Skype sound not working well - how to change microphone settings?

You can access the sound settings through System -> Preferences -> Hardware -> Sound.
In the ‘input’ tab, check if you can tweak the volume and if that changes things during the skype test call.

Nope, that doesn’t change anything… :frowning:

I since downloaded PulseAudio and messed around with the input settings. Still nothing…

Have you gone through the post install setup? (Welcome Splash screen -> Getting Started -> Drivers & Firmwares)

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Yes.

I also downloaded PulseAudio and Alsamixer. I can now make Skype calls and be heard, but only faintly: if I adjust the input settings on those two, they go down again automatically immediately after. Any idea how to fix that?

Hi @Kittywaving,

does this help?:

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Sure does! Thank you!

Talking to people on Skype now, they say that they can hear me but also that the sound has a “metallic” quality to it. I wonder if there’s anything else I can do to improve the sound some more.

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Hi,

glad it helped :thumbsup: , as far as improving sound goes; try installing the following package via the terminal (Ctrl + Alt + t), log out or restart after installing the package:

sudo apt-get install libsox-fmt-all

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no, that’s usually a result of limited bandwidth

Hi @Kittywaving,

don’t turn the microphone (input volume) to 100%, about 50 - 60% is enough I find!:

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I had Windows 8.1 previously on the same computer, and the sound on Skype was fine. This leads me to believe that it is not a bandwidth issue.

Thanks! I’ll try that right now.

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in skype there’s an option to let Skype automaticalyl adjust the sound and mic levels, in the sound options, is that checked or not?
I am using it on MATE ffrom 2 different distros (openSUSE and Ubuntu) and have no issues… I can’t replicate your problem.

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Hello again,

After installing yesterday’s update, the mike is now again not working at all. Any idea what I might try to fix it this time?

I am using a Lenovo G70-70, in case that is of any relevance; just from searching around the web for a solution, both when I initially started this topic and now, it appears that a lot of people having similar issues are using Lenovo computers.

Hi @Kittywaving,

try using the following terminal command (Ctrl + Alt + t):

sudo apt-get install libxine2-all-plugins

See also:

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Thanks. I just did that and the mike still isn’t working.

FYI, I came across this earlier today: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AudioCapture

And did this:

If your microphone still does not work in apps, try recording by running the following command in a terminal window: arecord test.wavand speaking into your microphone. To stop this command press Ctrl+C.This will test basic recording functionality by creating test.wav in your HOME directory. Open this file to determine whether you successfully captured audio when using the ‘arecord’ command. This may not work if the system has not detected your input device as default. If this fails, it is unlikely that other applications can successfully capture audio without further troubleshooting. In some cases you may need to configure your ALSA setup or try testing with Audacity as per instructions above.’’

This showed that it is not just Skype, but in fact the microphone is not working in general.

Any idea what to do next? And what is “Audacity”?

Also did this:

This is what I had to do to get the internal mic to work on my Acer Aspire 5745G:

Install pavucontrol >> sudo apt-get install pavucontrolRun sudo pavucontrolGo to the “Input Devices” tabClick the lock icon to unlock the channelsSet the right-front channel to silence

Hi,

try installing and using “alsamixer”, the mic might be muted?:

sudo apt-get install alsamixer

Open a terminal (Ctrl + Alt + t) and type “alsamixer” once installed and use the F keys (F1/F2/F3 and so on) and also the left/right arrow keys to set it!.

I don’t think Audacity will help you?:

Got that. Nothing was mute except for “headpohones”, which I now unticked just in case.

It looks like this: https://cloud.openmailbox.org/index.php/s/UsF4NYCyQty2PIn

Should I change anything?

Thanks for your help! :slight_smile:

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Okay, from what I can see, the slider is way down on the bottom for “headphones”, you might want to push that up if you are indeed using any!. I would also take out the tick where it states"Rec", maybe that is why it won’t feed back?. :smiley: