Vostro 3460 external microphone does not work

Hi kamrul02,

You may check if the external microphone is getting detected or not. Please follow the steps below:

• Right click on the ‘Volume’ icon at the bottom right hand corner.
• Click ‘Recording Devices’
• Check if external microphone is listed there.
• If not right click inside the box and check ‘Show Disabled Devices’
• You may right click on external microphone and enable it, if it is not enabled.

Keep me posted with the results. I will be glad to assist further.

We have the same problem on 2 identical Dell laptops

Are they identical to each other or the same model as the original poster's -- Vostro 3460?

We have the same problem on 2 identical Dell laptops and a Lenovo. The Dells are running Windows 8, a recent 'upgrade' and the Lenovo runs Windows 7.

The internal mics work fine, but the external mic does not work. It is recognized when plugged in, the Recorder Info says it is there, but there is no sound.

All three laptops were working with external mics 2 months ago, running Windows 7.

We are using a program named SmartMusic which plays accompaniments for student solos on band & orchestra instruments. The external mic is pretty critical to this application.

Have tried the delete and reboot Sound card trick with no luck.

@ DELL-Amogh G

I did accordingly but External Microphone is not listed there. I have only my Internal Microphone working.

Our techs have given up trying to get the mics to work

The laptop has to have an audio driver. There is one native to Windows -- a basic driver that produces audio but usually doesn't function correctly with the external mic jack. The manufacturer of the audio hardware is IDT, and through Dell you can get the IDT audio driver for the Vostro 1440 with Win 8. I would think that installing the manufacturer's driver would have been the 1st thing the techs tried, but just in case you might want to download and install it. It is the IDT 6.10.0.6421

After installing it, open the Recording tab of the Sound properties. Notice the words "IDT High Definition Audio Codec". That means the IDT driver has been installed

If you don't see something like "Microphone/Line In" then right click in the blank white area to open the context menu and put checks next to Show Disabled and show Disconnected devices.

Right click on "Microphone/Line In" and set it to be the default recording device. Right click on "Microphone/Line In" again and click Properties, then the Levels tab. Set the mic volume and mic boost levels.

Plug in the mic. You might get a popup dialog where you have to select either mic or line-in. Select mic.

For testing purposes, open Windows Sound Recorder. Record something briefly while speaking into the mic. If you can hear it when playing baqck then it works, but you might have to go back and lower the mic boost level.

If you have done all of the above and still no luck then the mic jack could be faulty as your Tech dept says (but not because the laptops are inexpensive -- they all have the same jack to the best of my knowledge), or the mic could be faulty or the wrong type of mic. If using a headset it must be the kind with 2 plugs -- one for the mic and one for the headphones. If you are using a regular computer mic it should have a 3 segmented plug. If the mic or headset has a 4 segmented plug like in the picture below, then it is a smart phone mic or headset and will not work.

I was just looking at the SmartMusic web site and I see that they sell a usb microphone. If you are using their usb microphone then ignore my previous post. Any usb audio device is self contained (for its specific function) and totally unrelated to the audio integrated on the motherboard. What I mean is that a usb mic would be totally unaffected whether or not the IDT audio driver is installed.

So that reminds me that if are are using analog mics (regular mics) and you just cannot get the mic jack to work, you can bypass the problem entirely by getting a usb device. The device could be a usb mic like the one SmartMusic sells for 29.95. (Amazon has some usb mics a bit cheaper.)

The usb device doesn't have to be a microphone. It could be a usb audio adapter into which you would plug your existing mic.

Here is Amazon's listing of usb adapters that cost from a couple of dollars to over $30. (Another place with a good selection is Newegg.)The cheaper ones have a mic jack and a headphone jack. Some of the expensive ones add a line-input, but you don't need that feature. One of the under $5 ones might work for you, and perhaps is cheap enough to pay for out of pocket. You could return it if you don't like it unless the postage costs more than the device.

I have not used any of those devices so do not endorse them. I use a SoundBlaster usb audio interface that I like but it is a bit more expensive.

@ DELL-Amogh G I did accordingly but External Microphone is not listed there. I have only my Internal Microphone working.

Hello Kamrul02. I believe that Amogh G is no longer with this Forum. He has not posted anything for 6 months.

Thanks. Reinstalling the drivers fixed the external microphone and it works.

The current version of Smartmusic seems to 'break' the external microphone driver. It works for a few seconds and then is completely disabled.

It appears that we will be required to buy a USB adaptor if we are to continue using the program. Unfortunate.

Thanks again for your help.