Windows – How to enable hearing the Microphone thorugh the speakers in Vista

audiowindows-vista

So i have a Laptop with integrated sound. I have a Microphone and a Headphone socket. I connected an external audio source to the microphone. I can record the source using Sound Recorder so the plug works and is configured, but I cannot hear the source through my headphones or built in speakers – so no live playback of the microphone input.

In Windows XP I would just use the Mixer to enable the Microphone input as a Playback device, but Vista doesn't seem to have that option? I tried enabling Disconnected and Disabled devices in the Sound Control Panel of Vista, but there are no hidden options showing up (so no "Stereo Mix" or "Wave Out" under Playback devices).

Am I missing something? Or does Vista really not support live playback of a Microphone?

Edit: Going to "solve" this by buying another Soundcard (A wireless SoundBlaster, thus killing two birds with one stone). Sucks that this is not possible unless the driver offers that, because it shouldn't be a driver issue at all. But well, Vista got it's reputation for a reason 🙂

Best Answer

This has nothing to do with Vista - many oem sound drivers (esp. a lot of "business" laptops) do have this option disabled. Sometimes there are "hacked" sound drivers available.

Related Solutions

Windows Vista Audio – How to Access ‘Stereo Mix’ Recording

Go to the windows Control Panel, open Sounds. In the Recording tab, right-click and choose Show Disabled Devices. Stereo Mix will appear (amongst other). Right-click Stereo Mix and choose Enable.

You might want to have a look at the device properties (right-click > properties) for volume and other settings.

You would probably still need to set the recording program you'll be using to use the Stereo Mix as a recording device.

Manage Multiple Audio Playback Devices on Windows Vista/7

The solution to all your nagging Windows automation problems: AutoIt!

Put this AutoIt and compile it

;-----Configuration-----
;The title of the sound config window.
Dim $ConfigWindowTitle = "Sound"
;-----End of configuration----

Dim $ItemNumber = 1
If $CmdLine[0] >= 1 Then ;If we have a parameter...
    $ItemNumber = $CmdLine[1] ;...we should press the button the specified number of times.
EndIf

Run("control mmsys.cpl") ;Run the sound control applet and hide it.

WinWaitActive($ConfigWindowTitle) ;Wait for it to be active before sending keystrokes.

Send("{TAB}{TAB}{TAB}{TAB}") ;Put the focus on the list

For $i = 1 to $ItemNumber Step 1
    Send("{DOWN}")
Next

Send("!s") ;Press Alt + S to set the selected device as the default.
WinClose($ConfigWindowTitle)

Now create a shortcut, and in the Target put the path to the compiled executable. For an argument, put the number of the sound device in the list that you want to switch to. (to switch to the top item in the list, put 1, the second item in the list, put 2, etc). If you want a keyboard shortcut, use the Shortcut Key field in the shortcut's properties window.

I'd been looking for something to do what you wanted to do, and found that there's no programmatic way that you can switch audio devices in Vista/7. It's just not something that Microsoft decided that programmers need to do, so I make this script to automate the process. It's not the best since it pops up the window in order to change the device (necessary), but it makes it possible to create shortcuts to change the output device for your sound.

Related Question