Windows 10: enabling microphone lowers headset audio

I am using a Plantronics Blackwire 3220, whenever my microphone on the headset is in use through a program like Discord, or just through testing sound levels on the sound settings the audio i recieve through the headset is lowered by at least 50% and starts to sound slightly tinny i dont know how else to describe it it is not an issue with the app discord itself, as if i am in discord call but disable the mic or use a different mic the sound returns to normal, it ONLY happens when the mic is in usemy pcs sounds/communications tab is set to "do nothing", the headset and mic on the sound/pla

:)

 

Sennheiser GSP 350. Microphone stops working when I open any game

Wow, ok. I think I've fixed it by accident while fiddling around.

It appears to be the Realtek audio being the issue here. I don't use my onboard sound card as my headset is a USB headset only and my speakers are plugged into an ASUS sound card.

Step by step fix:

• I went into recording devices
• I enabled STEREO MIX (Realtek High Definition Audio)
• Then I set that Stereo Mix as the DEFAULT DEVICE (At this point it took over both input and output devices without my permission )
• Then set my Sennheiser headset as default recording and playback devices in their respective windows even though they both still said they were the default devices when they weren't

Headset microphone is currently functioning while in game now. I'll update the thread if it goes again. Should I completely disable Realtek audio??? Or will windows just force it to work again?

 

Computer won't recognize headset microphone

This is what i see in device manager. Im not sure if the Speakers/Headphones (Realtek High Definition Audio) is the one your saying to disable, as that is what is default in playback devices in the sounds panel.

Setting Stereo Mix as the default recording device and disabling everything else still didnt get the mic working, even when the headset is plugged into the microphone only audio port or the mic + sound audio port.

 

Headset microphone (with audio splitter) not working

My Acer Predator (Helios 300) laptop has a singular audio port, which I use with my headset that has a separate microphone and headphone cable. I have used an audio splitter to get around this issue for a while now, and it has worked perfectly fine. Normally
when I would plug the splitter in, a prompt would appear asking what type of device was just plugged in, options were headphones, speakers, microphone, headset, and one or two other options that I don't remember because I never used them. I would select "headset"
and it would work just fine. Recently, something changed. This prompt no longer appears, and my computer no longer acknowledges the microphone on my headset, instead using the default internal microphone. The headphones still play audio like normal, but I
have found no way to get the microphone working.

If I just plug the microphone chord into the audio jack, it still does not work, and the computer refuses to play audio.

So far I have tried:

• Uninstalling and re-installing the audio drivers (multiple times)
• Updating windows
• Running the audio troubleshooters (Both for playing audio and recording)
• Checking for updates to Dolby
• Scanning for hardware changes in device manager
• Disabling the default microphone

None of these have done anything.

I'm really at a loss here. I consider myself pretty computer savvy but nothing I've tried has gotten me anywhere.