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Lenovo Y500 External Microphone Static


Lazerlord

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(First thread on the forum! :)

I recently purchased the Zalman ZM MIC1 for recording videos, instead of an external condenser attachment for my ipod. I read the reviews and listened to numerous audio samples from this microphone. All of them seem pretty clear and noise-free. The only problem is that with my computer, the microphone has a HUGE background humm, along with a very large amount of static. I would like to know if this is a problem with the Y500's sound card, a problem with the microphone, or just a software setting I missed. Here are some links:

The Micriophone with a good audio test: Amazon.com:*Customer Reviews: Zalman Zm-Mic1 High Sensitivity Headphone Microphone

My test Microphone test.mp3 with the following settings in control panel: 100% volume, +20dB microphone boost, and DC offset cancellation.

My Realtek Settings and information (Note some of the missing options):

post-29177-1449499833253_thumb.jpg

EDIT: I tested this microphone on some crappy Toshiba, and there is pretty much no static. It had a 24dB gain on it, and it sounded very good. So what I'm thinking is that the soundcard in the Y500 either doesn't have good specs, or that the "noise removal" feature on the toshiba (which was enabled) is non-existent on the lenovo.

Other discovery: After installing different versions for the type of sound card I have, I still have yet to find any options for enabling a noise suppression effect. Realtek says that my card supports it, but it never appears in any option, in windows nor in Realtek. I really want to get this mic working, because I could use it for so much. I have also tested it with another microphone, and it does the exact same thing, and the static sounds identical.

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(First thread on the forum! :)

I recently purchased the Zalman ZM MIC1 for recording videos, instead of an external condenser attachment for my ipod. I read the reviews and listened to numerous audio samples from this microphone. All of them seem pretty clear and noise-free. The only problem is that with my computer, the microphone has a HUGE background humm, along with a very large amount of static. I would like to know if this is a problem with the Y500's sound card, a problem with the microphone, or just a software setting I missed. Here are some links:

The Micriophone with a good audio test: Amazon.com:*Customer Reviews: Zalman Zm-Mic1 High Sensitivity Headphone Microphone

My test [ATTACH]12517[/ATTACH] with the following settings in control panel: 100% volume, +20dB microphone boost, and DC offset cancellation.

20dB is a pretty huge microphone boost, so that could be it. Also, check the bitrate of your microphone and toy with those settings.

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Yeah turn down the gain and then see what happens.

I tried turning the Gain down to 0dB, and it didn't do anything to the signal to noise ratio. The noise was less, but after I amplified my speech to a point where it was the same loudness as the test, there was no change in the noise. I'm thinking that it's either the hardware of the Y500 or the Software/drivers of the sound card, mainly because it works perfectly on my other laptop. The only difference is that the other laptop has a "noise suppression" option, and the Y500 doesn't have that setting.

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You sure about that? I seem to remember there's something in the Realtek HD Audio Manager. Also try turning off Dolby Home Theater.

I searched my computer for anything dolby, and came back with only some .bmp's, a DLL, and some links, all of which were contained inside the lenovo PowerDVD Software. Also, I've added a screenshot in the main post showing the settings that are there on my Realtek HD Audio Manager, as well as the information in realtek. (Audio codec, audio controller, etc.) No where in the Realtek HD audio manager is there an option for noise suppression.

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i had a similar problem with my audio/mic. i ended up reinstalling the drivers and it went away. use the ones the came with your y500. via lenovo support site

I guess I can try that, although trough my many re-installations I think I re-downloaded the lenovo drivers. I'm just wondering why these options weren't there in the first place.

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I guess I can try that, although trough my many re-installations I think I re-downloaded the lenovo drivers. I'm just wondering why these options weren't there in the first place.

how i went about fixing this issue was i first had the realtek audio drivers install not supplied by manufacture. after i realized it was making static noise i decided to download and install drivers from lenovo. i didn't perform a clean install of the drivers which in any case shouldn't matter for sound card. but that's what i did

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