Forum Discussion

beizs's avatar
beizs
Brass Contributor
Apr 02, 2020

Disable Microphone Auto Adjustment

My microphone is a USB Blue Spark. The mic itself has gain controls, and in Windows (10), it needs to be set to 50% or less, otherwise it starts to clip like crazy (50% is essentially baseline, below...
Chat
  • chornsec's avatar
    chornsec
    Jul 06, 2020

    Workaround on macOS: create an aggregate device to "mask" the gain settings from Teams.

    Steps:

    1. Open 'Audio MIDI Setup' application
    2. In the left pane, click + symbol and choose Create Aggregate Device
    3. Ensure that the new aggregate device is selected in the left pane
    4. In the main window area, select the 'Use' checkbox for your real input device
    5. Select the real input device from the left pane and set the Master Stream input gain correctly
    5. Optionally rename the newly created aggregate device by clicking its entry in the left pane
    6. Quit & restart Teams application
    7. In Teams, choose the newly created aggregate device as the microphone device

    Because the aggregate device does not have a gain setting, Teams cannot f* it up.

chornsec's avatar
chornsec
Brass Contributor
Jul 06, 2020

Same problem here. For a new microphone I have, the gain must be set to approximately 0.5 on scale of [0,1] for it to sound good. Every time I speak, however, Teams increases the gain until it's maxed out at 1. I verified that Teams also does this for my old microphone (a USB headset), it just happens to not be an issue. On the new mic, though, this behavior leads to lots of noise & hiss.

My opinion: Teams should not be monkeying with microphone gain.

  • chornsec's avatar
    chornsec
    Brass Contributor
    Jul 06, 2020

    Workaround on macOS: create an aggregate device to "mask" the gain settings from Teams.

    Steps:

    1. Open 'Audio MIDI Setup' application
    2. In the left pane, click + symbol and choose Create Aggregate Device
    3. Ensure that the new aggregate device is selected in the left pane
    4. In the main window area, select the 'Use' checkbox for your real input device
    5. Select the real input device from the left pane and set the Master Stream input gain correctly
    5. Optionally rename the newly created aggregate device by clicking its entry in the left pane
    6. Quit & restart Teams application
    7. In Teams, choose the newly created aggregate device as the microphone device

    Because the aggregate device does not have a gain setting, Teams cannot f* it up.

    • beizs's avatar
      beizs
      Brass Contributor
      Jul 21, 2020

      To add, as a workaround on Windows, Virtual Audio Cable can be used in the same way.

    • IseeBetter's avatar
      IseeBetter
      Copper Contributor
      Feb 19, 2021

      chornsec 

       

      This solved my issue on the new Mac Mini M1 and a USB mic.  You're a life saver!

    • Not_a_Fan's avatar
      Not_a_Fan
      Copper Contributor
      Feb 25, 2022
      chornsec, thanks for the workaround! I was tempted to name my aggregate device something like "MicrosoftSucks". Such rude behavior by MS apps to raise the user's volume automatically, and actually could cause hearing loss! Skype and Teams were automatically doubling my system volume every time I started a call. Microsoft's far-too-common blatant disregard for user needs makes me avoid MS apps whenever possible.

Resources