Yesterday I bought the above-named headset to use when playing Team Fortress 2. It connects to my mobo with two separate 1/8" plugs -- one for the headphones, and one for the mic. I'm positive I've got them in the right jacks.
Right off the bat I noticed that I had to turn the volume down substantially from where I had it with my regular Sony headphones -- I was getting tons of high-pitched interference that disappeared when I turned down the volume, even though playback still seems to be good and loud.
The mic, however, is crap at this point. When I went to test it in the audio section of the control panel, I found that it barely registers on the level meter, even when I'm speaking at louder than normal volume. In properties I brought the mic volume all the way up, and made sure that the mute box is not checked.
The headset comes with its own mic mute switch on the cord, and it's open.
When I went to the voice recorder and did a test, what I recorded was a faint high pitched mix of static and electronic squealing -- sort of like the sound a fax machine makes, and yes -- it's not unlike the initial interference I was getting on the headphones. There was nothing in there that sounded like my voice or words.
When I went to test my mic in-game (before actually playing), I found that speaking at the same louder-than-normal volume pushed the level up into the red, but I couldn't hear myself over the headphones -- not sure if I was supposed be able to. I didn't want to bother starting a game until I can be sure that I'm not just going to broadcast hums and squeals.
I've been on a bunch of different websites for the past 12 hours, and so far nothing I've found has solved my problem.
In addition to any suggestions or questions you might have, I'm wondering:
1. Would switching to a USB headset fix this?
2. Would installing a 3rd party soundcard fix this?
3. Does this sound like an issue with interference due to cheap cords and connectors on the headset (or elsewhere)?
Thanks. I'm open to taking the headset back to the store this afternoon, but I'm still holding out hope that they work and there's another way to fix the problem.
Edit: Whoops. I should add that I'm using XP sp2, with an ASUS P5 motherboard and onboard sound (Soundmax HD). Intel Core 2 processor (1.8 x 2).
Right off the bat I noticed that I had to turn the volume down substantially from where I had it with my regular Sony headphones -- I was getting tons of high-pitched interference that disappeared when I turned down the volume, even though playback still seems to be good and loud.
The mic, however, is crap at this point. When I went to test it in the audio section of the control panel, I found that it barely registers on the level meter, even when I'm speaking at louder than normal volume. In properties I brought the mic volume all the way up, and made sure that the mute box is not checked.
The headset comes with its own mic mute switch on the cord, and it's open.
When I went to the voice recorder and did a test, what I recorded was a faint high pitched mix of static and electronic squealing -- sort of like the sound a fax machine makes, and yes -- it's not unlike the initial interference I was getting on the headphones. There was nothing in there that sounded like my voice or words.
When I went to test my mic in-game (before actually playing), I found that speaking at the same louder-than-normal volume pushed the level up into the red, but I couldn't hear myself over the headphones -- not sure if I was supposed be able to. I didn't want to bother starting a game until I can be sure that I'm not just going to broadcast hums and squeals.
I've been on a bunch of different websites for the past 12 hours, and so far nothing I've found has solved my problem.
In addition to any suggestions or questions you might have, I'm wondering:
1. Would switching to a USB headset fix this?
2. Would installing a 3rd party soundcard fix this?
3. Does this sound like an issue with interference due to cheap cords and connectors on the headset (or elsewhere)?
Thanks. I'm open to taking the headset back to the store this afternoon, but I'm still holding out hope that they work and there's another way to fix the problem.
Edit: Whoops. I should add that I'm using XP sp2, with an ASUS P5 motherboard and onboard sound (Soundmax HD). Intel Core 2 processor (1.8 x 2).
