Front Mic Jack Frying Headset Microphones?

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ejweber

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Feb 18, 2010
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I am running on a Asus M4A79XTD 790X motherboard in a Cooler Master Elite 335 case. I have a set of speakers hooked up to the back of the case, and I often use the front mic and headphone jacks for headset gaming. About a week ago, the headset I was using crapped out. The headphones continued to work, but the mic was inoperable. Assuming I had a bad headset, I went to the store and picked up a new one. This new headset worked fine for four or five play sessions. However, earlier today, while plugging the headphone and mic cables into the front case jacks, I heard what sounded like a static electric discharge. After this possible discharge, my mic was again inoperable, while my headphones worked fine. Can anyone identify my problem? Is my motherboard or my case somehow frying my headsets?

Thanks for your help.
 
Solution
Your not completely stuck, you could get a usb microphone/sound card adapter, they're quite inexpensive, or an internal sound card, there's normally a low voltage of 1 to 3 volts on the power side of the mic, but they rarely fail, however from your discription about the static sound noise does sound like an over volting situation, the condensor/electret microphone that are commonly used in computer mic's because of their compact size and great sound sensitivity do make that kind of noise when they over volt or over heat them, the only sure fire way of testing is to check the connections with a voltmeter, but the usb solution should be fine.

hairystuff

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Your not completely stuck, you could get a usb microphone/sound card adapter, they're quite inexpensive, or an internal sound card, there's normally a low voltage of 1 to 3 volts on the power side of the mic, but they rarely fail, however from your discription about the static sound noise does sound like an over volting situation, the condensor/electret microphone that are commonly used in computer mic's because of their compact size and great sound sensitivity do make that kind of noise when they over volt or over heat them, the only sure fire way of testing is to check the connections with a voltmeter, but the usb solution should be fine.
 
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ejweber

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Feb 18, 2010
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Thanks for your answers. I ultimately decided to go with a new USB headset. Unfortunately, I fall into the category of customers that tosses their broken gear out and buys new. I never considered the warranty until now.
 
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