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I want my microphone to directly output to my laptop's speakers. I'm able to do something along these lines by recording then playing, but I want to do it live.

Any suggestions how to do this?

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6 Answers 6

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In Windows 7:

1) Right click on the speaker icon 🔊 in your system tray (bottom right of your screen). Go to Recording devices.

2) Locate your microphone in the list. I am assuming it is not disabled as you mentioned examples of it working previously. Right click, go to Properties. (Or double click the same Microphone entry)

3) Switch to the "Listen" tab, check off "Listen to this device". While Listen is checked, your microphone will be audible through your speakers, and in a more advanced facet, through stereo mix. So if you wanted to record your Mic and Stereo Mix, this is how you would do it, but at the expense of being able to still hear your mic (it throws most people off, like myself).

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    The problem with this solution is that there is a good deal of latency before the sound reaches your speakers (which is why it throws you off when you're talking), however the only solution to that is to have a sound card that supports hardware playthrough, I believe. Sep 10, 2013 at 23:50
  • another easier method if you don't want any latency is using a 3.5mm-to-3.5mm cable to connect the sound output to the input jack
    – phuclv
    Sep 27, 2013 at 10:00
  • @LÆ°uVÄ©nhPhúc that can typically lead to EMI and loss of quality. The internal/software method is effectively lossless and should not result in any latency. If you want a truly real-time process, a user should switch to linux and setup their environment for real-time audio processing (I don't know how to do this though, but some distros like Ubuntu Studio have this Out Of the Box).
    – BloodyIron
    Dec 3, 2014 at 16:51
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    -1 The delay using the method is unbearable
    – Hubro
    May 21, 2017 at 14:00
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If you are using Mac OS X, you can do this with the free LineIn by Rogue Amoeba.

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If you're using Windows, you probably need to un-mute the microphone. Go to Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Entertainment -> Volume Control. Uncheck the "Mute" box for Microphone. If you don't see a slider for the Microphone, go to Options -> Properties and check Microphone under "Show the following volume controls".

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    ...and watch out for feedback... May 5, 2010 at 20:29
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    @quack I'm hoping he's using an external mic, and not one built in to the laptop :-)
    – Brian
    May 6, 2010 at 12:49
  • that doesn't automatically alleviate the potential... May 6, 2010 at 13:09
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You have to take your time to find those options in your sound driver. Those who are using IDT HD sound drivers can go to the Recording menu, available on top of the main menu.

You will be provided with 3 options like

  • microphone/line in
  • internal mic
  • recording playback

Go to an option of your choice and check "input monitor" (listen through the playback device).

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Simplest software is "FunnyVoice". just set the PITCH to 0.

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I'm pretty sure he wants something akin to monitor speakers. Those are the speakers they place in front of the musicians onstage so they can hear what the microphones are hearing.

Depending on your audio drivers, this is possible. Usually, there is a separate tab under the Microphone's properties. There will be a setting like "I want to hear this device" and it will let you choose a default output device for your microphone.

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