You say hello in a voice room and hear yourself say it again half a second later. Or a high-pitched whine builds until everyone leaves. Or people tell you there is a constant hiss under your voice, like an old cassette. Three problems, three causes, and almost always a free fix.<\/p>\n
The first instinct is to blame your own microphone. Resist it. When you hear your own voice coming back with a short delay, the cause is almost always another person in the room<\/strong>. Your voice plays through their speakers, their mic picks it up, and it gets sent back to everyone. You are the one who notices, because it is your voice.<\/p>\n A simple rule of thumb: if you<\/em> hear your own echo, look at the others. If other people<\/em> hear themselves when they talk, the loop is probably on your side.<\/p>\n The three problems sound quite different:<\/p>\n Echo needs two things: sound coming out of a speaker and a mic close enough to catch it. Take the speaker out of the picture and the loop is gone. Any pair of wired earbuds will do, including the ones that used to come in the box with a phone.<\/p>\n Modern browsers can cancel echo, suppress background noise and adjust your mic level automatically. These filters switch on when a site asks for them as it opens your microphone. They fail when speakers are very loud or when audio goes through an external device that adds delay, because the filter no longer recognises the sound it should subtract.<\/p>\n There is no visible switch for these filters, and that is fine. What you can check: click the icon to the left of the address bar, open the site settings, and make sure the right microphone is selected.<\/p>\n Firefox applies the same processing by default. If someone has been tinkering in about:config<\/em>, check that media.getusermedia.aec_enabled<\/em> (echo cancellation) and media.getusermedia.noise_enabled<\/em> (noise suppression) are set to true<\/em>. Otherwise, leave them alone.<\/p>\n Safari relies on the system’s own voice processing. On an iPhone, the bottom speaker sits right next to the mic, so full volume without earbuds makes echo likely.<\/p>\n Hiss does not come from the others. It comes from your own setup, and there are three usual suspects.<\/p>\n On Windows, go to Settings, System, Sound, and open your microphone’s properties. If input volume is at 100 and a \u00ab\u00a0Microphone Boost\u00a0\u00bb of +20 or +30 dB is on in the classic Sound control panel, you are amplifying electrical noise as well as your voice. Bring the boost down to zero or +10 dB, set the volume around 70 to 80, and move closer to the mic instead. On a Mac, the setting lives in System Settings, Sound, Input.<\/p>\n A headset mic works best two or three finger-widths from the corner of your mouth, slightly to the side so your P and B sounds do not pop. A laptop mic picks you up from half a metre away, which means more gain and therefore more hiss. The closer the mic, the lower you can set the gain, and the quieter the background becomes.<\/p>\n A tiled kitchen or a bare room makes your voice sound distant and hollow. Curtains, a sofa, a bookshelf, or simply closing the door all help. Keep the mic away from fans too.<\/p>\n Before asking for the floor in a voice room, spend thirty seconds hearing yourself the way others will.<\/p>\n Listen for hiss in the pauses, a voice that is too quiet or distorted, keyboard clatter or fan noise. One trap: the Windows option called \u00ab\u00a0Listen to this device\u00a0\u00bb is handy for a quick check with headphones, but left on with speakers it creates echo of its own. Untick it once you are done.<\/p>\n This is the number one cause of the screeching that empties a voice room. You are logged in on your laptop, then you open the chat on your phone \u00ab\u00a0just to check something\u00a0\u00bb. Both play the room’s audio and a mic is open. The sound loops from one to the other, getting louder on every pass. That is feedback.<\/p>\n Common variations:<\/p>\n The fix: one device per room, per physical space. If you want to switch devices, leave the room on the first one before joining on the second. And whenever a squeal starts, mute your mic straight away. It is the fastest way to break the loop, even if you are not the cause.<\/p>\n In a voice room you ask for the floor, then you talk, which makes the source easier to track down. Notice when the echo appears. If it only happens while one particular person has their mic open, you have found it.<\/p>\n When several people are on the mic, suggest a quick test. Each person mutes in turn while you say a sentence. Whoever’s mute makes the echo vanish has speakers too close to their mic. Most people have no idea they are sending everyone’s audio back.<\/p>\n A private message works far more smoothly than calling it out in front of the whole room. Something like: \u00ab\u00a0Hi, I think your mic is picking up your speakers, we’re hearing an echo. Earphones should fix it.\u00a0\u00bb Short, specific, friendly. If they have no earphones, they can lower the volume, move the mic away from the speakers, or only unmute when they speak.<\/p>\n If it carries on, the room’s creator or a moderator can step in. Usually a polite message does the job.<\/p>\n New to talking on the mic? The guide to voice chat rooms and how to talk to strangers<\/a> covers how to take the floor without nerves. And if your group switches cameras on too, free group video chat on webcam and mic<\/a> has the habits that keep a group call pleasant.<\/p>\n LibertiChat runs in your browser, free, with no sign-up and no download, so there is no app to configure: everything happens on your own device. In order:<\/p>\n If your mic picks up nothing at all, that is a different issue, usually a blocked permission: microphone not working in your browser<\/a> walks through the eight real causes. For everything else, the LibertiChat help page on mic and webcam settings<\/a> answers the common questions.<\/p>\n Because someone else is listening on speakers and their mic picks up your voice and sends it back. It is rarely your own microphone. Check who has their mic open when the echo appears and kindly suggest earphones.<\/p>\n Mute your mic, then turn your speakers down. Next, check that no second device, such as a phone or tablet, is connected to the same room in the same space, because that is the most common cause.<\/p>\n Not necessarily. First lower the microphone boost in your system settings, move the mic closer to your mouth and keep it away from fans. In most cases the hiss goes away without buying anything.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You say hello in a voice room and hear yourself say it again half a second later. Or a high-pitched whine builds until everyone leaves. Or people tell you there is a constant hiss under your voice, like an old cassette. Three problems, three causes, and almost always a free fix. Echo in voice chat: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":385,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":{"description":"Echo in voice chat, mic feedback or hiss? 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Headphones: the cheap fix that solves most of it<\/h2>\n
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Browser echo cancellation and noise suppression<\/h2>\n
Chrome and Edge<\/h3>\n
Firefox<\/h3>\n
Safari on Mac and iPhone<\/h3>\n
Hiss: input gain, mic distance and an echoey room<\/h2>\n
Input gain set too high<\/h3>\n
Distance from your mouth<\/h3>\n
The room itself<\/h3>\n
Listen to yourself before you speak<\/h2>\n
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Mic feedback from two devices in the same room<\/h2>\n
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When it is not you: finding the source and saying so kindly<\/h2>\n
The ten-minute checklist for echo in voice chat<\/h2>\n
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Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n
Why do I hear my own voice echo in a voice chat room?<\/h3>\n
How do I stop mic feedback right away?<\/h3>\n
My mic hisses. Do I need a new one?<\/h3>\n