How to boost the mic volume on your Realtek audio codec
Posted on: August 11, 2007My Asus P5K motherboard has an integrated Realtek ALC883 sound system: it's alright, but one of the glaring gaps out-of-the-box is that the microphone level, by default, it just too dang soft. What's even more frustrating is looking in Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices will show the mic volume as grayed out and unchangeable, when infact, it really can be amped up.
Here's how to boost the level, whether you're on this motherboard, or another which uses the same or similar audio codec:
- Install the drivers first. They will most likely be included on a CD-ROM that comes with your motherboard.
- After doing the mandatory restart, look in your Windows taskbar for the "Realtek HD Audio Manager" icon. On my system, it looks like a pixelated orange speaker. (Alternatively, you can go to Control Panel > Realtek HD Sound Effect Manager.)
- Double-click that icon and then click the Mixer tab. (Now here's where you'll find yourself declaring, "Why didn't they make this more obvious?")
- See the "<" and ">" buttons on the top row, Playback? This is understandably unintuitive because the section's labeled "Realtek HD Audio output", when you'd expect to find the mic volume control in the input section — where it's frustratingly grayed out. Don't worry, keep clicking ">" until you see "Mic Volume". The first time you go there, the volume slider will probably be set at nearly the bottom. Drag that all the way up to the top. If applicable, you may want to do the same for "Front Pink In", which should correspond with the front mic jack on your computer's case.
- After setting that, try test recording and watching the levels in your fave audio editor. Windows Sound Recorder is mediocre, so if you need to look at meters to gauge volume more accurately, check out Audacity — it's free.
- If that's still too soft, go back to the Realtek HD Audio Manager, and click the ".." button. You'll see this is where the "Microphone Boost" option is (on most integrated audio codecs like AC'97, it's found via the Sounds and Audio Devices control panel. Check it and click OK, and test again in your preferred audio editor.
- Optional: if you hear a lot of hiss and white noise when recording, you may find it helpful to mute non-active inputs. In the Realtek HD Audio Manager, in the bottom section, click the little speaker icons for "CD Volume", "Line Volume", and "Stereo Mix" so they've got red X's.
This is how I've got it setup:
I've not verified this, but the above may also be applicable for the Realtek ALC861, ALC681-VD-GR, ALC880 Series, ALC882, ALC888, ALC888T, ALC885, and ALC888S, and maybe others too.
Hope this helps those of you who've also been maddened by this issue but couldn't find out how to make the situation better. Special thanx goes to my wife for mentioning my recorded voice was too quiet, leading me to do this research, and more details about the various finer points can be found in this forum thread. I love sharing info to make your life easier and save you the headaches of digging for answers.
August 12th, 2007 at 1:11 AM PDT
*clapclapclap* above and beyond the call of duty! You're good at making the scary world of technology comprehendable and fun!
August 14th, 2007 at 1:00 AM PDT
OMGosh! I've been trying to fix that for so long, THANKS!
August 15th, 2007 at 10:53 PM PDT
I have the same problem, except my Realtek mixer doesn't have "Mic Volume" in the Playback. It only has it in "Record" where's there's no slider and in the Windows mixer all input devices are grayed out.
I bought an expensive condenser microphone and I don't get enough sound from it. It's been a month and I haven't accomplished anything except to get more frustrated than I've ever been in my life.
August 19th, 2007 at 6:12 AM PDT
You're welcome!
It's come to my attention that on some systems, in the Mixer tab, you'll need to click the wrench icon in the Playback section and check "Advanced Controls" (and make sure all the inputs + outputs you want to show are checked too). So if the above seems to be missing a step, keep this in mind.
@Swappo: That is very frustrating… try the above step?
I think condenser mics tend to require a preamp too, and I presume you already have that?
August 23rd, 2007 at 10:51 PM PDT
Yo!! thnx for finally solving da problem tat i'm been figuring for months!!
Almost gave up when common sense told me to look under mic boost then wala!!there u are..
Unfortunately in mine it sez front/rear pink in. which is da mic jack.
Still i've gotta click advance and activate mic boost.
But..if it ain't for u i'm still lost thnx!!
September 2nd, 2007 at 1:12 AM PDT
eventhough mi mic doest eork at all with this realtek
post me to phani_kishore123@yahoo.co.in please
September 3rd, 2007 at 7:33 AM PDT
OMG, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! YEAH!!!!!!
September 8th, 2007 at 10:54 AM PDT
Thanks :0)
Have been looking for that damn thing a while. All that is left now is finally to find a way of attaching my headset to the front -_-
Oh, by the way:
Confirmed for the ALC888 Chip.
September 9th, 2007 at 10:17 AM PDT
Great, thanks for the additional comments, I appreciate you guys trying this out too. I just love seeing problems solved. =o)
September 14th, 2007 at 7:46 AM PDT
Man….I love you. I've been looking for that for so many long time. I was desperate because I couldn't buy an other sound card because I have a laptop. Thank you so so much
September 14th, 2007 at 11:41 AM PDT
WAY TO GO! Been having this problem since installing my new Intel 6750/ECS Motherboard a couple of weeks back.
KUDOS to you for finding this…and SHAME ON REALTEK for several reasons:
1) Putting it there in the first place and not in the bottom, where it should be.
2) Not catching that error and allowing the software out like that.
3) Failure to post any kind of reference to this issue at their website…and it should be a VERY OBVIOUS, "We're sorry, we f***ed up, here's how you work around it" kind of tutorial, just like you have posted here.
I never would have noticed it, since why would I look in the OUTPUT section for an INPUT issue. Every once in a while, they do great stuff but then erase it all with a BIG BOMB of a goof.
Thanks again…immensely! I was getting ready to try and download any other kind of audio driver or get a new sound card.
September 15th, 2007 at 7:13 AM PDT
@Tharos and @Greg 862: You guys are totally welcome. I agree, this could be way more intuitive.
September 20th, 2007 at 7:17 AM PDT
Great help also. My Mobo is a Biostar P4M890-M7 SE and the audio is a Realtek ALC861-VD. I did not find Mic Gain in the output section but I found in the same place,"Front Pink In" and "Rear Pink In" with the famous little box with the two dots at the bottom which led me to the "long searched" "Mike Boost"…!. Activating these "pink inputs" at the bottom or moving the gain here does not do anything, but going to the input section, mic select and gain do work..! ….End of suffering….!
September 24th, 2007 at 12:21 AM PDT
I spent an hour and a half trying to get this to work until I found your site. Thanks dude!
I wonder if there is a place to nominate the most stupid UI decisions of the year award… Because this would almost definitely win! I would have liked to witness the conversation they must have had when they designed this screen:
Programmer: We need to put a control somewhere to allow the user to change the amplification level of the mic
Project Manager (aka Dr Evil): Hahahaha lets put fake controls in the input section, but make them disabled!!! Then put the actual slider in the output section!!!
Programmer: But that doesn't make any sense!
Project Manager (aka Dr Evil): Brahahaha and then I'll buy shares in drug companies that sell anti-depressants, so that when all the people who buy our sound cards go crazy trying to find the volume up for the mic, I will make 5 Million Dollars!!!!!
Programmer: But…
Project Manager (aka Dr Evil): Oh and make the default mic volume way too low, so that all users have to do it!!! I am so evil mwahahaha!!!!!!!!!
Programmer: Man I hate my job
September 24th, 2007 at 6:03 PM PDT
Thank you so much! This has been bothering me for a very long time.
October 1st, 2007 at 12:10 AM PDT
Torley you are awesome. However, i have another issue with my Realtek ALC882. It doesnt matter what program I am using, like if I want to DJ in SL, talk in SL, Talk on Skype, or any other voice software, if i want to listen to music, or when i try to talk and someone else talks. Everything i hear in my headset, is played back through my mic. So if im listening to music, everyone is hearing my music, even tho im using a headset instead of speakers. Ive researched everything I can think of and picked the brains of all my friends. If you cant figure this out then i supposed no one can. Muting Microphone is what everthing ive found says but if i do that, no one hears me talk when i need to talk. Thank you so much for everything.
Mike
October 7th, 2007 at 9:26 AM PDT
You're welcome guys!
@Michael: I'm not sure offhand what's causing your problem, but what motherboard are you using? That doesn't make sense that your *mic* is playing back sound… you mean your speakers AND headphones are both playing sound? If so… I haven't found a way to mute speakers when headphones are plugged in on my own system… YET. But I want to do that. Anyone out there know?
October 10th, 2007 at 2:28 AM PDT
Well says my mother board is a Asus P5LP-LE (Emery) (3 PCI, 1 PCI-E x16, 4 DDR2 DIMM, Audio, LAN, IEEE-1394) and running Dual Core Intel Pentium D 930, 3000 MHz (15 x 200). i don't have any speakers plugged into my computer when I'm using my headset. I manually switch them out. If Im playing music on my computer, say SL and Im listening to the stream. I use push to talk in SL and most other programs for voice. If Im not keyed down, all is well, I hear my music, i hear the people, great. But as soon as i key down to transmit. My music plays through and no one can hear me speaking. Ive never had this problem before. Previous computers when i used a headset, no biggie. Dunno whats so different now. I have however after trial and error been able to make it better. Somewhat.
In the realtek controls i have everything muted except for, on playback side, wave, and on record side microphone is muted. Everything else i have muted and everything is the same, as far as me being able to hear my music and me being able to talk so people can understand. Tho some of my music still plays through to everyone when i key down, and only thing i ahve found to solve this is just to turn the music volume way down. *shrugs* hope that helps anyone else that might have this problem.
As far as muting your speakers while having a headset on, i believe you can use window settings if you know where all your speaker jacks and headphones are plugged into. Just mute that particular port, or just unplug speakers, or turn them down. Otherwise, Im not too sure. Ty again Everyone whos helpped me with this problem.
October 13th, 2007 at 5:10 PM PDT
Thankyou so much!
October 13th, 2007 at 11:20 PM PDT
One thing that should be pointed out, is that you are in fact adjusting your microphone output, not input.
The common issue people run into with their mic i/o is that they end up transmitting their mix (what should come out their speakers) instead of their microphones. Some people have their systems set up to do this first, so what they usually find that "fixes" it is unmuting and boosting the microphone output sound.
This usually leads to echo'ing and extremely loud game sounds coming in over top of what you're saying. Which leads to pissed off people on the receiving end.
That being said, the microphone boost does work for both output and input. Great find! If you put that at the top of your post it would help most people out without them having to play with broadcasting their entire mix.
October 23rd, 2007 at 7:49 AM PDT
Many thanks for the guide!
October 24th, 2007 at 2:39 PM PDT
Yaaay!
Man, thanks! After my old motherboard blew and I had to replace (and update
a large part of my PC, everything was working great - except for Skype: no microphone input.
And now it works! Everything works just fine!
Thank you very much indeed!
October 26th, 2007 at 1:18 AM PDT
Yes!! Thank you!!
Was fiddling with TeamSpeak and couldn't understand why the mic didn't work until I noticed the greyed out 'advanced options' …
On My MSI mainboard (K9A Platinum with Realtek® ALC883) I didn't get the 'mic volume' using ">", but there were front and back 'Pink In' meters with a mic boost option.
Another nice feature ; I had to _disable_ the 'front jack sensing' (under the Analog wrench icon) to get the front panel working … ?!
Thanks again!
October 27th, 2007 at 11:52 AM PDT
To each and everyone who's found this useful, you're welcome — and thanx a lot also for the comments filling in details I left out and additional help of use to visitors who found this article… are you guys coming across it via search engines? In any case, muchly appreciated.
November 2nd, 2007 at 8:24 AM PDT
hours and hours trying to find the mic boost, and after some (a lot) of google, the answer was here, and only here. thank you very much.
uriel, from argentina
November 8th, 2007 at 10:02 PM PST
You ROCK! I thought that this motherboard/built-in-audio sucked, but I now see that only the UI sucked. THANK YOU oh so much!
November 10th, 2007 at 9:22 PM PST
Hehe yes Torley, Google is awesome and i believe that this was like 7 or 8th on the list when i did a search lolol and yes tyvm
November 16th, 2007 at 7:17 AM PST
Thanks a lot ! The same card, the same problem, the same search on google !
You're on page 6 !
November 17th, 2007 at 11:34 AM PST
Michael
I muted 'rear pink in' and 'rear pink out'. That solved it for me. So that I wasn't able to hear myself in the speakers.
I seems that you tried that already… If I was you I would reinstall my sound drivers, or buy some better audio equipment.
Usually when I talk on programmes like skype, I turn my speakers down so that I can hear, and the other people almost can't hear themselves.
Hope you fix your problem.
Keba
November 19th, 2007 at 11:33 AM PST
Many many thanks. Why couldn't the technicians who installed my Realtek hardware tell me this.
However, I still get a lot of white noise. xing out the speakers as you suggest doesn't solve this problem. Is the real answer to install a sound card from another manufacturer?
November 23rd, 2007 at 8:34 AM PST
Thanks so much!! I've been trying this for weeks! I never noticed the and what a stupid place to put the mic volume in! Thank you very much
November 25th, 2007 at 7:15 AM PST
Hey dude,
works very nice and I can phone agien with my mates 
but u should add sth: I had the problem that my voice was too loud and I could only get rid of it by turing the master inputvolume lower. But all in all great work that makes my live much easier 
Thanks for your instructions
November 25th, 2007 at 12:57 PM PST
@Sch0gg0: Well, now that you've commented, others will hopefully pick up on your tip, too!
@Zoog: You're super-welcome!
@JohnD: I think the present interface should be scrapped and a redesign done… which is more easy for humans to understand! To cut down on some white noise, I muted some of the outputs selectively that I wasn't using; you'll want to try that if you haven't already.
To everyone else who's found this helpful, THANK-YOU, and keep sharing knowledge with each other here, so more people who find this post via a search (or however) can prosper and their technical heartaches will be less, thanks to you!
December 8th, 2007 at 11:13 AM PST
Great XD, this was just what i needed.
December 9th, 2007 at 8:32 AM PST
Thank you very much!!!
amazing twisted little minds have those on realtek
December 11th, 2007 at 8:13 PM PST
I have tried to install the driver ALC 883 (which i received in my motheroards driver CD- ASUS P5K-SE) on WIndows XP SP2 but is not working. I have downloaded the ALC 883 driver from the internet also but still same installation problem. All other drivers are working fine.
December 14th, 2007 at 10:50 PM PST
Thanks from NZ. My driver is labelled version 5.10.0.5449 and instead of Mic Volume, I have 'Rear Pink In' like a previous poster. My hardware is ALC888.
April 12th, 2008 at 12:23 PM PDT
Hey, thanks for this. I can now record with my mic - finally! But I can also hear what I'm recording through my headphones. If I mute "Rear pink in", I won't hear what I'm recording, but then I won't be able to record either. Anyone got a clue?
April 26th, 2008 at 5:11 AM PDT
thanks why the hell would they make it so hard to find
April 26th, 2008 at 7:56 AM PDT
All I have to say is "Thank you!" I knew that there had to be a mic boost somewhere, but I couldn't find it.
May 6th, 2008 at 6:45 PM PDT
:):):):):)Thank you
May 8th, 2008 at 12:01 AM PDT
Cheers mate, you fixed me right up! Now I can tell 10 year olds to drop their bullocks on CSS again!
May 9th, 2008 at 7:40 PM PDT
Thank YOU!!!! You put me on the right path and I fixed my prob in minutes.
For anyone who doesn't see the"Mic Volume" control that he was talking about, try this:
Under the big "Record" knob on the lower left of the screen, you will see a small icon of a wrench. Click it and make sure that "Enable recording multi-stream" is checked. You will notice that all the slider controls on the bottom half of the Realtek interface will disappear except for the Mic Volume. In my case, the Mic Volume didnt have a slider, but I was IMMEDIATELY able to record audio thru my mic.
So this thread put me on the right path - Thanks again!
May 11th, 2008 at 8:17 AM PDT
Glad that this is still useful… THANKS for your comments and additional advice! Helping each other here is awesome. I hope Realtek eventually improves their user interface for these sound drivers, but the latest version I downloaded looks essentially the same, and the website is confusing to navigate too. :\
May 16th, 2008 at 1:12 PM PDT
Thanks a lot for this mate. I'm used to boosting the mic in the usual place, but apparently they've hidden it in this monstrosity of a UI…
Much obliged.
June 18th, 2008 at 5:36 PM PDT
Thanks very much. I bought a MacBook Pro last week and put Windows XP on. Everything worked fine except the microphone, which had been annoying. I am now definitely a Mac convert!
June 19th, 2008 at 7:29 PM PDT
I'd like to share there are a few video tutorials out there which cover the same basic ground, if you'd prefer a more in-motion way of learning. Have a look at:
» http://youtube.com/watch?v=RelmsDtRkvM
» http://youtube.com/watch?v=6wPQMW3VVKc
June 23rd, 2008 at 11:49 AM PDT
Thanks for this! Skipped the output section as I didn't think it applied.
Two points:
1. It didn't show up as Mic Volume for me, but "Pink Input" or something.
2. You can close Realtek's control panel via the process "rthdcpl.exe" and the settings will be saved just fine. Also worth disabling at startup if you don't like it, as I have.
June 25th, 2008 at 6:48 PM PDT
Hi, here's a follow up as my feedback to changing the audio setting for my MacBook Pro. I was puzzled that the MacBook squeaked continuously whenever I close the lid to put it on Standby under Windows.
Eventually the problem was traced to the microphone boost being on. This causes feedback from the microphone when the lid is closed. It has something to do, I suspect, with the fact that for some reason, Apple puts the built-in mic close the the left speaker.
Untick the microphone boost removes the problem, but it makes the sound a bit faint. Well, I guess it's not a perfect world.
June 29th, 2008 at 11:00 AM PDT
@Jamie: You're welcome, and I'm seeing some strange variants on Realtek's control panel that have different controls — some have little diagrams of cartoon stickmen (I don't have a picture handy at the moment). Wish their site was more clear and visual as to what we could expect; the UI is tricky enough to follow.
July 6th, 2008 at 2:37 PM PDT
FANTASTIC!!!!!!!! Very helpful.
July 8th, 2008 at 2:05 AM PDT
Just wanna say thanks a lot Torley. Fixed my problem in seconds.
July 11th, 2008 at 4:58 AM PDT
Thanks for the info. On my xp home o/s I had to adjust the boost for front mic and rear mike.
Comment on getting sound feedback problems …..
this could be caused by not muting the microphone on the playback side. Most of the time you will be using line in and you certainly don't want any mike on.
Peter
July 17th, 2008 at 7:28 AM PDT
Thank you so much. I searched everywhere for that mic boost. Fortunately a google search for "realtek mic boost skype" led me to your page.
Thank your again sir!
July 17th, 2008 at 8:14 AM PDT
Hi
I have been told that you have captioned versions of many video tutorials. I'm deaf IRL and new to SL. Most of the tutorials I have seen - some on your site, ones from NCI and The Shelter - seem to be audio-based. Do you have any that are captioned or otherwise text-based? I'd like to learn more about SL.
Thanks.
July 17th, 2008 at 8:20 AM PDT
I'm sorry - I just realized I put this comment in the wrong spot. I am not trying to boost my mic volume.
My email server is down, so I'll look for a more appropriate place for my comment.
Thanks.
July 31st, 2008 at 11:59 AM PDT
it didnt work for me…and it looked so easy!
so my mic is silent-skype says to put it on mute and i did but either way there is no sound.
i also have a problem that when i try to play my sound files in realplayer or windows media player i am told i am not connected to the internet, which i dont want to be when i am playing music actually. (in the meantime i decided to ditch media player and winamp and downloaded VLC media player as well as audacity but havent tried much with them yet.)
i dont know if these problems are related or not. i can hear through the headphones and an old mic i had that used to work also doesnt work besides my new spiffy headset combination.
August 3rd, 2008 at 2:53 PM PDT
Let this be a lesson to us all - never buy Realtek gear - it is a total waste of time
August 10th, 2008 at 8:45 AM PDT
@jim: The hardware isn't so much the problem as the confusing user interfaces, and the variations between them. If someone created an elegant control panel which made doing the above much easier, then we'd all stand to benefit. I'd certainly be game for trying it out.
August 10th, 2008 at 7:41 PM PDT
Thank you my friend, i was lost with the windows options greyed! you the shizznwit
August 12th, 2008 at 11:28 PM PDT
This was the cause of much Skype frustration with the wife. Man thanks.
August 15th, 2008 at 4:15 AM PDT
Thanks a lot , really helped me out !!
was getting really frustrated with the mic !!
August 24th, 2008 at 9:52 AM PDT
Thanks a lot, it really helped me
August 25th, 2008 at 8:34 PM PDT
thanks man, this thing was driving me nuts! i cant believe why they designed the UI like so….
anyway, thanks a lot for your help.
September 1st, 2008 at 1:59 PM PDT
Nicely done. Thanks for the info.
September 16th, 2008 at 8:28 PM PDT
my realtek will play the speaker tester but it won't play itunes or internet sounds what do i do?
October 4th, 2008 at 5:25 PM PDT
I spent hours searching the net for a fix, thanks alot!!!
October 6th, 2008 at 11:58 AM PDT
Thanks so much, this fixed my mic level issue.
October 10th, 2008 at 3:45 PM PDT
Welcome, welcome!