Turn off your microphone in the "Recording Control" dialog box. On the General tab, rename the device to something more obvious to you.Looking for an answer to the question: How do i change my microphone settings? On this page, we have gathered for you the most accurate and comprehensive information that will fully answer the question: How do i change my microphone settings? Often the default name for a microphone, especially an in-built one, isn’t helpful.
Microphone PropertiesĬhoosing a microphone then Properties (not Configure) opens up some useful options (rename and levels) plus one trivial choice (icon).
Since Dictate is only recording and not playing audio, it doesn’t qualify as a user of a Windows ‘communication device’.Īll that said, it’s probably easier to choose your microphone then set both defaults on – Set Default Device and Set Default Communication Device. It should work with the Default Device for Recording. Microsoft 365’s Dictate feature has no microphone selection option. They might accept the Windows Default Audio setting or Default Communication Settings. In practice, most programs have their own play and recording settings. Making a phone, Skype, Zoom call (i.e both recording and playing) should use the Default Communications Device.Īll that is a great theory and probably works great in Microsoft’s corporate mind. Music, system sounds use the Default Device. This change lets Windows decide where to play certain sounds. For example, a laptop with speaker and in-built mic. If there’s no combined device attached, a pair of separate devices can become the communication device. A device that can record and play sound, like headphones with a microphone.
Later Microsoft added the concept of a Communications Device. Recording can have a separate microphone or other default recording device. Playback can have a speaker or headphones as a default playback device. What’s the difference?Ī sound Default Device – is an individual playback or recording audio device. Most people select both defaults Set Default Device and Set Default Communication Device and leave it at that (it’s what we do).įor Office Dictate, you should only need to select ‘Set as default device’ for the microphone you want to use. Set Default Device vs Set Default Communication Device
Properties – opens that devices properties dialog. Set Default Communication Device – see below. It opens Control Panel | Speech Recognition. Now you know that you’ve selected the right device and it’s working!Ĭonfigure – should be called ‘Configure speech recognition’. We tap on the little mic hole on the laptop lid.Īs you tap, look for the ‘Test your microphone’ indicator to move. Select the microphone then lightly tap on the microphone ‘hole’ on the device.
How to tell which microphone is working?Ī simple way to test that a microphone is working or which input selection matches a certain hardware microphone. The ‘real’ microphone (inbuilt to the laptop) is called, in our case, ‘Microphone Array (Realtek(R) Audio)’ depending on the laptop model.
Bluetooth devices can connect automatically without you realizing it. There’s also a Bluetooth connected mic and headphones.
Three of the input options are ‘virtual’, created by programs to capture audio from other sources like a smartphone being used as a webcam or merging various sources into a single source. More than one input option available and Windows has set the wrong, maybe unexpected, one as the default. The above list is from an ordinary laptop with in-built microphone but there are five different audio input options! This happens a lot and a common cause of microphone trouble.