Troubleshooting Your Microphone and Sound Device

When your microphone or associated equipment seems not to be performing up to snuff, it is often useful to perform a simple test using the Windows Sound Recorder. The Sound Recorder is a simple but useful tool included in the operating system which allows the creation of short .wav files. In the context of speech recognition microphones and accessories, it can help you determine whether a performance problem is related to your hardware.

The idea is to use your existing equipment to make a short recording and then listen to it to determine whether it sounds clear or, alternatively, records no sounds or a recording with lots of background hiss or noise.

Using the Sound Recorder:

1. Open the sound recorder with Windows by selecting Start > All Programs > Accessories > Entertainment > Sound Reorder

2. Under the Edit menu, select Audio Properties. This will bring up the Audio Properties dialog window:

3. Under the "Voice Recording" section, be sure that the proper default device is chosen. Depending on what you are using, this might be the name of your computer's on-board sound card or an external sound adapter (the AK5370 shown above corresponds with an Andrea USB sound adapter). Once you are sure the proper sound device is chosen, click OK.

4. Make a practice recording by clicking on the red "Record Button" on the Sound Recorder and make a 10-20 second recording of your speech. Click on the black rectangular button to end your recording, and the double left arrow rewind button to bring you to the beginning of the recording, and then single right arrow (Play) button.

5. Listen to your recording. If your voice sounds clear and there is no obvious background noise, chances are good that your hardware is fine and your issue relates to software configuration. On the other hand if you hear lots of background noise or static, there is a fair likelihood there is something wrong with your microphone, sound adapter, or other hardware problem.

6. If you find that there is a hardware issue, you should attempt to localize the culprit by performing the test again but with another microphone or using an alternative sound converting device, i.e. if you performed the test with an external sound adapter, try it with the onboard sound device (being sure to change the default sound device for voice recording as above).

Thanks to Martin Markoe for popularizing this method!