10 Ways to Make Your Mic Sound Better on Windows

A clear and high-quality microphone is essential for various activities on your Windows computer, such as voice chat, video conferencing, online gaming, podcasting, and recording audio. However, the microphone quality may fail to meet your expectations due to various factors. The good news is that you don’t have to settle for subpar microphone audio.

In this article, we will explore various steps and tips to enhance the microphone quality on your Windows computer. Whether you are a content creator, a business professional, or an avid gamer, these steps will help you achieve clearer, more professional-sounding audio. Let’s dive in and unlock the full potential with these microphone settings.

One of the first things to ensure is that your microphone is placed properly. The position of your microphone can affect the sound quality of your recordings. The best position for your microphone is about 6 inches away from your mouth.

You should also ensure the microphone is not pointing directly at your mouth, as this can cause distortion. For a better placement, you can invest in a good boom arm if your microphone supports it. You can check out our list of the best boom arms for Shure MV7 and Hyperx QuadCast microphones.

Another way to boost microphone quality is with the help of a pop filter. A pop filter is a mesh screen between the microphone and the user. As a result, plosive sounds are significantly reduced, resulting in a smoother and more natural audio output.

Additionally, pop filters also help minimize the impact of breath sounds and sibilance. This further enhances the overall clarity and intelligibility of the recorded voice or speech.

Adjusting the gain of the microphone is a crucial step in improving audio quality on Windows. Gain refers to the microphone’s sensitivity, controlling how loud or soft the input sounds should be. Setting the gain too high can lead to distortion and clipping while setting it too low can result in weak and barely audible audio.

Most microphones have a dial or knob on them indicating the gain level. Adjust it and simultaneously test it using the Sound Recorder app on Windows 11 to find the sweet spot.

In case your microphone doesn’t have a knob for gain, you can use Windows to adjust it on a software level. While this wouldn’t be as effective as a change on the hardware level, the changes are definitely noticeable.

You can check our comprehensive guide on how to increase mic volume on Windows.

If you’re using a high-end microphone, it’s possible to record in a higher format for better quality as well. You can essentially increase the bitrate of your recording, thus, resulting in an improved audio result. Here’s how you can do that.

Step 1: Right-click on the speaker icon in the system tray and click on Sound settings.

Step 2: Under the Input section, click on the arrow next to your microphone.

Step 3: Click on the drop-down menu for Format to select a different recording format.

Step 4: Windows typically offers options like ’16-bit, 44100 Hz (CD Quality)’, or ’16-bit, 48000 Hz (DVD Quality)’. You may have other options depending on your audio hardware. Just select the highest format available.

Step 5: After selecting the desired recording format, click Apply and then OK to save the changes.

It’s also likely that background applications are using your microphone. For instance, if you’re trying to record something, Discord could be trying to access the microphone in the background. As such, it’s advisable to close any background apps that could be accessing your microphone. Here’s how to do that.

Step 1: Click the Start button and search for Run. Then, click on Open to launch it.

Step 2: Inside the Run window, type taskmgr, and press Enter or click on OK.

Step 3: The Task Manager will now be launched. Check for any applications that might be accessing your microphone. Simply right-click on an unwanted application and click on End task.

Additionally, it’s important to enable exclusive mode for your microphone on Windows as well. Exclusive mode grants the microphone exclusive access to the audio device, preventing other applications from accessing it simultaneously.

This, in turn, reduces potential conflicts and resource sharing, resulting in a smoother and more stable audio experience. Here’s how to enable exclusive mode for microphones on Windows.

Step 1: Right-click on the speaker icon in the system tray and click on Sound settings.

Step 2: Scroll down to the bottom and click on ‘More sound settings’.

Step 3: Switch to the Recording tab in the popup window.

Step 4: Right-click on your microphone and select the Properties option.

Step 5: Now, switch to the Advanced tab.

Step 6: Check the box next to ‘Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device’. Also, check the box next to ‘Give exclusive mode applications priority’.

Step 7: Once done, click on Apply and then OK.

It’s also possible that your microphone in itself is in perfect condition. However, a faulty driver is why you can’t use it to its best ability. Outdated or incorrect audio drivers can cause microphone issues. To update your audio drivers, follow these steps:

Step 1: Right-click on the Start button and select Device Manager.

Step 2: Click on ‘Sound, video and game controllers’ to expand it.

Step 3: Right-click on your microphone device and select Update driver.

Step 4: Choose ‘Search automatically for drivers’. Windows will now automatically search and update to the latest drivers.

Once the process is complete, reboot your PC and try and use your microphone post that.

Using Windows, you can further tweak the quality of your microphone using some enhancements. These enhancements can be used to suppress the noise in the background as well as subdue the echo.

Step 1: Right-click on the speaker icon in the system tray and click on Sound settings.

Step 2: Under the Input section, click on the arrow next to your microphone.

Step 3: Click on the drop-down menu for Audio Enhancements, and select the enhancement of your choice.

For most users, it will be Device Default Effects. However, if you’re using an expensive microphone, you’ll also get options for Noise suppression and Acoustic echo cancellation.

If you don’t have any Microphone enhancements available, fret not. You can use third-party tools for the same. If you have an NVIDIA RTX GPU, download the NVIDIA Broadcast tool for Windows. It offers various features such as Noise removal as well as Room echo removal. It further allows you to fine-tune the strength of these effects to ensure the final output doesn’t sound too robotic.

Download NVIDIA Broadcast

Alternatively, you can also try using Krisp AI. It uses artificial intelligence to remove background noise from your microphone. It works similarly to NVIDIA Broadcast, except it works across all platforms. While it has a paid version, try out the free version for up to 60 minutes of sound recording daily.

Download Krisp.AI

There could be several reasons your microphone barely picks up your voice in Windows 11. It could be due to a faulty connection, improper placement, or a lot of noise in the background. There’s also the possibility that the gain of your microphone is too low or other background apps on your PC are accessing it simultaneously as you recording.

You can test your microphone by heading over to the Sound settings and opening the properties of your mic. Speak into the microphone, and observe the volume bar to check if it registers your voice properly. You can also click on Device properties > Additional device properties > Test Microphone to run a test and listen to the playback.

Yes, microphone privacy is essential. Always be cautious of granting microphone access to unauthorized applications, and regularly review privacy settings to ensure your microphone is not misused.

Following the steps outlined in this guide, you can achieve better microphone sound quality, whether for communication, recording, or other audio-related activities. Now that your microphone is optimized, here’re various ways to improve the audio quality of Windows 11 speakers.

Last updated on 02 August, 2023

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The content head for the Guiding Tech YouTube channels, Varun also contributes to the website for Buying Guides and Product Explainers. Feel free to reach out to him on Twitter.