No Sound through Speakers when mic plugged in

Majic

Bought a mic for my pc. It is a USB lead. When I plug it in and do a test the blue bar in the Sounds Setting indicates it works but there is no Sound now through my speakers. So as it stands I would not be able to listen and join in to a chat or anything at the same time. Can anyone help?

RobM99

Check mic' speaker settings.

Majic

RobM99 said:

Check mic' speaker settings.

I did and it was adjusted 50/50 between the two in the sound settings but no change. 
What should the settings say?

verybigchris

Right click the speaker icon in your taskbar. Click on "Open sound settings". First item should say "Choose your output device" then a dropdown box. Make sure your speakers are selected and not your mic.

Majic

verybigchris said:

Right click the speaker icon in your taskbar. Click on "Open sound settings". First item should say "Choose your output device" then a dropdown box. Make sure your speakers are selected and not your mic.

That is correct. Microphone is shown below that in the drop down menu. If I play a YouTube video, speakers play fine. When I do a mic test it shows it is working, but my voice does not come through speakers

Were_Doomed

I can't say I've ever expected my voice to come out through the speakers on a mic test. What if you open Voice Recorder and create a recording - does it play back OK?

Majic

Were_Doomed said:

I can't say I've ever expected my voice to come out through the speakers on a mic test. What if you open Voice Recorder and create a recording - does it play back OK?

It does yes. Perhaps I'm getting confused, I've never used a mic on a pc before. So presumably it is working fine

Neil_Jones

Easiest way to test these is do a test call on Skype.  If you can hear your own voice when the system plays it back, all is well.

EssexExile

If sound going into the mic came out of the speakers, then that sound out of the speakers would be heard by the mic and would come out of the speaker again. To be heard by the mic again and fed to the speakers again.....
That leads to all sorts of problems!

Neil_Jones

EssexExile said:

If sound going into the mic came out of the speakers, then that sound out of the speakers would be heard by the mic and would come out of the speaker again. To be heard by the mic again and fed to the speakers again.....
That leads to all sorts of problems!

As an aside this is why if you phone up a radio station for a phone-in game, they ask you to turn your radio down.  Otherwise you get feedback - a positive gain loop between a microphone and a loudspeaker. Speakers amplify the mic signal and the then mic picks up the sound from the speakers. This positive gain loop continues and the system overloads, resulting in the terrible screech of microphone feedback which in professional radio is a big no no, which is why DJs use headphones to monitor the output and not a speaker.  If the mic's off, its fine, but when you go live (and you have the red light or whatever the system is), audio sources under its control go mute.

If feedback loud and persistent enough it can cause some damage (most likely to your ears), but it can happen that it blows the speakers too, but realistically with any luck somebody should have cottoned on long before they get to that point and killed the input source that started the feedback.

PRAISETHESUN

I agree that you don't want your own voice coming out of your own speakers - not only can you get horrible feedback, it is very distracting when you are actually trying to have a conversation with someone and your own voice plays back to you with a slight delay to when you said it.

As long as you can hear other people (ie. your speakers work) and other people can hear you (ie. your microphone works) then you're all set. Doing a "test call" in Skype will help set everything up properly and diagnose any issues you may have.