# All audio that is played comes through mic



## brandonwh64 (Jan 25, 2016)

OK TPU'ers!

Usually I can fix things like this but it has bugged me for weeks now and the people of teamspeak have felt the pain as well. Ok to start things off I have a Gigabyte Z68X-UD3H PCIex 3.0 motherboard with realtek HD audio/DDSS. I had this issue in the past and was able to find settings that fixed it and also went to the extra work to document the fix. So fast forward to a fresh windows 10 install and then about 3 months of not using my mic and I decide to start gaming again with the members of TPU in TS. If I am playing music while I game they hear it the whole time and it creates a hot mic in the teamspeak.  They also hear my game through my mic as well. I went through my previous document I had made detailing a fix for this issue but it does not work on windows 10 as it did for 8.1. A co-worker that also plays in the TPU Teamspeak bought me a new headset and gave me a Asus Xonar 5.1 sound card that I installed last night thinking it would fix the issue but sadly it did not. 

Ok my main goal with this thread is to see how many others have had this issue and what types of fixes would you guys recommend. I have done many google searches and fixes that didn't work.


----------



## Kursah (Jan 25, 2016)

Go into recording devices, go to microphone properties for the device you're using as mic. On the "Listen" tab, uncheck Listen to this device. I believe that listens nonstop, and in some instances it is useful, in others its not.

The next thing to look at would be the option below that, "Playback through this device", try manually setting and not relying on default playback device.

I know Creative had an option for What U Hear or similar to do what you're experiencing as a feature...I hated it and never used it! I'm sure you've gone through this part a few times dealing with it for months...maybe take some screens of your configs in Asus software, Realtek software and Windows Recording Device properties and config, etc.


----------



## brandonwh64 (Jan 25, 2016)

Kursah said:


> Go into recording devices, go to microphone properties for the device you're using as mic. On the "Listen" tab, uncheck Listen to this device. I believe that listens nonstop, and in some instances it is useful, in others its not.
> 
> The next thing to look at would be the option below that, "Playback through this device", try manually setting and not relying on default playback device.
> 
> I know Creative had an option for What U Hear or similar to do what you're experiencing as a feature...I hated it and never used it! I'm sure you've gone through this part a few times dealing with it for months...maybe take some screens of your configs in Asus software, Realtek software and Windows Recording Device properties and config, etc.



Thanks kursah, I do not have that box checked and I set playback through the speakers (Only option)


----------



## R00kie (Jan 25, 2016)

Usually echo cancellation only works when you have bitrate lower than 48 KHz, speaking from experience.
Also, what headset do you have?


----------



## Kursah (Jan 25, 2016)

Interesting issue for sure, I'd verify you have any option called "Stereo Mix" disabled/unchecked. Maybe consider resetting all sound devices to default...even going so far as removing all of their drivers and then going to device manager and removing them from there as well.

Then reinstall, and verify settings again...I'm sure you've already done this...but the users that seemed to resolve this issue were usually Realtek users (that I read about) and most aren't sure what they did beyond removing drivers, and then re-configuring output and input settings and then mic was just the mic recording, no longer broadcasting system audio streams as well. I want to see if we can get more info...if you can take screenshots and upload them here to show us your audio console both Windows and driver-app for the audio device in-use.


----------



## brandonwh64 (Jan 26, 2016)

Kursah said:


> Interesting issue for sure, I'd verify you have any option called "Stereo Mix" disabled/unchecked. Maybe consider resetting all sound devices to default...even going so far as removing all of their drivers and then going to device manager and removing them from there as well.
> 
> Then reinstall, and verify settings again...I'm sure you've already done this...but the users that seemed to resolve this issue were usually Realtek users (that I read about) and most aren't sure what they did beyond removing drivers, and then re-configuring output and input settings and then mic was just the mic recording, no longer broadcasting system audio streams as well. I want to see if we can get more info...if you can take screenshots and upload them here to show us your audio console both Windows and driver-app for the audio device in-use.



I have reinstalled realteks software/drivers about 3 times and when I do I make sure I clean the registry and leftover files before I reboot and install fresh. I am convinced that this is a windows issue and it even still happens when I disable everything except my headset/mic. I will say that the xonar card has reduced it quite much but still get some bleed over from audio that is playing when I am using the mic. It really just burns me up that I cannot figure it out.


----------



## AsRock (Jan 26, 2016)

Sounds like a Teamspeak option your after,  press to talk.


----------



## brandonwh64 (Jan 26, 2016)

AsRock said:


> Sounds like a Teamspeak option your after,  press to talk.



It happens when you monitor the output sound like if you go in windows to the recording devices and click listen to test your mic. You can head the music through the mic there as well.


----------



## AsRock (Jan 26, 2016)

brandonwh64 said:


> It happens when you monitor the output sound like if you go in windows to the recording devices and click listen to test your mic. You can head the music through the mic there as well.



Aye, and all so if you plug the mic on the speaker socket too, or at least too.


Hey! no shooting at the messenger


----------



## R-T-B (Jan 26, 2016)

Realtek has a similar option to "What U hear."  I believe it is called "Stereo mix" or something similar.  Make sure it is disabled under Windows Sound -> recording devices.


----------



## brandonwh64 (Jan 26, 2016)

R-T-B said:


> Realtek has a similar option to "What U hear."  I believe it is called "Stereo mix" or something similar.  Make sure it is disabled under Windows Sound -> recording devices.



I have had it disabled since early testing on realtek and xonar audio. Also disabled onboard audio from bios after card install.



AsRock said:


> Aye, and all so if you plug the mic on the speaker socket too, or at least too.
> 
> 
> Hey! no shooting at the messenger



LOL naw man I encourage all forms of help! 

I have even contemplated a full format and reinstall of windows but that really sounds harsh for this issue. I can screen shot my settings and see if you guys see an issue with it or anything that does not look right.


----------



## MT Alex (Jan 26, 2016)

I've been having a similar issue lately with bleed through and my mic always being in "listen" mode even though it's not.  I'm halfway convinced my issue is due to a 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter.  Now that I've reread your OP it looks like you have a new headset, so probably no adapter.


----------



## brandonwh64 (Jan 26, 2016)

MT Alex said:


> I've been having a similar issue lately with bleed through and my mic always being in "listen" mode even though it's not.  I'm halfway convinced my issue is due to a 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter.  Now that I've reread your OP it looks like you have a new headset, so probably no adapter.



It is a brand new headset mouse bought me as well as his Asus Xonar DG card. Still have the same issue just not as bad but its still there.


----------



## truptrup (Apr 7, 2020)

Sorry to bump an old thread but this was the first Google result so I figured I would put my solution here

At least for me, you were right it was related to Stereo Mix. My stereo mix was disabled so I assumed that was not it, but the fix for me was to enable Stereo Mix then mute it. Somehow even though it was disabled it was still mixing the audio.


----------



## meryacine (Jun 23, 2020)

sorry to bump an old thread again , i have tried every possible combination of muting and disabling audio inputs and output , no solution found.
what i now think the topic is , that it may be the drivers problem (Realtek or others) and it may be my headphones problem.
i ve cut and fixed my headphone wires tons of times ,, so i might have let the audio output somehow touch the mic input so it reports the voice this way.
i am anyway getting a new headphone soon so i will try it using realtek drivers and its own drivers and see whether the problem shows up from the drivers or the current headphone.


----------



## FudgeFredd (Jul 8, 2020)

I've spent ages on this, and I've found a fix for me. Realtek's latest audio driver version (2.82) no longer has two options that I have found solve this issue. I downloaded the previous version (2.81) which is available on their website https://realtek-download.com/download-hd/.

Once I installed this some new options were available for my microphone. Go to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Sound. Then select the 'Recording' tab. Right click your microphone and select properties. Go to the 'Enhancements' tab and make sure 'Noise Suppression' and 'Acoustic Echo Cancellation' are ticked. (These were not here when I had the most recent (2.82) version.

I've found this drastically improves the issue. If I have my headphones turned up very loud some noise still seeps through but I haven't found it noticeable and the two options suppress it very well. If I am playing games or watching something when in Discord chat with friends they can't pick up the sounds.

When installing the older version of the driver, I had a bit of a problem with the installer going in a loop every time I restarted as part of the process. I have found a solution to this here: https://www.gfisk.com/realtek-audio-driver-install-loop-windows-10/

One note is that I think that this slightly changed my microphone volume settings on the 'Levels' tab of the Microphone Properties but I was able to just change these back to a suitable level. 

Another note is that the version (2.82) Does not come with Realtek HD Audio Manager, not sure if this plays a part but it's useful to have which the previous (2.81) version does.

Hope this helps!


----------



## steen (Jul 8, 2020)

FudgeFredd said:


> I've spent ages on this, and I've found a fix for me. Realtek's latest audio driver version (2.82) no longer has two options that I have found solve this issue.



Except it's not the latest. You're better off with a newer set from here.


----------



## NanD (Dec 3, 2020)

I had the same issue and tried everything. The thing that made it work for me was the 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter. Turns out my last adapter broke and was the cause of all these issues. It also made my mic sound a lot worse, although I hadn't realized that before after I fixed it. I just bought another adapter and it works like a charm.


----------



## willtheoct (Dec 11, 2020)

Same problem.
Gigabyte z97x-sli mobo
Windows 10
Realtek audio manager installed

echo cancellation "fixes" the problem by removing the pc audio entirely but is also making my voice muffled and distorted when a game/music player has lots of output

If I had more time I'd love to try installing ubuntu, arch, or windows 7/xp to see if the problem remains.


----------



## GamebusterTGC (Mar 12, 2021)

Hi there everyone, i've experienced this issue as well. I have found a Temporary solution to this is plugging the speaker and microphone in the front jacks on a PC. For some reason plugging it in the back jacks doesnt work properly. Now i'm saying this is a Temporary solution because the Back Jacks should work as expected. This might be a Bug in the system or something. 
In case you need to see my specs:
Ryzen 5 3600x
16GB RAM
RTX3070
Gigabyte B450 Gaming X Mobo


----------



## mozdovan (Mar 19, 2021)

Hi everyone. I'm experiencing the same problem as well. Haven't found a proper solution to it but I thought passing along my symptoms and what I've tried so far might help other people solve their problems or point someone towards figuring out what the cause of this is.

I'm experiencing the problem on an Asus Rog Strix x570-i board with ALC1220 sound card. At first I thought it was an Asus problem with their customized software bordering on malware but it seems like its Windows mixing everything in the background.

Depending on the drivers installed, there are up to 2 "Stereo Mix" devices on my sound devices. One being Realtek Studio Mix, and the other one Sonic Stereo Mix (this is Asus's Sonic Studio software I believe)

I disabled both stereo mix devices separately, and both at the same time which didn't work. Then I left them on, and muted them again separately and then both at once. The mic still picked anything I played on my playback device. I turned off my speakers, just to make sure the problem wasn't my mic picking up sound from my open back headphones, or my speakers were playing on low.

Still assuming it was Realtek, I disabled the soundcard from my bios, and tried the same steps with a Tempotec Sonata plugged in through a USB-C to USB-A adapter. Anything that played on my playback device was being carried over to my recording device. Then I uninstalled the Tempotec Sonata, and tried the same with Cooler Master MH752's USB soundcard. The problem persisted. I tried playback from MH752, and Recording from Tempotec Sonata, but Windows was still mixing the playback to wherever my microphone was.

The only thing that helped me slightly was removing any and all sound related drivers and devices, and installing Realtek's 2.81 driver as stated above. That enabled the sound enhancements tab. I could enable Acoustic Echo Cancellation (which is the only setting that removes the issue. Other settings do not affect the issue whatsoever). While enabling Acoustic Echo Cancellation does minimize (not remove) the audio mixing, it also reduces my voice so much that even with microphone boost on my end and %200 sound on the recipients Discord channel, my voice is unrecognizable. The person on the other side could only hear that I was talking, and could not make out what I said. I should also add, that Acoustic Echo Cancellation does not work for anything above 44100Hz and both playback and recording has to be in the same bit, and same Hz. 

I had DaVinci Resolve's Fairlight Audio software installed, which I removed. I thought that might have had a setting in the background set in stone that mixes everything for some reason. That didn't help. Removing Audacity, and installing the newest 3.0 version did not help either. I was planning to buy an audio interface hoping that might resolve the issue, but external sound cards don't seem to matter much.

This is pretty much everything I've tried myself. The only thing closest to a solution is installing older drivers from Realtek, and using Acoustic Echo Cancellation, which also scrubs my voice from the recording tab. I hope this information helps someone sort their audio problems out.


----------



## nrebo (Apr 24, 2021)

So, i think i found the solution, at least worked for me. On the Realtek audio console > Microphone > turn on the option of "AEC removes acoustic echo couple into the microphone".


----------



## Ferather (Apr 24, 2021)

Sounds like a bug...


----------



## wqazy (Apr 29, 2021)

nrebo said:


> So, i think i found the solution, at least worked for me. On the Realtek audio console > Microphone > turn on the option of "AEC removes acoustic echo couple into the microphone".


Thank you so much! I've been dealing with this for a couple of months you're a real-life saver.


----------



## willtheoct (May 3, 2021)

nrebo said:


> So, i think i found the solution, at least worked for me. On the Realtek audio console > Microphone > turn on the option of "AEC removes acoustic echo couple into the microphone".





wqazy said:


> Thank you so much! I've been dealing with this for a couple of months you're a real-life saver.


this doesn't fix much - it's just detecting the mixed output/input as echo, sometimes distorting the real input, sometimes failing.


----------



## Ferather (May 3, 2021)

For me beam forming works best, AEC settings can be intermittent with some ALC's, not sure why. My mic is stereo, 2 separate mini mics, one left, one right.
I remember my old X-Fi had options for noise cancellation, but required a proper stereo microphone to work properly.


----------



## Vayra86 (May 3, 2021)

Get rid of that shite realtek chip.

I'm not even kidding, when you upgrade board to something recent, you'll know. Those audio subsystems have improved by miles since then. I know from experience, these boards were just prior to the whole gamur push for actual quality features. That way you can stay away from sound cards too.  I've also had a Xonar DG, in my case on a Gigabyte Z77x. Never. Again. Nothing ever works entirely the way you want.

And if you do get a sound card, get a proper external one, connect it with a single input from the PC and never touch it again, handle everything externally. Even just because the noise floor is so much better.


----------



## Ferather (May 3, 2021)

That's definitely true if we are talking about a plain ordinary Realtek driver, comparing the sound of my ALC889 with Realtek vs ALC889 with DTS, major difference.


----------



## LucyZocker (Nov 22, 2021)

If anyone else ever comes here with a Realtek soundboard here is what I did that seemed to have fixed the issue. 
In the Realtek audio console go into the mic settings and then advanced. Make sure that the inputs are not connected. After doing this (and a quick reboot) my mic is no longer playing any audio I listen to, but still records the voice. 
I hope this helps for anyone else coming this way
Lucy


----------



## jarod120 (Feb 13, 2022)

From this video: 







I found that you will want to go to: C:\Program Files (x86)\Realtek\Audio\Drivers\HDADrv\WIN64\RtkNGUI64.exe
or C:\Program Files\Realtek\Audio\Drivers\hdaorsomethingprobably\RtkNGUI64.exe
or something similar

and

Click the Crank in the bottom right of the window

Make the Recording Device Seperate all input jacks ...

If you are using a 3.5mm jack that uses both mic and audio, this still did not fix my problem.


Luckily I had an adapter that I plugged into the back of the PC and it correctly joins the mic and audio from the PC to your headset only after changing the settings.

[When I started I had issues opening this exe, and I updated to windows 11 and tried updating the realtek driver because of this issue (which let me open the RtkNGUI64.exe).]


----------



## thewakaman (Jun 25, 2022)

I hope this helps someone in the future.  This what worked for me.  Audio coming through your mic/comms channel during a game. Mine was Overwatch. 

Realtek Audio Drivers on Motherboard. Using a Corsair HS50 PRO (non usb mic) - No actual Corsair drivers available (that i know of)

Things i tried that didnt work. 
- Disabling Stereo Mix 
- Updating Computer Drivers 
- Reformatted 
- Tried other non usb headsets - still nothing 
- Tried using usb-c to aux adapters (had mic capabilities) still getting feedback even my mic was muted, but I had push to talk engaged. 
- Tried a USB-A to Aux adapter - same affect at first. Then i found this thread on THIS PAGE. https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/all-audio-that-is-played-comes-through-mic.219513/

What worked for me from that thread was. 

A. Simply Installing the 2.82 Realtek Driver - Did not remove anything prior to install https://www.techspot.com/drivers/driver/file/information/17056/#download_scroll 

B. Reconfirming my stereo mix was disabled, Listening to this device disabled, disabling "allow applications to take control" or similar option, and put my Mic level at about 70%

C.  I noticed that someone mentioned issues with 48000hz sound so i then switched it to 44100hz. Launched Overwatch. Played a game and can see my mic NOT creating noise when my mic was muted and push to talk engaged. *I think this might be the most important part*

I hope this helps and saves time!!!


----------



## lsd_lsd_ily (Aug 19, 2022)

truptrup said:


> Sorry to bump an old thread but this was the first Google result so I figured I would put my solution here
> 
> At least for me, you were right it was related to Stereo Mix. My stereo mix was disabled so I assumed that was not it, but the fix for me was to enable Stereo Mix then mute it. Somehow even though it was disabled it was still mixing the audio.


I was genuinely about to stop playing games because this issue was so annoying I tried everything and nothing worked until I saw your comment and it completely solved the issue thank you so much I've never made an account to respond to a helpful message but I was honestly ripping my hair out over this so I think I needed to comment


----------

