Mic no longer picks up sound.

bjerne · 17 Nov 2015

Hi, my mic suddenly stopped picking up sounds when I woke up. I didn't shut down the computer or install any updates during the night. The mic is recognized but can't be heard.

So far I've tried using a different mic, restarting the computer, using the mic port on both the back and front of the pc, reinstalling realtek audio drivers, using standard windows audio drivers and it all ends up the same with the mic being recognized but no sound is being picked up.

The only thing I can tell that is different from before is that I have this thing called "Stereo Mix" in my input devices which wasn't there before. Disabling it does not help.

fireberd · 17 Nov 2015

Stereo Mix is not the problem. Stereo Mix is normally set as the default recording device and then whatever device is used, Mic, Line In, etc can be heard in the speakers and used by any program. If you ever want to record audio from the Internet you need Stereo Mix.

You list an LCD TV as the monitor which means an HDMI output. What happens if you just use the Realtek for speakers or headphones?

bjerne · 17 Nov 2015

Sorry, my specs are outdated. I'm currently using a normal monitor with DVI.

fireberd · 17 Nov 2015

Do you have Stereo Mix set as the default recording device?

bjerne · 18 Nov 2015

fireberd said:

Do you have Stereo Mix set as the default recording device?

No, I have the microphone set as default.

fireberd · 18 Nov 2015

Both front and rear with no audio, based on what you have reported, points to a potential hardware problem.

bjerne · 18 Nov 2015

With the sound card or the mic? I have tried different mics.

fireberd · 18 Nov 2015

Based on what you have reported, different mics, different audio drivers, I would suspect a hardware problem with the Realtek sound chip. May not be, but that would be the prime suspect.