How to adjust microphone sensitivity?

Microphone sensitivity is the volume at which your voice comes through on recordings. As a result, the recording will be less audible when other people are talking or you are too close to the microphone. Likewise, it will be impossible to hear you if your voice is too soft from the beginning.

It is important to adjust the microphone sensitivity so that your voice stands out and you aren’t competing with other people. If you’re too close to the microphone or talking with other people in the same room, you may also need to increase your sensitivity.

I’m going to be talking about how to adjust microphone sensitivity. There are a few different options for adjusting your microphone’s sensitivity, and we’ll go over what they all mean and which is best for you.

What Is Microphone Sensitivity?

Microphones will pick up sounds nearby and also very far away. The microphone’s sensitivity can be changed to make it more sensitive or less sensitive to sound.

This allows the user to change how loud they want their voice to come through when they are speaking into the microphone. People will often adjust the microphone’s sensitivity to get a clear audio sound while using online communication programs such as Skype or TeamSpeak.

Adjusting microphone sensitivity helps with allowing the user to speak both quietly and loudly into their microphone without having to change any other settings.

Why Adjust Microphone Sensitivity?

There are many different reasons that people choose to adjust microphone sensitivity. Some of these reasons include:

People often want to change their microphone’s sensitivity when playing online games, talking to friends on Skype or TeamSpeak, broadcasting, etc., their voice through an open microphone, recording themselves speaking with a microphone, or using a microphone voiceover for videos.

If you are using a microphone that is connected directly to your computer, then adjusting the sensitivity will help you to be able to speak quietly and loudly into your microphone without having to change any other settings on your computer.

Check Out: How to Connect Multiple Microphones to a Computer?

The benefits of adjusting your mic’s sensitivity

• You will be more comfortable speaking louder about the benefits of adjusting

• It is easier to perform tests to make sure you know how to adjust microphone sensitivity

• You may be able to increase your volume without distorting your voice or damaging your microphone (which can happen if you are too loud)

How to adjust your microphone’s sensitivity?

1. You should understand how the gain control works on your computer’s audio settings. Most modern computers allow you to control the volume level (gain) through the sound card drivers (the windows mixer app, for example).
2. You should understand how a microphone works. Microphones only pick up sound that is going in the direction the microphone is pointed at. The reason for this is that all of the sound coming from every direction hits the microphone diaphragm equally and, therefore, an equal representation of all audio Input throughout 360 degrees.
3. When you use the built-in mic on your laptop, tablet, or phone, you’re using one of these fixed-gain microphones. On many devices, the fixed gain settings are too low for most recording applications. To fix this problem, you would need an external microphone preamplifier with adjustable gain controls (the blue thingy sticking out from the front of your interface)

How to adjust the mic sensitivity in window

• Click on the Start Menu
• Open the Sound icon in the notification area and click on Sound Settings under the control panel tab. (The volume icon will still appear behind the Sound entry, which may change.)
• A window will open (Microphone Properties). Navigate to Recording.
• Double-click on your microphone. A window with four tabs will open. Navigate to Levels.
• Alternatively, you can right-click on the sound icon at the bottom right corner (notification area) and click on Open Sound settings.
• Select Input in the window that opens.
• Choose your microphone device in the dropdown menu. If you are using a headphone, choose a headphone mic. Otherwise, Microphone (High Definition Audio Device) will be selected by default.
• Microphone properties will open up. Navigate to the Levels
• By default, the microphone level will be at 50% (or +6.1 dB). Increase or decrease it as per need and click Apply.

How to adjust the input volume on a Mac computer

1. Click on your Apple menu in the top-left corner and select System Preferences.
2. Double-click the Sound icon.
3. Click on the Input tab to see your microphone list.
4. Click on the microphone you want to use. The Internal microphone is typically used.
5. Adjust Input volume by moving the slider to the right. Do this while you speak in a normal voice. You can stop moving it to the right when the Input level bars below move to the halfway point.
6. If you see an additional microphone, you can disable it by selecting it in the list and scaling the volume slider to the left.
7. Exit your microphone settings and go back to the interview to take another practice question.

 How to adjust the input volume on an iOS device such as an iPhone or iPad

Adjust the iPad’s volume

Individual applications, such as the iPod and the Video, allow you to adjust their volume levels. You can also set your iPad system volume to help you hear what’s happening better.

1. Tap the Settings icon on the Home screen.
2. A list of settings appears on the left.
3. In the General settings, tap Sounds.
4. The Sounds options appear on the right.
5. Tap and drag the slider to the right to increase the volume or to the left to lower it.

Use Mono Audio on iPad 2

1. Tap the Settings icon on the Home screen.
2. A list of settings appears on the left.
3. In the General settings, tap Accessibility.
4. The Accessibility settings appear.
5. Tap the Mono Audio On/Off button to turn on the feature.
6. Tap the Home button to close Settings. Your changes are saved.

How to adjust the input volume on an Android smartphone or tablet

Adjust the microphone by tapping Applications from your phone’s main menu.

1. Download Microphone Amplifier.
2. Open Microphone Amplifier and grant Microphone and Storage permissions.
3. Dismiss the Presets menu and continue to the main screen.
4. Move the Audio Gain slider 2-10 points to the right to make the mic more sensitive.
5. Move the Input Filter slider 2-10 points to the right to improve noise suppression.
6. Tap the bottom-center power button to enable the amplifier.
7. Tap the bottom-right REC button to create a test recording.
8. Access your Records from the home page. Listen and adjust settings until your voice sounds clear.

Download: Microphone Amplifier (Free)

FAQ’s (Frequently asked questions)

Conclusion

Now you should have a better understanding of how to adjust microphone sensitivity. Although it is not the only part of adjusting your microphone, this skill can improve your overall sound quality. Try out these steps and keep practising to become a better interviewer!

Do you have any additional questions? Leave a comment below and we will do our best to answer.
Until then, check out some other articles too:
How To Use Soundpad on Discord
How To Set Up A Wireless Microphone System?
How to Record Binaural Audio: The Complete Guide
How to Connect Multiple Microphones to a Computer?
How to Make Your Voice Deeper On the Mic?