine Running at the bottom. Furthermore, using the microphone, you will see the volume detector that will be activated every time you speak, thus being able to hear your voice from the speakers.
If you don’t hear your voice, the problem is probably that you haven’t set up the correct input or output devices in the Document Configuration section . Also, in case of problems, you can check that the AU Lab app has permission to use the microphone, in the macOS Settings , in the Security and privacy> Privacy> Microphone section .
In case of excessive reverb or other noise, check the sound settings in System Preferences as I explained to you in the QuickTime Player tutorial chapter .
How not to hear the microphone in the speakers
After following the instructions I gave you in the chapters dedicated to Windows or those for Mac , you were finally able to hear the microphone in the speakers.
The fact is that now, however, you would like to retrace your steps and disable this feature. How to do? Simple! All you have to do is re-read the instructions I gave you in the previous chapters relating to different operating systems and disable the features I suggested you activate.
