Microphone recording through headphone ear buds

I recently built a pc, and for some reason when I attempt to use my mic to speak to others over games, skype, teamspeak, etc. the mic doesn't pick up my voice. After a few hours of messing around with the settings, I discovered that I am able to talk through the ear buds, but not the headphones' built in mics. I know the mics/headphones work as I use them all the time on my laptop, but for some reason I can only talk through the ear piece portion of the headphones when they are plugged into my desktop.

My computer case has both headphone and mic ports on the front. I can listen through either port, but the computer only seems to pick up my voice when I talk into the ear piece, rather than the headphones' built in mic.

All of my drivers should be up to date - I built the computer less than 2 weeks ago - and I have enabled, displayed all of the potential input / output devices.

My confusion is based on my ability to talk through the headphones' ear pieces, but not through the microphone. Obviously, this is an extremely inefficient way to talk as it makes it hard to hear and speak at the same time.

1. Do I need to plug in headphones to the headphone jack, and a mic into the mic jack, in order for everything to work properly. Or, can I plug in my headphone/mic combo into either the headphone jack or the mic jack?

2. When my headphone/mic combo is plugged into the mic jack, the sound is limited to my monitor (which is connected to my GPU via HDMI). How do I set it up where I can listen to the voice chat through my headphones and the other sound through my monitor (e.g. when playing a game and on teamspeak)? I was able to set this up when my headphone/mic was plugged into the headphone jack, but not when plugged into the mic jack.

3. Why in the world am I able to talk through the ear bud portion of my headphone/mic, but not the built-in microphone?

I wasn't able to find any other posts on the topic and would love any feedback you may have! Thank you in advance.

Which kind of connector is at the end of that earphone/mic combo. If it's one for phones and has 4 connections than it will not work right in computers, they need 3 connector 3.5 mm plugs. For PC you need earphone/ mic combo with 2 , 3.5mm plugs, one for microphone and one for earphones or an USB combo.

The end of the headphone/mic headset has 3 rings on the 3.5mm plug. Just went to radioshack and they recommend I use the adapter pictured below to plug the headset into both the headphone and mic jacks. That did not resolve the issue. Pictures of the headphone plug, headphone / mic jacks on the desktop case, and adapter:




As before, my computer recognizes the device, but doesn't allow me to speak through the headset.



Strangely, when I blow into the headphone's ear buds (not the mic hole on the headset), I can hear my breath through the monitor's speakers. Pushing the volume up/down buttons, which straddle the mic hole, also makes a clicking sound. However, speaking into the mic yields no result.

What happens when you reverse positions of male plugs ?

I'm assuming you mean the two male plugs on the adapter? If so, nothing happens. I've wiggled, rotated, and switched positions without a change in effect.

brocklee said:

I'm assuming you mean the two male plugs on the adapter? If so, nothing happens. I've wiggled, rotated, and switched positions without a change in effect.

Click to expand...

My last thought is that adapter is not right one, female part has to be for 4 pin connector.

Hello!

I'm actually having this same issue you had. Did you ever find a resolution? The thread seems to have just dropped off.

We have a separate forum for Win 10 Windows 10 Forums

Also considering the age of the thread, it would be best to start a new thread. Include your hardware info and exactly what headphones/ear buds you have.

Thanks