You may have never heard of the mic monitoring feature, but if you just heard about it and are interested in finding out what mic monitoring is and what its benefits are, keep reading to find out. We will help you understand how it works and not only that but we will also show you how to enable this feature on any device.
Table of Contents
- What Is Mic Monitoring?
- What Are The Benefits Of Mic Monitoring?
- When To Use Mic Monitoring?
- How To Enable Mic Monitoring?
- Conclusion
What Is Mic Monitoring?
If you are sick of having to yell into your microphone when you are talking to someone on video, of losing games because your teammates can’t hear you, of not knowing how you sound and wondering if you are too loud, too quiet or if your audio is muffled, then mic monitoring is the right feature for you.
Mic monitoring is a headset feature that sends the audio signal from your microphone directly to your headphones. In short, this feature lets you hear yourself through your headset.
Mic monitoring is the feature that is most useful for gamers, vloggers and business people that attend many video conferences. We will get into this in detail in a minute.
What Are The Benefits Of Mic Monitoring?
As we answered the question “what is mic monitoring” let us now see what its benefits are.
Hearing Yourself Properly
This benefit is pretty self-explanatory. With mic monitoring you are able to hear yourself through your headset and immediately know how you sound to the listener on the other end of your call.
Troubleshooting In Real Time
Mic monitoring allows you to catch the issues in real time. You will never again have to wonder if your audio is cutting off or if there is some background noise that is interfering with your audio. This would allow you to catch the problem yourself in the moment and fix it immediately.
No More Shouting
You will never have to wonder again if someone on the other side heard you properly as you would hear it yourself. With mic monitoring features you will always be able to adjust your voice, tone and pitch accordingly. You will avoid shouting, speaking too quietly or even being misunderstood because of your tone, which leads to better communication.
When To Use Mic Monitoring?
Mic monitoring does not need to be turned on at all times as sometimes during an ordinary video call with your family it can be annoying to hear yourself through your headset. The best and most useful situations to have mic monitoring turned on would be in:
Video Conference
Having control and being aware of how you sound in a business meeting via video conference would be a huge advantage for you.
Gaming
If you are a gamer that plays games in teams like some first person shooting games, mic monitoring is definitely a good feature for you. You can hear if your teammates heard what you said or if there is some disturbance in the audio.
Vlogging
If you are an influencer or if your job requires you to shoot videos, especially outdoors, then mic monitoring comes in handy for your job. You will be able to hear yourself and see if any outdoor disturbances affect your audio.
How To Enable Mic Monitoring?
Finally, let’s see how to enable mic monitoring on different devices. Mic monitoring is available on different platforms and now we will show you how to enable this feature on every single one of them.
How To Enable Mic Monitoring On PC
Before anything, make sure you connect your headset and microphone to your computer. As Windows and Mac work differently, we will cover them separately.
- Windows 10:
- Open Control Panel
- Click Sounds
- Click the Recording tab and find the Microphone you are using and click on it and then select Properties
- Click the Listen tab and then tick the box next to Listen to this device
For disabling the mic monitoring on Windows 10 follow the same steps.
- Mac:
- Install the mic monitoring software QuickTime
- Open the app
- Click File and select New Audio Recording on the bar
- Turn the volume slider all the way up
To disable mic monitoring on Mac repeat the steps and in the end slide down the volume.
How To Enable Mic Monitoring On Laptop
Enabling mic monitoring on laptops works the same as on computers, so just follow the same steps.
How To Enable Mic Monitoring On Your Phone
For a phone, you can use a phone microphone that comes with a 3.5mm jack, which will allow you to take advantage of mic monitoring.
How To Enable Mic Monitoring On Camera
If your camera has a 3.5mm jack, all you have to do is plug your earphones in and you will be able to hear real time audio.
How To Enable Mic Monitoring On PS4
Using mic monitoring on PS4 can only be achieved if you have compatible headphones. On PS4 mic monitoring is called Sidetone. To enable Sidetone on PS4 follow these steps:
- Plug in your headphones
- Go to the Settings
- Find Devices and then click on Audio Devices
- Scroll down where you will find Sidetone volume
- Increase the volume level
If you want to disable this feature just follow the same steps and in the end turn off Sidetone volume.
How To Enable Mic Monitoring On Xbox
Mic monitoring on Xbox should be enabled automatically once you connect the headphones that have that feature built in them. But, in case it does not, here’s how to do it on your own:
- Plug in your headphones
- Press the Xbox button
- Go to the System and select Audio
- Adjust the Mic monitoring slider
When you want to disable this option, follow the same steps.
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Conclusion
What is mic monitoring? We said that it is a feature that allows you to hear yourself through your headset. We also covered what its benefits are, for whom it is useful and why (gamers, vloggers, business people that attend many video conferences). We also explained how to enable mic monitoring on a PC (Windows 10 and Mac), a phone, a camera and gaming devices like PS4 and Xbox.
