Tell me more ×
Super User is a question and answer site for computer enthusiasts and power users. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 1 down vote favorite

I would like to hear the microphone output during Skype calls. I have tried fiddling with alsamixer settings and made sure that the mike is unmuted but still cannot get to hear the mike in either headphones or speakers.

Is this achievable with alsa?

share|improve this question
just to clarify, is it recording at an acceptable volume ? (i.e: can skype loop back pick it up correctly?) – Sirex Aug 12 '12 at 22:47
@Sirex: The microphone appears to work ok, at least people at the other end can hear me without problems. On a windows system I managed to force the mike input to serve as a source for the output device (i.e. headphones) by simply ticking the 'Listen to this device' checkbox in device properties. There probably should be something similar with alsa but so far reading the man-pages for alsamixer and amixer did not reveal a solution. The linux sound volume gui's don't seem to contain anything in this regard. – ccpizza Aug 12 '12 at 22:54
ok, I was wondernig if the mic boost was off or similar. If the playback is up, and the recording is up, and it's not muted. I'm out of ideas ! – Sirex Aug 12 '12 at 23:05

1 Answer

up vote 1 down vote accepted

Look for Microphone in the playback controls, it may be muted by default. Set it's lever to high, and if your microphone configured properly you will hear sound from it in your speakers.

share|improve this answer
Thank you! All I had to do (in xfce4-mixer) was to (1) select the USB Headset in the Sound Card combo-box, (2) click Select Controls and check the Microphone and Microphone Capture checkboxes, and, the part that I missed initially, (3) in the Capture > Microphone Capture tab click the small red dot. – ccpizza Aug 13 '12 at 20:58

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.