Integrated/Internal Microphone Problem (HP Pavilion dv6646us)

I recently bought a new HP Pavilion dv6646us with Windows Vista a couple of months ago and now, I discover, the two little holes on each side of the webcam which should be microphones don't record anything! The webcam works fine, but the microphones don't record any sound.

I've tried using HP's help and support article that tried to show me how to fix my microphones so it could record something, but nothing worked. The sound control panel right now has Speakers (from the Playback) selected and Microphone (from the Recording) selected as well. Any guesses as to what the problem may be will be appreciated, thanks!

 

My 1st generation HP AMD DV6000z had unsolvable mic problems in Vista. The level for the mic was so low and couldn't be changed. That was one reason I got rid of it. Do you know what audio codec you have? Mine had a conexant chip. I don't know if they still have a problem with it but if you have the Conexant "Venice" codec then it is probably the problem. One last quick thing, just check to make sure that your microphone isn't muted. It usually comes muted by default (at least it did on XP and before that). Hope this helps.

-J.B.

 

Yes, I do have a Conexant chip in this HP laptop. I've tried checking all my sound settings in the computer, and I know the volume is all set at 100, with nothing muted. Still, when I record, its nothing but silence. Thanks, though.

Anyone else have advice to get these little holes that are supposed to act as 'microphones' to act like real microphones? It's very annoying considering I want to use a webcam, but what's a webcam without the sound..?

Any tips would be very welcome!

 

have you updated your drivers?

go to the hp websites driver support page and enter in your laptop details

 

Sometimesno:

Dunno if you solved your problem. I just found this thread while having a problem getting my integrated mic on my HP Pavilion dv6646us Notebook to work. I spent 4-5 hrs today (Saturday) that I won't be gettin' back. That included 1-2 hrs on the phone with HP tech support which was useless. I just figured it out on my own. Do you or anybody else still need help with this?

 

call HP about the problem, talk to the support section

its always a good way to get SOME information (it may not all be accurate, but ts a great starting point)

 

jomamaman

Please share how you sholved this issue.

 

I had a similar problem with my 9500, out of the box. I turned out to be that a recording enhancement was selected that operated the recoding function in karaoke mode, filtering out my voice. This mode was selected as the product shipped, which really perplexed me. Once I removed the setting, the recording function & Skype worked great.

 

SP Forsythe:
How and where do you turn off the recording enhancement, that you talk about?

I have the same problem, but it only came after I installed SP1 to Windows Vista. Before that the microphone worked perfect.

jomamaman:
Please share how you fixed the problem.

 

Check this link out... This could be causing your mic issue.
A bad ribbon will cause mic., speaker and power issues.

Dv6000 Speaker issues. (info on the known issue)

 

Sorry for the late response.
Thanks everybody for their suggestions, but my mic still doesn't pick up sound.

As for the drivers, I do have the most up to date driver installed on my computer. The microphone still does not work. I have tried using older drivers, but none had any effect. My microphone doesn't pick up anything it seems.

I also don't think my computer has a bad ribbon. Everything else on my computer--the speakers, the power button, everything--works perfectly.
I'm very disappointed with this because I had really wanted to have a webcam with working audio.

In addition, I've scoured the internet and other forums for any answers, but many posters were left with the same dead mic.
Thanks again for all your suggestions, more will be welcome!

 

please can you response to this problem...more details please!!!

Thanks in advance

 

Yeah, some more info on this would definitely be great. I have the same problem as well and I am using a dv9700t. I've only had it for about three months and can't seem to find much information about this problem. Apparently it seems to be a problem not too many people are having.

All my mic levels are turned all the way up and it is unmuted. I know the mic works because I can barely be heard on Skype and when I try using the windows sound recorder I can hear some very faint sounds if I record blowing or whistling into the microphone loudly. I'm assuming it's some kind of setting or software issue causing this, most likely not hardware.

 

Try this:

Select Start > Control Panel > Sounds
Select the Playback Tab
Double Click on Speakers
Select the Enhancements Tab
Make sure that the Box is not checked that says "Voice Cancellation"
If it is uncheck it then OK completely out of the Sound Menu.

This was checked by default when I upgraded my sound driver. I have found with my notebook the MIC output is very poor quality and I have to have the recording levels all the way up with 40 db boost for it to be functional. The boost adds a noise floor that I don't like but I have not found a better solution.

 

it didnt work for me...a had already unchecked that...does anybody have another solution maybe!!!????

 

Does anybody have the solution that Jomamaman never responded to about the microphone issue in the hp dv6646US? My daughter's stopped working and a technician that went onto her computer remotely could not even fix. I would appreciate any help!!! Thanks

 

Unfortunately this didn't work for me either as I already had that boxed unchecked as well. Anyone have any other solutions?

 

When you go into the microphone levels tab as described before, make sure you put it up to 100. Then apply and OK, and totally get out of all of the sound menus. Then go back in and make sure it stayed at 100. Often the 1) doesn't save it at 100 and 2) somehow gets changed by certain programs.

With that said, you need to be fairly close to your laptop/screen/microphone. These microphones are just not that sensitive. Also, if you have background noise going on (e.g. airconditioner fan), forget it.

Finally, be warned that just because your laptop has the holes for the microphones doesn't mean it has or was even supposed to have the microphones. They are not standard on all models even though all dv frames will have the holes.

 

If you want a good experience with inputting audio, buy a $5.00 over the ear microphone and plug it into the port on the front of the PC. It is 10x better.

 

I fixed my problem. For some odd reason, the beam forming box was checked under microphone enhancements. It can only be used with stereo microphones, and apparently HP's microphones are not stereo because I was hardly getting any sound with that box checked.

This makes me wonder, do the two holes on either side of the webcam mean the laptop has two microphones? If so, wouldn't the sound be in stereo anyway? Anyway, that fixed my problem, I just unchecked beam forming.

 

>>the beam forming box was checked under microphone enhancements. <<

Exactly how do you navigate in Windows to find this option, please? I have not come across any "beam forming" option.

Thanks

 

There are several ways to get to this option, here is one:

Select Start > Control Panel > Sounds
Select the Recording Tab
Double Click on Microphone
Select the Enhancements Tab
Make sure that the Box is not checked that says "Beam Forming"
If it is uncheck it then OK completely out of the Sound Menu.

I don't think that all audio drivers have this option, I don't remember seeing it in my previous version a few months back.

 

Ok, thanks for posting that!

 

Yeah, that's exactly what I did. Sorry for not going into details. Did that work for you xvvvz?

 

Well, my microphone stopped working again and once again I have no idea why. It worked fine two days ago after I unchecked the beam forming box and now I'm getting no responses from it yet again. I haven't changed any settings whatsoever since I last fixed the problem. I'm stumped again, and getting pretty aggrivated.

 

any other solution to this problem!!??

 

Sorry I'm late, but I have had this problem for one month before joining this forum and found this item was closed, but since my microphones did work in Ubuntu Linux (in Dual Boot with Vista), I decided to re-install the original vista drivers using HP restore system and it is fixed now. Of course I also considered that the post of power switch pressure over the mike connection straps, could not apply on a seven month old laptop that is powered off and on may be once a week... Regards

 

Probably the last driver is causing the problem, my failure tarted just after an HP Driver Update. I restored the original driver with HP Restore System and it is working now...

 

any further advice on how to get the mics working properly?

just bought a hp dv6920ea and the mic is terrible compared to the toshiba and sony i previously had.

also tried an external plug in mic and have the same issues. I also tried the instore demo model and the sound was the same.

So i have put it down to software or a very low quality soundcard (which i find disappointing seeing as its a media laptop with blueray player etc)

the actual problem is similar to others explained... at +20db the mic is far to quiet both on skype test call and the sound recorder. at +40db it picks up far too much noise and the realtek noise canceling makes it sound 100% worse.. like a low quality mp3 where you can hear the compresion.

I also tried going onto the hp site and updating the sound driver but this caused the mic to not work atall so i rolled it back to the previous driver.

I have order an external usb soundcard to see if bypassing the internal soundcard is the solution... but ideally i would want to get the internal mic working?????

thanks

 

no answers?

I just got my little usb sound card through and tried it with the same external mic and the sound is PERFECT.

Shame on HP for providing either a naff soundcard / software or poor quality microphones!