Aces High Bulletin Board

General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: oboe on March 17, 2008, 03:48:24 PM

Title: Mic problems
Post by: oboe on March 17, 2008, 03:48:24 PM

Is it possible to fry the mic input on a sound card by accidentally plugging a 2.1 speaker system with a powered sub-woofer into the mic input jack?   I moved my system over the weekend, and accidentally did this, and now my mic input seems dead.

I've reinstalled drivers, tried Windows sound hardware tests (fails).   I've doublechecked that mic input is enabled checked.

Title: Re: Mic problems
Post by: Max on March 18, 2008, 07:53:29 AM

Quote from: oboe on March 17, 2008, 03:48:24 PM

I've reinstalled drivers, tried Windows sound hardware tests (fails).   

By that I'm assuming you meant Wiondows sound recorder?

Title: Re: Mic problems
Post by: oboe on March 18, 2008, 08:30:24 AM

Both sound recorder and the little test application you can use to set up the mic input volume.  The one where it has you read a paragraph in to the mic and a little meter bar indicates your voice level...

Title: Re: Mic problems
Post by: Dragon on March 18, 2008, 03:37:01 PM

Plugging in the speakers should not have hurt the card.  More likely, during the move the card may have come loose.  Try to pull the card out and reinstall it.  As dumb as it sounds, but it got me on my headset the other day, :furious,  check any on/off or volume control switches on the mic.

Title: Re: Mic problems
Post by: boxboy28 on March 19, 2008, 09:58:35 AM

oboe i had my onboard mic die on me about 6 months ago just outa the blue.  it is an  ASUS with onboard Nividia sound.

Title: Re: Mic problems
Post by: oboe on March 20, 2008, 07:25:35 AM

I had my mic input die on an ASUS board too; I went out and bought an Audigy.  Now the same thing has happened to the Audigy...

Was working fine until I moved and cleaned my computer - I accidentally connected mic and speakers incorrectly when setting it all up again.
I thought the onboard circuitry was smart enough to detect what was hooked up to it, but it appears it fried the mic circuitry.

I guess I'll have to get a new soundcard and see if that fixes it....

Title: Re: Mic problems
Post by: oboe on March 30, 2008, 10:56:00 AM

Thought I'd update this since I figured out the problem - it wasn't the sound card that was fried, it was the mic on the headset.

Bought a Logictech USB headset and everything is working fine.

Title: Re: Mic problems
Post by: MrRiplEy[H] on March 31, 2008, 08:34:43 AM

Quote from: oboe on March 30, 2008, 10:56:00 AM

Thought I'd update this since I figured out the problem - it wasn't the sound card that was fried, it was the mic on the headset.

Bought a Logictech USB headset and everything is working fine.

Haa! You pushed full volume to the microphone from the audio out.. You know that the microphone is like a small speaker it can emit sound when fed the 'wrong' way? If you push max line voltage into it for a long time it may fry it like happened now. If your volume would have been down it wouldn't have died.