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Question about Skype

Posted by SteveOH PM | on Sun, 07/03/2010 - 11:47  818  6 comments | report

I have just signed up to Skype as I telephone Spain on a regular basis. The quality of the sound coming through to me on my headphones is very clear. It's better than if I was listening on a landline. But the sound of my voice to the other person is not too clear apparently - a bit muffled etc. Is it something I have to live with or is it the quality of the speaker on the headphones I use. I think I only paid £25 or so. Would it be worthwhile investing in some super duper headphones/speaker. I'm not very teckie, so please be kind.

Many thanks for any help.

Comments
cymraeg_draig's picture

Your Mic

cymraeg_draig | Sun, 07/03/2010 - 13:55 | Permalink

If you can hear them, but they cant hear you clearly, then its either the quality of their headphones, or, more likely the quality of your microphone.

Test for which

Anonymous | Mon, 08/03/2010 - 10:17 | Permalink

Try recording yourself on to the computer using the same microphone you use for Skype. Windows automatically comes with a sound recorder that should be sufficient for this purpose. Then play it back through your headphones and see how you sound. If you can hear yourself clearly then the problem would seem to be their end. If you can't then it might be time to invest in a new mic.

SteveOH's picture

Thanks for the help.

SteveOH | Mon, 08/03/2010 - 12:52 | Permalink

Thank you both for replying. I think that it must be my mic. I'm now off to PC World to see if I can find an assistant who knows what he's talking about - a long shot I know.

Richard Willis's picture

Check your settings first

Richard Willis | Tue, 09/03/2010 - 08:45 | Permalink

Before you go off and spend loads on a new headset check that your default record source (In Windows, not in Skype!) is set to the headset and not to, e.g. the mike on your (?)laptop.  When I last used Skype in business we used headsets that our staff bought in China for a couple of quid and they worked fine!  Also using Skype on a wireless device, such as a laptop, does not always work well because the 56k wireless is not really fast enough for voip.  If you are wireless try it on a wired device.

Skype sound problems.

adder1 | Thu, 11/03/2010 - 19:23 | Permalink

Hi SteveOH.

I've been using Skype for 6 years now, in England or in Spain where I also have an office. If you are hearing the other person clearly, then there should be no bandwidth or speed problems concerning your computer. If it were so, you or they would here stuttering, broken speech. If you are sounding muffled, it could be that the microphone of your headset is too close to your mouth. Just move it a little so that it is level with your chin. That way you are not speaking straight into it but the microphone should still pick up your speech well.

Another option, if your headset is connected via a microphone jack socket, rather than USB, and you are using a laptop with a built in microphone, try disconnecting the microphone jack and just use the laptop's microphone. They are really quite sensitive and, in my experience in the case of someone I speak to regularly, work very effectively.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Adder1

 

Funnily enough, CPU usage can make more difference than bandwidt

chatman | Fri, 12/03/2010 - 01:11 | Permalink

I find that closing down other applications improves sound quality at the other end.

You could also make sure you do not have anything else, like the BBC iPlayer secretly stealing your bandwidth.