Windows XP GMod Mic Cuts out/Drops/static/silence

[Shazak]

Hello there community! I have a severe mic issue that I'm going to try to explain in as much detail as humanly possible so prepare, this could be a LONG post.

When I start GMod, the 1st time I try to use my mic people say they can hear me but theres a little static. The 2nd time and after nothing but complete static sounds can be heard by the other players. When I go into options (in GMod) and do the mic test, I can hear the static as well. When i take off the base boost option (in GMod) and then test my mic, it sounds perfectly normal, but when i save these options the base boost turns itself back on... -_-

I seriously don't think this is a problem with my drivers as I have downloaded the Driver Identifier tool and have installed several versions of my sound card's driver. (which is a SoundMAX Integrated Digital HD Audio)

Here is my computer model.
Hewlett-Packard HP Compaq dc5850 Small Form Factor (Pretty old)

My OS: Windows XP (There is a sticker on the side that says it used to be Vista)

I am using an everyday basic mic with the pink jack and I have it plugged into the back of my computer, my speakers are plugged into the back also (right under the mic port) and they work flawless. I have tried other mics and they also do not work in GMod (or other steam games for that matter) but everything works perfectly normal in PowerSpeak, TeamSpeak, Skype, Steam Voice Chat, Google Voice Search, etc... It's only when hl2.exe is running that my mic fails to function properly.

Things I have tried...
-Setting Default Recording/Voice device
-Installing new/old drivers (no change at all)
-Yelling
-Calling my computer/microphone/drivers stupid
-Magic spells
-A whole lot of other things I don't remember

(ANOTHER IMPORTANT THING)
Under default sound/recording/voice device, there is no "Back Line-in" or whatever, I'm assuming this is because my SoundMax card-thing's ports are on the back so line-in counts as 'SoundMax HD Audio'. (Which is what i currently have set as my default device)

My Computer Specs...
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ca/en/sm/WF06b/12132708-12132884-12132884-12132884-81724932-81725262-81778549.html?dnr=2

The different Drivers provided by HP...
http://h20566.www2.hp.com/portal/site/hpsc/template.PAGE/public/psi/swdHome/?sp4ts.oid=3658111&spf_p.tpst=swdMain&spf_p.prp_swdMain=wsrp-navigationalState%3DswEnvOID%253D1093%257CswLang%253D%257Caction%253DlistDriver&javax.portlet.begCacheTok=com.vignette.cachetoken&javax.portlet.endCacheTok=com.vignette.cachetoken

I read somewhere that one guy was successful in solving this issue by installing drivers that weren't made for his actual sound card? Something called Daniel K?

Please help, I just want to able to play TTT without being an easy target because I can't notify the others that I am in danger.

 

[ussnorway]

The fact that it works in teamspeak (a good gaming program imo) makes me think the issue will be in the mixer… open it up as advanced mode and try turning off some of the other file types like master wave. I vaguely remember having to do this while playing world of warcraft (back in the day) when raiding with the guild because the mixer decided I was singing a song and helpfully engaged the synthesizer.

p.s. running any voip software on the same system as the game is running will frag the crap out of your online performance and is best run from a separate (crappie old) laptop if one is available.

 

[Shazak]

I like how 108 people viewed this and didn't at least try to help...

But, back on topic.
You said to turn them off? When I doubleclick the sound icon (the little speaker thing) in the taskbar, it opens that menu-thing where I can adjust all the volume levels. I see Wave, SW Synth, and CD player and microphone. Do I mute these? How do I go about turning them off?

 

[Shazak]

Hey, I muted all 3 of those options. (Wave, SW Synth, and CD Player) and when I muted Wave, my speakers stop sending sound. I don't know why that happens, but I'm going to try and plug headphones into the front audio port and see if the front works.

 

[ussnorway]

Do you have a "mic" selection? Sometimes they hide some extra types under an advanced tab… in any even have a play around with disabling (lowering the volume) the different types.

 

[Shazak]

This is what my volume adjust menu looks like. I only have Advance under mic, and that only lets me toggle on/off base boost, which doesn't resolve my issue...

 

[ussnorway]

There has to be more options than that… let's see the rest of them.

1. Go to the top right left of that mixer and click on the "options" button & then (from memory its) "Properties" to see a list of all the possible ports.

2. Put a tick in all of them but I'd suggest the feedback is from having both front and back ports (i.e that’s the mic ports) open at the same time.