Mic suddenly stopped detecting any sound

[zMj]

Hi guys,

I've just bought a new headset (Creative Fatal1ty) and attempted to use it with my new PC; the problem is it is detecting no sound whatsoever, I turned on the prompt for the jack input and that works when I plug the mic in, I've also tested the mic on another computer so its definitely not a faulty mic issue.

What's more worrying is that I assumed my old headset of 5 years which was the same make and model as the new one probably does work I just assumed it had deteriorated after so many years of use when it failed to detect sound. Which leads me to wonder why has my soundcard stopped detecting sound from the mic? Sound playback is fine and the headphones work but the mic refuses to work, these are the things I have tried to troubleshoot...

1) Plug mic in and out again (check connections)
2) Check mic is set as the default communications device in Recording Devices
3) Make sure mic is not muted in Sounds
4) Make sure mic is not muted via the headset
5) Turn mic volume level up to max (including mic boost)
6) Update sound drivers
7) Completely uninstall audio drivers and reinstall audio drivers
8) Plug the mic directly into the mic jack to check sound (nothing registered)

I have absolutely no idea why when my mic was working in the first place would it suddenly stop when I haven't changed any settings or anything even close to configs.

The soundcard I'm using is Creative Sound Blaster Z 5.1... I really don't understand why the card/computer has stopped detecting any sound from the mic.

I'm out of ideas so any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

[deh-cheesekake]

Do you have any software on your PC that came with the sound card that may be monitoring audio levels, with my sound card I found there was some special software that got in the way of windows sound settings, I ununstalled it and the problem went away

 

[ubuysa]

Firstly; is this a PCS built PC and if so when did you get it (you say it's new)?

Secondly; has the mic input ever worked, or has it just failed recently?

deh-cheesekake makes a very good point about third-party audio software.

 

[zMj]

Hi Cheesecake/Ubuysa,

Thanks for the replies - I'm not aware of any other software that could be monitoring the levels, however Realtek HD Audio Manager came with the PC (I'm not sure if there could be some conflict here) I have checked it.

This is a PCS build and the PC itself is about 1 month old... The mic input worked perfectly for a short while and then just seems to have stopped working without me changing any settings which is why I'm so perplexed by the issue.

Thanks again!

 

[ubuysa]

Hi Cheesecake/Ubuysa,

Thanks for the replies - I'm not aware of any other software that could be monitoring the levels, however Realtek HD Audio Manager came with the PC (I'm not sure if there could be some conflict here) I have checked it.

This is a PCS build and the PC itself is about 1 month old... The mic input worked perfectly for a short while and then just seems to have stopped working without me changing any settings which is why I'm so perplexed by the issue.

Thanks again!

That smells like hardware to me. I suggest you call PCS today. Their after-sales service is really good, they'll get this sorted.