Microphones in modern electronic devices are tiny, and so are the ports that connect them to the outside world. We carry devices and headsets around with us everywhere in pockets and in bags and expose them to all kinds of environments. All good? Right, then let’s move on.Įven if you take great care of your hardware, it’s bound to accumulate dust and debris. If dust and dirt are in the way, take a moment to carefully clear it out. If you have issues with your mic, the first thing you should do is take a close look at the mic port to see if there is anything obstructing it. See: SoundGuys Podcast: Can you hear me now? What should you check for first to solve your microphone problems? Let’s follow the path and find out which of these you have control over, and which you don’t.

There may be multiple wireless transmission protocols along the way, including Bluetooth at one end or the other, or both! Every link in this chain can affect the quality of the signal received by the person you’re talking to. Then there’s signal processing, data reduction and compression, transmission, and a bunch of data relays before it even reaches the device at the other end.Īnd that’s in the simplest case. First, there’s the acoustic path from your mouth, and the conversion to an electrical signal done by the microphone itself, followed by the conversion to digital bits (1s and 0s). Whether it’s a traditional cell phone call or a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) call, your voice goes on quite a journey when you call someone. Editor’s note: this article was updated on April 20, 2021, for technical content.

Microphone not picking up audio