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Microphone question

mitchellvii

Well-Known Member
Where is the microphone located on the Surface Pro?

Not sure where it is but for better static free performance I recommend turning down the "boost" in Sound Settings. It can cause unwanted distortion when recording. Have no idea why MS has this set so high by default.
 

machistmo

Active Member
Because in almost every case the default setting for the microphone is WAY too low. Most Audio applications, Skype, Ventrillo etc require the boost to get the volume to an adjustable and workable level as the Max settings w/o the boost on in these apps is often still far too low to be of any use. It is probably just an oversight from testing.

Willie I skimmed through this and did not see a mention of the Microphone... Maybe its because I havent had enough to drink today:

Microsoft Surface Pro Teardown - iFixit

though it should really be noted that:

A metric duckload is not to be confused with an imperial duckload - EVER.
 
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Arizona Willie

Arizona Willie

Active Member
Well, I finally found it. It is located on the top edge of the SP just to the left of the camera as you face the SP.

What an insane place to put it. It is aimed up toward the ceiling when you face the SP. How is it supposed to get good sound?
I can't understand why some people say they just use the built-in mic on the SP for voice recognition.

I have tried turning the level and the boost all the way up and when I try to do the setup for voice recognition it says it can't hear me very well.
Perhaps my unit is defective.

Haven't tried a wired headset yet --- I HATE THOSE WIRED HEADSETS. I have a bluetooth headset and it works for listening but doesn't seem to work as a microphone but it is supposed to.
But it's an old one from back in the Windows 7 days.
I may install Dragon Naturally Speaking if I can find the disk and see if that works better.


Because in almost every case the default setting for the microphone is WAY too low. Most Audio applications, Skype, Ventrillo etc require the boost to get the volume to an adjustable and workable level as the Max settings w/o the boost on in these apps is often still far too low to be of any use. It is probably just an oversight from testing.

Willie I skimmed through this and did not see a mention of the Microphone... Maybe its because I havent had enough to drink today:

Microsoft Surface Pro Teardown - iFixit

though it should really be noted that:

A metric duckload is not to be confused with an imperial duckload - EVER.
 

machistmo

Active Member
My boss is the worst with his cheap wired headsets. He has like 15 of them, I swear he is a junkie for cheap-wired-headsets. Have you tried a basic wireless USB headset? Like a logitec 800?
 
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Arizona Willie

Arizona Willie

Active Member
No, I've tried a few wired sets over the years and I wind up throwing them across the room.

The only wireless headset I've ever tried is my Motorola S9 Bluetooth. It works ok for listening. Supposed to be usable for telephone operations but I don't have a telephone card in my desktop and of course the SP isn't set up for that.

I'm disappointed in the built in mic. Hoped it would be better than that.

My boss is the worst with his cheap wired headsets. He has like 15 of them, I swear he is a junkie for cheap-wired-headsets. Have you tried a basic wireless USB headset? Like a logitec 800?
 

mitchellvii

Well-Known Member
Because in almost every case the default setting for the microphone is WAY too low. Most Audio applications, Skype, Ventrillo etc require the boost to get the volume to an adjustable and workable level as the Max settings w/o the boost on in these apps is often still far too low to be of any use. It is probably just an oversight from testing.

Willie I skimmed through this and did not see a mention of the Microphone... Maybe its because I havent had enough to drink today:

Microsoft Surface Pro Teardown - iFixit

though it should really be noted that:

A metric duckload is not to be confused with an imperial duckload - EVER.

Ah ok. My only experience has been with OneNote with which you must turn the gain down or you get horrible quality.
 

machistmo

Active Member
Logitec makes a couple that are pretty cheap and work pretty well.... Now for over the ear, behind the head smoothness that motorola is the one. Logitech stuff usually works out of the box.
 

curney

Member
I use dragon with my SP and hold it in portrait nd just talk into the mic. I works really well like that but not so good when its sitting on the desk. I carry my SP around when I am using the mic so it is easy to turn it so that its facing me and lean into dictate. I do home inspections and need to dictate in my findings and its very accurate. if I were to uses it at the desk I would try an array desk mic first if its a quiet space before getting a headset mic. It might work fine. if its noisy Im sure you will need a headset.
 
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Arizona Willie

Arizona Willie

Active Member
Haven't tried dictating into it like that.
I want to enter numbers in spreadsheets and it would be sorta nice to see the numbers as they enter.
Talking to the edge would not be a good option.

Also use it for text entry in forums like this.

Unfortunately, the Motorola S9 headphones mic does not seem to work well with the Surface.
Wired headset seems to be the only way.
 
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