Welcome back, today’s video will show you a number of ways you can improve the quality
of your microphone in Windows 10. Unfortunately, none of the methods are magic, so we won’t
be able to drastically improve the quality of your microphone but hopefully they’ll
make some difference. The first few methods will check that we have our mic set up correctly
and optimised, after that we’ll look at a few ways to improve the quality. Remember
to leave a like and feel free to subscribe for more tips if the video helps. Let’s
get into the methods! The first thing we’re going to do is check
that we have the correct mic selected and set as default on your PC. You might have
the wrong my selected which is why it doesn’t sound as good. To check, first go to the main
settings page by clicking on the cog icon within the start menu. In settings, go to
system and then choose sound from the options on the left. Now the click the blue “sound
control panel” link on the right side of the page. When the new window opens, go to
the recording tab and then find your microphone on the list. Click on it and then choose set
default. If you don’t see your mic, then right click on an option and choose show disconnected
and disabled devices. You should now see it. If you still don’t see your mic on the list,
then click on the card now to go to a video of mine showing you ways to fix a mic that
isn’t being detected in Windows 10. Leave this window up for now, as we’ll be coming
back to it a little later on. The next thing we’re going to do is run
the recording audio troubleshooter. This will quickly check for any obvious problems that
could be causing your mic to sound bad. Go to the settings page again but this time choose
update and security and then choose troubleshoot from the options on the left. Find the recording
audio option on the list and click on it and then select run the troubleshooter. Allow
Windows to automatically look for and fix any problems.
We’re now going to check that our microphone drivers are up to date. Out of date device
drivers could cause problems so it’s best to keep them updated. The first way to check
is to go to the device manager. You can get there by searching for it. In the device manager,
find the option called “audio inputs and outputs” and click on the arrow to expand
it. Now find your mic on the list and double click on it. Now go to the driver tab and
find where it says update driver and click on that. Choose the automatic option and then
allow Windows to search for driver updates. If it finds any, it will install them automatically
too. If Windows couldn’t find any updates, try looking for driver updates on the microphone
manufacturer’s website. There should be a drivers page and you will need to know the
model name or number of the microphone to get the latest driver for it. Download and
install it from there but just make sure you are getting it from the official website.
We’ve now checked that our microphone is setup correctly and that might have improved
the quality, but we’ll now look at some methods that will definitely help. Head back
to the window we left open from earlier. If you’ve closed it, the way to get there was
settings, then system, then sound, then into the sound control panel and then into the
recording tab. Now double click on your microphone and there should be a few things we can change
in here to improve the quality. First, go to the advanced tab. In here, there should
be a drop-down box that will allow you to change the quality that your mic will record
at. You can increase the number of Hertz to improve the quality of the microphone. Click
on apply once you’re happy with the selection. Now go to the levels tab. In this tab, we
can change the sensitivity of the microphone with the microphone slider. If your microphone
is quite loud, decreasing the level of this slider should improve the quality by reducing
the amount of background noise picked up. It’s difficult to recommend an exact number
for you to use but I would suggest playing around with this slider to see what gives
you the best quality. Another quick tip that might help improve
the quality of the mic is to switch to a different port. Try a few ports on your PC to see if
there’s any noticeable difference. It’s unlikely but possible depending on your PC.
The next thing you can try is changing the mic recording quality in the app you are using.
This method will differ slightly within each app, but you might have the option somewhere
in the audio settings. For example, if you use the Xbox Game bar feature to record footage
in Windows 10, you can do it in the Windows 10 settings by going to gaming, then captures
and then by finding where it says audio quality. Increase that if you can for this example.
The next method to improve your mic quality is to use a piece of software called Audacity.
There are other similar options when it comes to software like this, but Audacity is widely
used and its completely free. Click the card onscreen now for a video of mine that will
show you how to safely download and install audacity as well as set it up so that you
are ready to record. Once you have audacity set up with your chosen mic, you can simply
hit record to start the recording and then stop once you’re done. One of the most valuable
tools in Audacity is the noise reduction feature. Click the card onscreen now for my video showing
you how to remove background noise from audio in Audacity. After removing background noise,
some of the other things you might find helpful are a few of the other options in the effects
tab. Things like the compressor, bass boost, treble boost and the limiter are some of the
tools I use to improve the quality of my mic. There are also plenty of other options within
audacity in the effects tab to fine tune the quality of your microphone. Have a play around
to see what suits your voice or sound the best.
It is possible to edit the sound of your microphone live with some software, but this is a little
more complex. I’ll leave links to some of the software that can do this. Follow the
instructions on the websites to learn how to install and setup the software.
Those are all of the methods I have within Windows 10. Of course, there are a few things
you can do yourself to potentially improve your mic quality at home. Try and remove as
much background noise as possible before doing it within Windows 10. Turn off any devices
that may make background noise or hum such as the AC or fans. You could also try moving
the mic further away from you when you speak, that could possibly improve the quality. Also,
you could maybe use things like a sock or a sponge to cover the mic to act as a pop
filter and windshield. Try recording in a place that has few hard surfaces, hard surfaces
will cause echo. And finally, the best way to improve mic quality is to invest in a better
microphone. I know this defeats the object of the video but there are plenty of good
cheap mics out there, reviews might help you find the best one.
And so those are all my methods to improve the quality of your microphone in Windows
10. If you have any questions about any of the methods, then let me know in the comments.
I really hope I was able to help you today, remember to leave a like and feel free to
subscribe if the video helped. Be sure to stick around to see some of my other videos
you might be interested in. Thanks so much for watching and I will see you in another
video!