Sennheiser PC350 Headset; Microphone issues

[Mkilbride]

No section for headphones here, but I really need some help. If it's in the wrong place, please move it. Thanks.

I have no idea what the heck happened.

My PC350's have worked fine for the few days I had them. Recently though, I enabled 2/2.1 in them, a few days ago. It gave better sound quality & bass.

I didn't use my Mic for about two days or so, just playing Singleplayer games & watching movies.

I enabled Dolby Digital Live, it's not digitally connected, but I noticed the Audio became a lot better for some reason, maybe even a placebo effect.

I enabled the Mic finally..and noticed it was distored. Sounded really iffy and breaking up alot. So I moved the Mic up and down and noticed depending on it's angle, it sounded a little worse or better. I noticed that if I talked really quietly it almost didn't break up, but if I talked at normal level, it broke up near the middle or end, usually not the start.

So I reset the drivers, did the whole thing, used the original settings the Mic worked with. It's still scratchy and breaking up.

What happened? I haven't dropped these or mis-placed them at all, INFACT, I kept them in better quality than any Headset I've ever had. I tried plugging and unplugging them several times, re-seating the Soundcard and I tried using Onboard, but it wouldn't detect the Mic for some reason. I don't really have anyones PC I can try them on.


What do you guys think happened? I noticed that when the 2.1 audio was on, if I turned the mic on, I heard a large amount of noise. Is it possible that using 2.1 Speakers tried to use the Mic as a speaker and ****ed it up?

Is this something I could fix by opening the Headsetup and checking for flaky wires or what? I don't know how to do something like that.

Thanks, this is rather urgent. I might have to send them back for a replacement and that'll probably take two weeks, Amazon is slow.

 

[TLS Guy]

No section for headphones here, but I really need some help. If it's in the wrong place, please move it. Thanks.

I have no idea what the heck happened.

My PC350's have worked fine for the few days I had them. Recently though, I enabled 2/2.1 in them, a few days ago. It gave better sound quality & bass.

I didn't use my Mic for about two days or so, just playing Singleplayer games & watching movies.

I enabled Dolby Digital Live, it's not digitally connected, but I noticed the Audio became a lot better for some reason, maybe even a placebo effect.

I enabled the Mic finally..and noticed it was distored. Sounded really iffy and breaking up alot. So I moved the Mic up and down and noticed depending on it's angle, it sounded a little worse or better. I noticed that if I talked really quietly it almost didn't break up, but if I talked at normal level, it broke up near the middle or end, usually not the start.

So I reset the drivers, did the whole thing, used the original settings the Mic worked with. It's still scratchy and breaking up.

What happened? I haven't dropped these or mis-placed them at all, INFACT, I kept them in better quality than any Headset I've ever had. I tried plugging and unplugging them several times, re-seating the Soundcard and I tried using Onboard, but it wouldn't detect the Mic for some reason. I don't really have anyones PC I can try them on.


What do you guys think happened? I noticed that when the 2.1 audio was on, if I turned the mic on, I heard a large amount of noise. Is it possible that using 2.1 Speakers tried to use the Mic as a speaker and ****ed it up?

Is this something I could fix by opening the Headsetup and checking for flaky wires or what? I don't know how to do something like that.

Thanks, this is rather urgent. I might have to send them back for a replacement and that'll probably take two weeks, Amazon is slow.

I really doubt there is anything wrong with the microphone, and I would leave it alone. The problem is almost certainly in the mic preamp area. It sounds to me as if the gain has got turned up and running the DAC out of bits. It could be a component on the board has failed.

Before you do anything check the mic into another board or some type of recorder. Anything you could get your hands on.

There is no way the mic could have got used as a speaker unless you put the plug in the wrong socket. Even if you did it would be unlikely to damage it. All the noise canceling is passive and not electronic. The microphone has to be a dynamic moving coil type which are very robust. Sennheiser have made excellent robust studio microphones for years and are basically a professional microphone company. I think it very unlikely your microphone is the culprit.

One thing that could have happened, if you knocked it while the mike was active, it might have blown something in the mic preamp on the board. When knocked that type of mics can produce a big signal pulse that can be damaging.

I would bet the rent your trouble is with the electronics and not the microphone transducer.

 

[Mkilbride]

Well I never unplugged it while in use.

So you think my X-Fi Soundcard is broken now? Le sigh' That's a more expensive problem and one that is not so warranty covered anymore.

I honestly have nothing else to try this in. May sound odd, but I honestly don't.


So it's not the Mic? Well, that's good then. It'd be a pain to send this back and all.

Still, if it's the Soundcard...hmm

I'm just confused, I mean I posted what I did, and nothing you suggested happened.

But I must ask...removing the Mic plug while it's active could damage it? That's...not so good.

Cause well, I was trying to find the right socket because it just did not show it on the card and the colorrs were completely odd.

I turned on the Creative Mic test and plugged it into each socket trying to figure out which one was right. I did not think this would cause any damage...

Thing is, it did work 100%, no issues, and I hadn't unplugged it since then, until I encountered the issue.

What do you suggest I do?

 

[TLS Guy]

Well I never unplugged it while in use.

So you think my X-Fi Soundcard is broken now? Le sigh' That's a more expensive problem and one that is not so warranty covered anymore.

I honestly have nothing else to try this in. May sound odd, but I honestly don't.


So it's not the Mic? Well, that's good then. It'd be a pain to send this back and all.

Still, if it's the Soundcard...hmm

I'm just confused, I mean I posted what I did, and nothing you suggested happened.

But I must ask...removing the Mic plug while it's active could damage it? That's...not so good.

Cause well, I was trying to find the right socket because it just did not show it on the card and the colorrs were completely odd.

I turned on the Creative Mic test and plugged it into each socket trying to figure out which one was right. I did not think this would cause any damage...

Thing is, it did work 100%, no issues, and I hadn't unplugged it since then, until I encountered the issue.

What do you suggest I do?

Well you need to test your computer with a different mic, or test the mic on a different device. Don't you know someone with a computer or laptop. I can't believe you can't get access to something.

It is possible it is the mic, but any mic manufacturing defect I would have thought would show up right away. You have to know whether it is the mic or the computer before you return anything.

Is there a gain setting for your sound card for the microphone? I just have a hunch a gain setting has got moved and something is overloading.

 

[Mkilbride]

Yeah, but I turned the Gain on & off, trying both. It doesn't seem to really help =/

Maybe I'll download the drivers for my onboard and try that. Audio still comes out perfectly, just not Mic audio. Maybe the Mic Jack blew?

If so, what do I do?

 

[TLS Guy]

Yeah, but I turned the Gain on & off, trying both. It doesn't seem to really help =/

Maybe I'll download the drivers for my onboard and try that. Audio still comes out perfectly, just not Mic audio. Maybe the Mic Jack blew?

If so, what do I do?

If it is electronic it won't be the jack it will be the mic preamp stage. Don't you have anything else you can plug into that jack to test the card. You have to do this even if you have to buy a cheap mic or mic headset.

 

[Mkilbride]

If it is electronic it won't be the jack it will be the mic preamp stage. Don't you have anything else you can plug into that jack to test the card. You have to do this even if you have to buy a cheap mic or mic headset.

Sorry, but yeah, I don't have anything else =/

Also, my sound drivers are being ghey and not installing, but I'ma try a few more things.

But just saying it is in the Mic Reamp stage, what could I do to fix it without sending something back?

 

[TLS Guy]

Sorry, but yeah, I don't have anything else =/

Also, my sound drivers are being ghey and not installing, but I'ma try a few more things.

But just saying it is in the Mic Reamp stage, what could I do to fix it without sending something back?

Unless you have a setting wrong, there is nothing you can do. First you have to determine if it the mic or the computer card mic input. That is your simple problem to solve. If you can't determine that you will sit there SOL until Doomsday.

 

[Mkilbride]

Alright, so switched to my XP boot, plugged it in Onboard audio and updated drivers.

Mic sounds fine across Onboard...except I dunno, it doesn't pick it up as well as my Soundcard does, it sounds a bit less clear and I hear some noise. Wow, I guess having a soundcard really did make a difference.

Uh, is there any rule against plugging the Headphones into the SOundcard, and Mic into Onboard, or would that just not work?

It seems the noise canceling is better in XP too, dunno, or maybe it's just the onboard.


So I guess we've narrowed it to down to my Soundcard, which I've already tried re-seating and updating drivers. It all started when I used some custom drivers and now even on XP, using default creative, it has issues. Le Sigh.


I guess this means my Soundcard is busted. I got it at BestBuy over a year ago, I hope I can just just walk in with the receipt & soundcard in a box and get a replacement, shipping back to Creative and all that would take a long time.

I guess this is my penance for always saying getting a Soundcard didn't make much of a difference, I can clearly hear it now.

Now that we've narrowed it to my SOundcard, is there anything I can other than returning it and getting a new one?

 

[TLS Guy]

Alright, so switched to my XP boot, plugged it in Onboard audio and updated drivers.

Mic sounds fine across Onboard...except I dunno, it doesn't pick it up as well as my Soundcard does, it sounds a bit less clear and I hear some noise. Wow, I guess having a soundcard really did make a difference.

Uh, is there any rule against plugging the Headphones into the SOundcard, and Mic into Onboard, or would that just not work?

It seems the noise canceling is better in XP too, dunno, or maybe it's just the onboard.


So I guess we've narrowed it to down to my Soundcard, which I've already tried re-seating and updating drivers. It all started when I used some custom drivers and now even on XP, using default creative, it has issues. Le Sigh.


I guess this means my Soundcard is busted. I got it at BestBuy over a year ago, I hope I can just just walk in with the receipt & soundcard in a box and get a replacement, shipping back to Creative and all that would take a long time.

I guess this is my penance for always saying getting a Soundcard didn't make much of a difference, I can clearly hear it now.

Now that we've narrowed it to my SOundcard, is there anything I can other than returning it and getting a new one?

No, you need a new sound card.

 

[Mkilbride]

Well, ****. I can't believe it's the first time I use the Mic Jack, it works for two days, and DIES!

I never registered the Soundcard on their site, I think, I hope the Warranty still covers. If not, I'm out 160$(Was 180$ when I bought it)

Thanks for your help though. At least narrowed it down.

 

[TLS Guy]

Well, ****. I can't believe it's the first time I use the Mic Jack, it works for two days, and DIES!

I never registered the Soundcard on their site, I think, I hope the Warranty still covers. If not, I'm out 160$(Was 180$ when I bought it)

Thanks for your help though. At least narrowed it down.

May be if it is out of warranty which it almost certainly is, you should consider a different card. May be that mic is too "hot" for that card.

 

[Mkilbride]

May be if it is out of warranty which it almost certainly is, you should consider a different card. May be that mic is too "hot" for that card.

Having trouble finding anything about it on the Creative Website. I did register the product, but when I ask about RMA / returning, it brings me to Amazon. I also don't wanna drive to Bestbuy for them to give me the finger. Guess I'll try their forum.

X-Fi Titanium Professional, man, and it was a good sound card, can't believe it died within a year.

I hear Xonar or Prelude are good, but also have downsides. I really don't want to shell out cash for a new Soundcard though... le sigh.

I mean I just bought this 120$ HS and then this? I mean cmon.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102019

 

[Hi Ho]

I have had more than one Creative sound card die on me over the years and I am not the least bit impressed with their drivers. I went with an HT Omega card and I haven't looked back. I have the Striker 7.1 model and I also have the same Sennheiser headset. I use a small mixer to power the headphones. The mic is plugged directly into the sound card. I use this setup daily and I have had no problems. My voice quality on Skype is excellent. The drivers are much better than those from Creative. They don't have a million useless options but they also take up less than 5 MB of RAM and they just work.

 

[Mkilbride]

I have had more than one Creative sound card die on me over the years and I am not the least bit impressed with their drivers. I went with an HT Omega card and I haven't looked back. I have the Striker 7.1 model and I also have the same Sennheiser headset. I use a small mixer to power the headphones. The mic is plugged directly into the sound card. I use this setup daily and I have had no problems. My voice quality on Skype is excellent. The drivers are much better than those from Creative. They don't have a million useless options but they also take up less than 5 MB of RAM and they just work.

Thanks, looks like a decent card, but doesn't have all the options I'm looking for. Pricing is reasonable, too.

 

[Hi Ho]

What are you looking for specifically?

 

[Mkilbride]

What are you looking for specifically?

Well we don't even know if I need a new one yet, if Creative will replace it, I'll stay with this same card.

If not, the Xonar looks good basically Creative, but more Audiophile based. HT doesn't really have any of the GOOD Creative features, so yeah. We will see.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829156010

Even thinking about the Forte, good price, and I hear it has AMP's built in and Guru3D has good reviews of it.

 

[Mkilbride]

Well, Creative said the Warranty only lasts a year. Bestbuy says the same thing.

But Newegg says they have the same card with a 5 year Warranty, BUT it says "MFW" which means Creative issued it.

I love Newegg, but damn, that's some SPECIAL TREATMENT TO THE EXTREME. It's CHEAPER on Newegg than Bestbuy too, even including over-night shipping! How awful!

I have no money for a new Soundcard and I am stuck with Onboard, man this is so awful. Anyone wanna throw me 130$? I'd really appreciate it. Haha.