Setting up headphones in Windows 8 and other systems

The Internet is the possibility of unlimited communication, knowledge and study of everything that is possible. Billions of audio and video files, many ways of communication, thousands of online games with the ability to chat with rivals and teammates... All this is available to anyone who has a computer running Windows or any other operating system, as well as the means to communicate through their device. Of course, you can use a PC without supposedly extra bells and whistles like headphones with a microphone, but then you won’t be able to take advantage of all the opportunities that are available to a modern person.

Unfortunately, it is far from always possible to connect headphones to a computer without any problems. But for any problem, there are solutions that can be applied at home. Setting up headphones with a microphone is easy and simple if you approach things wisely. As a rule, for new Windows operating systems, from 7 to 10, the setup process is almost the same. With older systems like XP, things are not so easy. After all, it happens that the computer does not even see the sound device.

Headphone type

In modern industry, a variety of shapes and cases are created for any device. Therefore, it is not always possible to understand whether the same headphones have a microphone or not. After all, two plugs (jacks) are far from an indicator. First of all, you should figure out what type of headphones was purchased. To do this, pay attention to the plug:

• Are there two? This means that the headphones definitely have a microphone that needs to be connected to a separate jack.

• One plug, two strips on it? So, these are the most ordinary headphones, they do not have a microphone. They plug into the headphone jack.

• One plug, three strips? This means that this is a combined jack, to which the contacts of both the speakers and the microphone are output. These plugs are connected to a combo jack.

If with the first two types everything is clear without words, then with the third it is not so simple. In order to connect such a headset to a computer, you will need a special combo connector. You can easily identify it - usually next to it is an icon in the form of headphones with a microphone.

Unfortunately, it is very rare - on about half of laptops and on single stationary PCs. Therefore, to connect such a headset, you will need to buy a special adapter-splitter. It has two outputs and one input.

It is noteworthy that there is also a reverse variation - especially for those who purchased headphones with two plugs, and the output turned out to be combined. It is also a fairly common problem, but with the help of such a splitter, “wrong” headphones can still be connected.

Connection and setup for Windows

The type of headphones is determined, all the plugs are successfully connected to the jacks, but there is no sound? Three versions need to be checked right away before digging deep into the computer settings:

• Is the sound on the PC and the headphones themselves turned on? Sometimes it happens that the user simply forgets to turn up the volume with a special knob on the headphones or directly in the Windows system.
• Are plugs inserted into those sockets? A common problem is that the jacks are reversed, the microphone sticks out in the headphone jack and vice versa. The sound will not go through the speakers, but the computer also does not see the headphones, since it cannot determine what was inserted into the connector.
• Do the headphones work at all? Connect them to your phone, player or TV and check. You may have been sold a non-working item.

If everything is in order with these points, then perhaps the matter is in the device itself. For example, there may be no sound drivers. In this case, the computer does not see the headphones at all. It does not recognize speakers and any devices that play sound, because it is simply unable to do this without the appropriate driver.

You can check this in Device Manager. To open it, you need to press the key combination Win + R, and then enter the command devmgmt.mcs. And then look in the section "Sound, game and video devices" and "Audio inputs and audio outputs".

If everything is in order with the drivers, then there should not be any additional icons with crosses or other error symbols - this means that they work. Otherwise, you need to install drivers.

Setup in Windows XP

To properly connect headphones with a microphone to a computer that is controlled by the Windows XP operating system, you must:

Go to the Control Panel (enter the key combination Win + R and then the control command). You need to find the "Sounds and Audio Devices" section.

When you open the highlighted section, a new window will open in which you can configure all aspects of how sounds are played on your computer. Let's take a look at the settings one by one.

Audio tab. Here you need to select those devices for playing and recording sound that are currently working, as well as adjust their volume and some other parameters.

Volume tab. Here you should pay attention to the volume of the sound and whether it is turned off at all.

If you click on the "Advanced" button for "General Volume", you can configure sound playback through speakers or headphones in much more detail - balance it, set your own values ​​not only in general, but also for individual items, or even disable them altogether.

Speech tab. To properly configure the microphone, you need to select your device in the "Speech recording" section and click on the "Volume" button.

After that, click on "Settings", and then - on "Properties". In the lower field, it is necessary to tick the line “Microphone” so that it can be configured normally.

After the microphone is connected to the Windows XP system, in the "Settings" tab, you can adjust its balance and volume in general.

You can also set the microphone gain in the Settings, but this is far from always necessary - in most cases, the power of the recording device is quite enough without software tricks.

Connection for Windows 7 to 10

In general, all new systems (Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10) are quite similar in terms of setting sound parameters, the differences can be only in some minor actions. The setup procedure is quite simple and takes very little time.

In order to go to the settings, you need to right-click on the speaker icon, and in the menu that appears, select "Playback devices".

After that, a new window will appear in which there will be all devices capable of reproducing sound and distinguished by the Windows 7, 8 or 10 operating system. Here you need to make sure that there is a round green checkmark next to the image labeled "Speakers", and in the column on the right when playing which -or the sound level of the green stripes changes. If the bar fills up, but there is no sound, everything works, just the volume is reduced to a minimum, and it needs to be raised. Did it work on headphones? So, the nests are mixed up or they are broken.

If such a checkbox is not observed, then you need to right-click on the device and click on "Set as default" in the drop-down list.

The next configuration step is to right-click on the selected speakers, click on "Configure Speakers" and set the stereo sound channels. In headphones, the setup will be more convenient - you can hear better which channel the sound comes from.

The microphone for the computer is configured in much the same way. Right-click on the speaker icon again. But this time we need to go to "Recording Devices".

And again, you should check if the required microphone is working (if there is a green checkmark and if the green stripes are jumping in the column on the left). If not, make it the default device.

If there is still no sound, you need to right-click on the microphone, then go to "Properties" and in the "Levels" tab move the slider closer to the right edge, to a value approximately equal to 80. If it doesn't help now, then the microphone is broken or it must be properly connected to the computer.

Additionally, in the "Improvements" tab, you can enable "Noise Suppression" and "Echo Cancellation".

After that, setting up headphones with a microphone on a computer that is running Windows 10 or earlier to 7 is completed. You can enjoy the fruits of your labors, listen to music and communicate with real people via the Internet.

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