Microphone volume control?

[Sunsteal]

I'm having problems with the recording level of my microphone being turned down to 50% whenever I start voiceattack and then every 10 odd minutes thereafter.

This results on voiceattacks not hearing my spoken commands and i have to alt/tab  out of the game to reset it.

I've tried each and all of the online recommendations for this but nothing I've done yet has worked.

I see we can control the volume of a streamed radio station using vlc player and that got me to wondering if there is a way to reset the recording level in the same manner with a spoken voice command and if anyone knows how or has a profile for this?

Thanks..

[Gangrel]

It could well be skype or another app (sonic studio for example) that is altering the voice recording volume automatically. You can also disable adaptive recognition in the voice attack "recognition" tab, it might help you out

[Sunsteal]

I did look at that but i've not got Skype and no other running apps like Skype (don't think I have any similar apps).

I've tried getting the speech engine to put it up by training it speaking very low and also the converse, very hight, lol but with no effect. I've even tried different mic's from cheap desktop to some good headphone and mic combo. All to no avail.

I just wish Microsoft would leave settings alone. Surely they understand if i set something the way I want it then thats how it should be, unless it goes deeper than that.

[Gangrel]

This is the thing that gets me, the only thing that I can think of that might do this is something else that adjusts the volume automatically. Creative sound card drivers can do this as well.

Over the years, I have never had Windows *itself* adjust the mic volume setting. It has always been another piece of software (some sound card drivers for example), which has done it. (Going from Windows XP to Windows 10)[1].

The reason why I thought that skype might be the culprit is because there is a setting in there to automatically adjust the microphone setting. But this can be disabled. The only other thing I can think of is possibly Teamspeak (advanced options for Capture settings).

[1] There is the exception when I have updated sound card drivers, then *sometimes* the output volume gets set to Max... but once again, only with 3rd party drivers.

[Sunsteal]

Interesting, i'll look into the drivers when i get home. See what that brings.

[Sunsteal]

Ok, so I've deleted all realtek audio drivers and managers and my microphone recording level is no longer being automatically lowered, at all. It stays where I set it.

All my music sounds the same to me but the microphone is even clearer.

Now i just have to stop windows trying to reinstall any realtek software. I've found a post on the Microsoft insiders forum which points us at Microsoft 'show or hide updates, troubleshooter which allows us to hide the driver or update and it'll not be updated. After we've set that we can then delete the driver/update, in my case realtek.

Now this may not be for everyone as they may need/want realtek on their system but for me its fixed the problem and I can play Elite: Dangerous using VoiceAttack in peace

If anyone wants a link to Microsoft troubleshooter let me know but a quick Google should bring it up.

[Gangrel]

Ok, so I've deleted all realtek audio drivers and managers and my microphone recording level is no longer being automatically lowered, at all. It stays where I set it.

All my music sounds the same to me but the microphone is even clearer.

Now i just have to stop windows trying to reinstall any realtek software. I've found a post on the Microsoft insiders forum which points us at Microsoft 'show or hide updates, troubleshooter which allows us to hide the driver or update and it'll not be updated. After we've set that we can then delete the driver/update, in my case realtek.

Now this may not be for everyone as they may need/want realtek on their system but for me its fixed the problem and I can play Elite: Dangerous using VoiceAttack in peace

If anyone wants a link to Microsoft troubleshooter let me know but a quick Google should bring it up.

Glad it was sorted. I wonder what the setting in the driver control panel that did that....

[Gary]

Wow... good work, guys

[Sunsteal]

Well now i know how to 'fix' it i may reinstall realtek drivers on the weekend and see if i can work it out

[pvarn]

Mic level change (what appears to be an "auto" adjustment) solution in detail:

After doing some research and experimenting on this, what is happening on my system is each time VA is started, closed, or any of its features clicked, the Speech Recognition module is triggered and results in the module resetting the microphone volume to that set by the MICROPHONE VOLUME WIZARD.

The reason I point this out here is it have been stated elsewhere the volume is set by the recognition TRAINING.
So to be clear it's not the actual speech dictation training which does this.  The mic volume wizard is a separate module available for Win7 in Control Panel->Speech Recognition->Set up Microphone (your OS may vary a bit.)

In the same OS, users have manual control over the mic level in:
Control Panel->Sound->Recording->Microphone->Properties->Levels.

The problem:
When running the wizard on modern headsets with quality microphones, the wizard is too sensitive and sets the volume too low.  SR (Speech Recognition) then misses the subtle nuances of word portions.  Many users like myself will go into the manual mic volume and increase it to levels which also work well with other voice applications like TeamSpeak and Discord.  With the checkbox selected to listen to the mic, the best approach is to raise it so most indications on the volume display meter graphic reach half way or more and while listening to stronger pronounced words with sharp consonants, there are no clipping distortions at the peaks.  After going though all this and getting the mic JUST RIGHT, VA/SR will reset back to the former wizard volume.  Ugh.

The SOLUTION:
Display the mic volume setting screen as described for manually setting the volume.

Run the mic level wizard (not the dictation training):  Control Panel->Speech Recognition->Set up Microphone.
This time while the wiz is running, move the microphone further away than is normal and use a lower spoken energy than normal.  Keep working with the wizard until you see it set the level to the good manual volume NUMBER you KNOW works well with VA and all your voice connections.  Now exit the wizard and the mic controls.

DONE:
For now on, VA/Speech Recognition will set the mic level to the ideal setting you want which SHOULD mean it doesn't move if you followed the procedure above.
-Pv-

[Gary]

Ah, yes.  I need to clarify what I've been saying (for a long time, actually).  When you train your speech engine for the first time (or add a new profile), you'll be presented with the microphone setup applet that you are speaking of at the start, before the actual training.  From then out, yes, you should use the microphone setup applet instead of going through the full training, as the microphone level is not available on subsequent training sessions (making sure to keep the level inside the green area, of course).

Good catch on that!