Microphone not working on laptop or computer?

[cillianlennon1]

I tried setting up a microphone on my laptop for recording audio and it doesn't work. It shows up on the computer in recording devices and i set it to default and checked that the levels were up and still nothing. There is no green bars when i speak into it. I tried it on another computer and it was the same so i brought it back to the shop and they got it working on their computer and said i needed an audio interface so i got one. I got the zoom u-22 and i set that up and it connected to the computer fine and the drivers were installed successfully. But still it is the same problem as when i just had the mic connected. Everything shows up fine but there is no sound. I can tell there is sound going from the mic into the audio interface because a green light flickers everytime i speak into the mic but the sound doesn't seem to go onto the computer.

 

[webworkings]

I can see no reason what so ever why you would need an audio interface. That makes no sense. Especially if the mic didn't work on more than one computer. Computers don't need an interface to make a microphone work.

If you port you are plugging into is either a mic only or supposed to be headset/mic combo, then it should work. If it isn't a combo one, then it won't work. Don't assume that a single port means it is dual. Many manufacturers are installing single ports that do not do 'input' only 'output'.

If the computer is registering that the microphone is plugged in, and showing it as a recording device in "Control Panel" and "Sound", then I would try a 3.5mm to USB adapter for the mic and see if it works then. If it does, the port is the problem. If it doesn't the mic is.