Microphone captures full game and desktop sound quality.
Microphone captures full game and desktop sound quality.
And it really bothers me and my friend on Discord since whatever game or video I’m watching is leaking through my mics. I tried some adjustments to fix the issue. To check, I used Audacity to listen to my audio and played a track to see if it resolved the problem. In the Control Panel, I went to Hardware and Sound and turned off "Listen to this Device" on any relevant inputs. The desktop sounds still came through through all 3.5 ports—whether on the front panel case, the motherboard, or even with a cheap USB soundcard. Even after tweaking my Realtek settings, it didn’t help. If you think the problem lies with my headset, I’ve tried different pairs: Oneodio, Logitech, and earbuds. All of them pointed to my PC as the source. From the pairs I tested, I also noticed multiple cable audio splitters and individual 3.5 mics still picking up desktop audio. The only solution that worked was using a USB microphone—it stopped the leak entirely. But it’s annoying having both a headset and a separate USB mic. Curiously, the USB soundcard seems to be leaking desktop audio while the standalone mic doesn’t. Despite both using USB ports instead of 3.5 jacks, and despite not using Realtek drivers, I’m not sure what’s causing it. I suspect Nvidia Shadowplay might be involved. I use it often, and it appears to have a setting that listens for desktop audio and records it. However, even after changing GeForce Experience settings, the issue persisted. My system runs Windows 11 with Gigabyte B660M DS3H AX Mobo and RTX 2060 Super.
However, it continues to leak, particularly when voice-acted games enter my microphone. I check this using Audacity to confirm there are no issues with my hardware.