I just installed Skype and ran their call test. I'm on Maxnet and used a headphone and microphone that I had used in the past .. I'm using a "Genius" brand that looks to be the exact set recommend on the site. The played-back (my) voice was very weak.

I checked all my volume settings .. they are at max.

Do I need a sound card for Skype .. I'm currently using "sound on main board"? I don't remember doing very much when I had this set up before, but don't recall whether the 'puter had a sound card.

The voice comes through on the test, but maybe 30-40 db lower than the operator's voice.

Any recommendations .. other than "talk louder"?

Check your recording control mixer (in 'volume control' behind 'options -> properties' click 'recording' ), there may be a 'mic gain' check box to add a bit extra. Also ensure you've not accidentally plugged the mic into 'line in'

Edited June 10, 200818 yr by Crossy

I just installed Skype and ran their call test. I'm on Maxnet and used a headphone and microphone that I had used in the past .. I'm using a "Genius" brand that looks to be the exact set recommend on the site. The played-back (my) voice was very weak.

I checked all my volume settings .. they are at max.

Do I need a sound card for Skype .. I'm currently using "sound on main board"? I don't remember doing very much when I had this set up before, but don't recall whether the 'puter had a sound card.

The voice comes through on the test, but maybe 30-40 db lower than the operator's voice.

Any recommendations .. other than "talk louder"?

When you say you've checked your sound settings is that on your computer or in the skype sound settings?

Check audio settings within Skype itself, make sure if there is a volume adjustment on the headset that it's turned on and move the microphone closer to your mouth...

and a separate sound card is not required, onboard is fine.

@crossy - did that already .. plugged in correctly

@sumrit - settings on XP and Skype are all at maximum

@jeffer - if volume is set at maximum with headset control, I can hear playback of my voice okay, but the operator's voice is so loud it's almost painful.

Edited June 10, 200818 yr by klikster

Go ahead and ring a real person. Despite the test you might find everything works in real time anyway. Genius is a great budget brand so the headset is probably okay. Just make sure you have at least a 256/64 connection and turn off anything that's not essential that may be sucking up bandwidth in the background. Besides the Sounds and Audio settings in Control Panel do you have any other sound settings belonging to your motherboard such as Soundmax you can try adjusting?

Only other thing I can suggest is if you have plugs for your headphones on the front and back of your computer then swap to the ones you're not using now. For some reason the connections on the back of my computer never work as good as the audio sockets at the front. If I press in the ones at the back a little too hard then they never work properly whereas the ones at the front on my computer don't seem to be as finicky.

One other thing. In your Skype audio settings, have you tried experimenting with the different sound options? Besides the Windows default option there can be several other options if you click on the arrow for the drop down menu choices.

In your skype audio settings make sure the box is ticked that allows skype to adjust your audio settings and as jeffer suggests select your microphone source from the drop down window instead of using the windows default device.

One other thing when I had to replace my main board a few months ago I had the same problem with the rear mic socket although the front socket was fine. I took the PC back to the repair shop but they couldn't find the problem and another main board gave the same symptoms so they fitted an audio board free of charge (I think it only cost about 150 baht anyway) and that cured the problem.

jeffer & sumrit .. the audio and mic jacks on the m'board are a little dicey, but by fiddling with them, it helps.

Sadly, the jacks on the front of my machine are dead.

The combination of the 2 situations has made me to decide on a new sound card which should, at least, give me reliable audio connector sockets.

I set the "Let Skype Adjust ..." and had already selected the "Realtek" device in the dropdown.

Hey guys, thanks very much for the help.