Asus ROG Orion Mic Is Horrible

[Dicehunter]

Talking to friends on Skype and Ventrillo and they all say the mic is giving really bad feedback like echoes etc...they can hear me crystal clear but the feedback is horrendous.

I plugged in my older Corsair 1400 which is pretty much the same headset spec wise, Plug it into the same soundcard i.e Phoebus and the horrible mic echoes vanish.

Is this a known issue and is there any fix ?

[Korth]

Working mic hardware and crystal clear echoes seems like a latency issue caused by network/IP or software - the mic audio stream is being sent out in lots of little packets, but somehow they're arriving (or not arriving and being resent) out of sync. Just like on a VOIP phone.

If you're running some sort of network packet management software (ROG GameFirst, or whatever), try giving your Ventrillo/Skype a little more UPLOAD bandwidth. If you're not already running such software, then perhaps give it a try. Your communications app could currently be strangled by your game (or a bunch of upstreaming content, running java apps, file crossloads, etc) hogging all the available bandwidth. If you're running over wireless then you may have (or perhaps you should have?) some WiFi software component managing packet priorities instead. Know that the ratio of download-vs-upload bandwidth is hardwired into your internet provider's technical (and billing) infrastructure, and you may simply have insufficient maximum upload bandwidth available to do everything simultaneously.

Curiously, a cheap junky low-spec headset might also solve your mic problem, if it's one with old codec hardware which is only capable of recording at low quality/sample rates.

Can you test a different mic/headset on your existing setup, on the same signal path? To confirm if the "echoes" and other audio artifacts still exist?

Or can you (and your friends) move to a communications app which doesn't broadcast over open IP, something like TeamSpeak or Mumble or Curse?

[Dicehunter]

Thanks for the reply.

I've tested the Corsair 1400 which is pretty much the ROG Orion with different casing over ventrillo, Teamspeak, Skype and even curse chat and there's no echo type feedback but the moment I try the Orion the feedback starts.

[Korth]

I guess the Orion's hardware or software is configured (perhaps even locked) into a higher mic sampling rate.

Have you tried adjusting GameFirst and/or WiFi settings yet?

[Dicehunter]

Korth wrote:
I guess the Orion's hardware or software is configured (perhaps even locked) into a higher mic sampling rate.

Have you tried adjusting GameFirst and/or WiFi settings yet?

I don't use wifi I use wired and I've tried switching settings in GameFirst but nothing works.

I'm guessing it's to do with how close and maybe how un-shielded the mic is compared to others ?

[Korth]

lol, can you transplant a foamy mic cover from something else onto your Orion?

I assume all the headsets you've tried are using the same connection - USB, 3.5mm audio, etc - plugged into the same port?

Have you tried reinstalling your audio drivers? A longshot, but lol who knows, eh?

[Dicehunter]

Korth wrote:
lol, can you transplant a foamy mic cover from something else onto your Orion?

I assume all the headsets you've tried are using the same connection - USB, 3.5mm audio, etc - plugged into the same port?

Have you tried reinstalling your audio drivers? A longshot, but lol who knows, eh?

Yep both headsets are using the same 3.5mm ports on my soundcard.

I've uninstalled, Done a driver sweep and then re-installed the phoebus drivers but the orion refuses to give a clean mic sound yet the Corsair 1400 has no mic feedback 😞

[C4RN1]

The only known issues with the orion headset are the speaker issues after prolonged use (which is repairable) and voip type feedback (you can hear yourself talk).

The repair tutorial is in my sig

The way to remove the feedback is to mute the sidetone.

Control Panel -> Sound -> Properties -> Levels -> Sidetone

You could try to play around with the properties, but like Korth said its probably a combination of your sound card with the orion mic.

If you bought the pro version with the spitfire usb, try to use that and see if you have more options. There's got to be an easy solution.

EDIT:
Apparently it has issues with the Phoebus

http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?19816-Echo-in-headset-microphone