How To Adjust Microphone For Best Sound

By Author: narayan shankar
Total Articles: 43
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A microphone is often a very important accessory or component of a computer, be it a desktop or a laptop. A microphone is required for several purposes, like recording voices, voice chatting and video chatting. However, the setup and installation of a microphone is indeed quite dicey, very much unlike that of simple headphones or speakers. Nowadays, microphones are often found attached to the headphones or in-built with the webcams. The former uses separate 3 mm pins, while the latter more than often requires a USB connection. Nevertheless, the setup process of both does not differ at all. The first and foremost thing to do for setup and installation of a new microphone would be the obvious: connecting the microphone into the proper jack. In all cases, the jack appropriate for a microphone would definitely have a symbol of a microphone to indicate its purpose. In older versions of the desktops, it is a color coded pink rimmed jack, located either on the rear or front panel of the CPU. In laptops, on the other hand, although the color coding is absent, the symbol of a microphone is always there. Immediately afterwards, it is ...
... imperative that the user checks the computer for any sign of recognition of the unknown device, which in this case, is the microphone.

Even if the user is unaware whether the microphone is a built in or external, it can be confirmed by the computer's own detection system. To do this, the user needs to open the Sounds and Audio Devices dialogue box from the Control Panel, from the Start Menu; from here, he must open the Voice Tab, click Test Hardware and check for the recognized available external devices. Alternatively, for Windows 7, the user needs to access Hardware and Sound dialogue box from the Control Panel of the Start Menu and open recording from Manage Audio Devices. The Test Hardware tab leads on to a wizard which will guide the user to a successful test of the recording hardware which has been installed. If the microphone is all right, there should be a signal to indicate that, as is true with the speakers. However, the user must remember to unmute the microphones and speakers before recording, since, if muted, sound will neither be recorded nor be heard. It is also important to check with the sound drivers for operational inabilities, if any. Many a times, it has been seen that hardware fails to operate because of an incompatible driver. It is also recommended to check with this particular issue, before buying a new microphone, because if an incompatible hardware is to be installed, a different version of the operating system of the computer, as well as a BIOS upgradation is necessary. Finally, when the installation is complete, the user can sync the volume by adjusting microphone levels, adding a microphone boost and adjusting the positioning of the microphone. The additional boost to the microphone is quite unavoidable at times, because of the extreme low volumes of the speaker’s voice or background sounds. It increases the volume of the microphone by almost a 100 per cent. Over the time, most microphones degrade because of rough usage. It is, therefore, very important to maintain the hardware properly to increase its life.

Author Bio:

Narayan Shankar is an avid home theatre enthusiast. In this series of articles, he discusses microphones and other accessories like hdmi cable and headphones that can amplify your home theatre experience.