How to use a microphone under bootcamp new Mac Pro

[DaReaLDeviL]

Hello,

is there a proper way to use a microphone in bootcamp under windows 10 with the nMP? There is no device shown or under input in the sound menu. Under OS X it works with one connector.

Help would be great full.

Regards

Rolf

 

[ActionableMango]

Did you install the Bootcamp drivers in Windows?

What do you mean the mic "works with one connector" in OS X?

 

[DaReaLDeviL]

Hello ActionableMango ,

yes I installed alle drivers for Windows 10 (Bootcamp 6).

If u plug your Apple Headphones in, you can hear the sound and use the microphone in OS X on a Macbook or MacPro. So the function is there but not yet usable under Bootcamp to hear and talk over one connector.

 

[ActionableMango]

I see, you are using 4-conductor headset with a single plug, connected to the audio out jack.

Most likely the proper audio drivers are not installed in Windows and it's just using the default audio drivers from Microsoft. I'd reinstall the boot camp drivers and reboot. If that doesn't fix it, you may have to install the drivers manually.

 

[hsarret]

Using Apple iPhone headphones in OS X El Capitan, both sound and mic are working.

With Windows 10, only sound.
Was using Bootcamp driver, Apple iPhone Headphones only got sound, no mic.
Driver rollback got me universal windows driver, mic not working, and audio out was red.
After installing Bootcamp 6 driver again, rebooting, audio out wasn't red anymore, sound was ok, but still no mic.

Curious if it works for anyone. Otherwise anyone has a portable solution ?

Thanks by advance

 

[SoyCapitanSoyCapitan]

For Boot Camp you will have to get a cheap USB webcam/mic

 

[Bytehoven]

For Boot Camp you will have to get a cheap USB webcam/mic

I'm chiming in late but wanted to add... On my Mac Pro with WIN 10 I use theTurtle Beach DXL1 head set, which has a USB for power, a stereo in mini jack and a microphone mini jack. It works flawlessly, but I do remember when switching from Win 7 to Win 10, I had to find the location to enable the radio in/out features. If you wish, I can log into windows and make some notes and post where I make the adjustments. Let me know.

 

[hsarret]

For Boot Camp you will have to get a cheap USB webcam/mic

Ok thanks for your answer

 

[hsarret]

I'm chiming in late but wanted to add... On my Mac Pro with WIN 10 I use theTurtle Beach DXL1 head set, which has a USB for power, a stereo in mini jack and a microphone mini jack. It works flawlessly, but I do remember when switching from Win 7 to Win 10, I had to find the location to enable the radio in/out features. If you wish, I can log into windows and make some notes and post where I make the adjustments. Let me know.

Thanks for the offer, i'll thought about it and will let you know

 

[thornslack]

I also struggled with this in the past. Bootcamp does not have drivers to properly recognize the mic function on the front audio port on the Mac Pro. I never found a solution even though it works like a charm in OSX.

 

[iMattux]

I'm chiming in late but wanted to add... On my Mac Pro with WIN 10 I use theTurtle Beach DXL1 head set, which has a USB for power, a stereo in mini jack and a microphone mini jack. It works flawlessly, but I do remember when switching from Win 7 to Win 10, I had to find the location to enable the radio in/out features. If you wish, I can log into windows and make some notes and post where I make the adjustments. Let me know.

And I'm chiming in here a few months later. Bytehoven, if you read this, please do that little run-through and post notes about your drivers and setup. In my case, I have a great pair of headphones using the front port, and neither of two different microphones works thru the rear port.

Windows "sees" that there is a mic plugged in to the jack. I've used the RealTek drivers from Bootcamp 5.1.5621 and tried downloading the latest version from RealTek. Steam voice chat is what I'm after...

Our setups are almost identical, I've got a GTX 980, so we both have the same nVidia drivers as well. Your help would be VERY appreciated.

Cheers,

iMattux

 

[Bytehoven]

And I'm chiming in here a few months later. Bytehoven, if you read this, please do that little run-through and post notes about your drivers and setup. In my case, I have a great pair of headphones using the front port, and neither of two different microphones works thru the rear port.

Windows "sees" that there is a mic plugged in to the jack. I've used the RealTek drivers from Bootcamp 5.1.5621 and tried downloading the latest version from RealTek. Steam voice chat is what I'm after...

Our setups are almost identical, I've got a GTX 980, so we both have the same nVidia drivers as well. Your help would be VERY appreciated.

Cheers,

iMattux

OK, just so I'm clear...

- you can get the headphones to work from the front mini Headphones jack but not the back mini Line Out jack.
- you can get the mic to work from the rear jack.

When I 1st switched to Win 10, I had to find the spot within Win 10 where I could change the audio output assignments. Once I found that, I was able to to set the rear mini jack for the audio output. I will have to login to Win 10 to find that setup again as I am forgetting at the moment. I do recall it was different than Win 7 and tougher to find, like the audio mixer function where you can adjust the sound of all active programs and the system.

I will check it out and get back to you.

As far as drivers.... Under Win 7 I had all of the latest Apple support software installed, but I'm not recalling which versions. When I switched to Win 10, I did not see any Apple updates and I did not install anything else special.

I really think your issue is the same as mine, in that you have not found the proper place to change the Audio In/Out assignments.

 

[iMattux]

Thanks for your help. I really appreciate it.

First things first: Your Turtle Beach headset ALSO has a USB connector. I hope that is not how your mic is really working. To test, please unplug the mic connector from the back of your Mac to confirm that it is using the rear line in port for the mic. If the mic still works, then we know that it's actually using the USB port. If the mic stops working, then we can proceed.

To adjust audio settings, there are a few places I know of:

1. Device manager:
MacWindows10Pro *the name I gave to the box, yours will be different
Audio inputs and outputs

microphone (Realtek High Definition Audio) *note that I edited the property, your prolly says "line in"
Realtek Digital Input (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Realtek Digital Output (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Speaker (Realtek High Definition Audio)
​

When I right-click on microphone (yours says line in) and select the drivers tab, I get:

Driver Provider: Microsoft
Date: 10/29/2015
Version: 10.0.10586.0
Singner: MS Windows​

Clicking Driver Details pops a small windows that says no add'l drivers are required or loaded for this device.
Clicking Update Driver pops a dialog asking to search the web or search my box. Windows finds nothing on the web, and I can't point it to the drivers on my HD in the Realtek folder.

If I uninstall the driver, Windows reinstalls on reboot despite the fact that I've told it not to by opening a File Explorer window, right-clicking my box, selecting Properties, then Advanced System Settings, then selecting "no(your device might not work as expected)" under Device Installation Settings.

2. Still in Device Manager, but down near the bottom:
Sound, video and game controllers

High Definition Audio Device
NVIDIA Virtual Audio Device (Wave Extensible) (WDM)
Realtek High Definition Audio
Realtek High Definition Audio *with a little yellow triangle with an exclamation point (caution?)​

That's where I believe the problem lies. I'm gonna take a guess and imagine that the top one is the output to my connected speakers and the bottom one is the input from my microphone. When I compare the last two items, here are the differences Windows reports:
General Tab:

Top Realtek HDA device:
Location: 0
The device is working properly

Bottom Realtek HDA device:
Location: Unknown
The device cannot start (Code 10)
The request is not supported
​

Driver Tab: *no difference

Provider: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
Date: 6/18/2015
Version: 6.0.1.7541
​

The Events tab logs different installations

If you could let me know what is showing on your device manager, that would be super awesome.

Realtek also installs a GUI to control Input/Output I found it here:
C:\Program Files\Realtek\Audio\HDA\RtkNGUI64.exe

Those settings also appear to be correct.

 

[Bytehoven]

OK, I did some checking and found the following. Please note I will add what I have in RED next to what you listed.

2. Still in Device Manager, but down near the bottom:
Sound, video and game controllers

High Definition Audio Device Nvidia High Definition Audio
NVIDIA Virtual Audio Device (Wave Extensible) (WDM) NVIDIA Virtual Audio Device (Wave Extensible) (WDM)
Realtek High Definition Audio Realtek High Definition Audio
Realtek High Definition Audio *with a little yellow triangle with an exclamation point (caution?)​

General Tab:

Top Realtek HDA device:
Location: 0 0 (Internal Hugh Definition Audio Bus)
The device is working properly

Bottom Realtek HDA device:
Location: Unknown
The device cannot start (Code 10)
The request is not supported
​

Driver Tab: *no difference

Provider: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
Date: 6/18/2015 9/11/2009
Version: 6.0.1.7541 6.0.1.5936
​

So, on the surface it looks like you might (2) copies od Realtek software installed. Maybe they are competing in ways which is causing the problem. Also, I have an older version of Realtek software and have never been prompted to upgrade. Maybe there is something in there which is not total Mac Pro friendly.

I did a brief test with TeamSpeak to confirm my mic was working and I got a signal.

Let me know if I can check anything else.

 

[iMattux]

Thanks Bytehoven, I really appreciate you taking the time.

I jumped through all the hoops to completely remove my drivers - including the Windows Registry entries - and installed the correct Realtek drivers from the correct Apple Bootcamp version for our tower.

My device manager settings now match yours and no longer have the double entries. Driver version is 6.0.1.5936 and date is 9/11/2006...

And the mic still doesn't work.

I've thrown in the towel and have a $7 usb adapter coming from Amazon.

But I still want to know why it's not working. I've got a new HD coming today or tmrw. I'm gonna install Windows 8.1 on it and see if the mic works with it. 64bit Windows 8.1 is officially supported, but I am booting through EFI, not BIOS emulation, so that might be the culprit.

Thanks again for your efforts.

Cheers

 

[Bytehoven]

Thanks Bytehoven, I really appreciate you taking the time.

I jumped through all the hoops to completely remove my drivers - including the Windows Registry entries - and installed the correct Realtek drivers from the correct Apple Bootcamp version for our tower.

My device manager settings now match yours and no longer have the double entries. Driver version is 6.0.1.5936 and date is 9/11/2006...

And the mic still doesn't work.

I've thrown in the towel and have a $7 usb adapter coming from Amazon.

But I still want to know why it's not working. I've got a new HD coming today or tmrw. I'm gonna install Windows 8.1 on it and see if the mic works with it. 64bit Windows 8.1 is officially supported, but I am booting through EFI, not BIOS emulation, so that might be the culprit.

Thanks again for your efforts.

Cheers

Just curious... do you have the mic set to MUTE on the headphone controller? I'm sure you don't but it's an easy thing to over look once you're deep in the weeds.

 

[iMattux]

Nope. I've moved all the sliders up and down and checked and unchecked all the boxes.

Another thing that indicates it's not actually working is that I can't check the box to boost gain in Steam.

The adapter will be here tmrw and I'll be able to chat

 

[iMattux]

Ok. I have found the absolutely definitive answer:

1. The port on the back of the cMP is a Line In port - labeled as such. It is designed to transmit signal from an AMPLIFIED source such as an iPod or other music player. Source: Archived Mac Pro support page.
   
2. A Line In port is NOT the same as microphone port. If you'd like to be educated, I found this page that explains in more than sufficient detail.
   
3. Therefore, plugging a "regular" microphone into the Line In port will not work under OS X or any flavor of Windows. Apparently, Griffin used to make a product that worked, and it may or may not be available under a different name or from someone else, I didn't look beyond the 404 I got when I clicked the link on the archived Mac Pro support page linked above.
4. The reason that Bytehoven's Turtle Bay headset works is because it is a combo unit. Both OS X and Windows probe the hardware when it's plugged in to the headphone jack and can treat the headset's microphone as such provided that the microphone is a line level device that is powered/amplified.

Thank you for bearing with me as I continue my edumacation.

 

[Bytehoven]

Ok. I have found the absolutely definitive answer:

1. The port on the back of the cMP is a Line In port - labeled as such. It is designed to transmit signal from an AMPLIFIED source such as an iPod or other music player. Source: Archived Mac Pro support page.
   
2. A Line In port is NOT the same as microphone port. If you'd like to be educated, I found this page that explains in more than sufficient detail.
   
3. Therefore, plugging a "regular" microphone into the Line In port will not work under OS X or any flavor of Windows. Apparently, Griffin used to make a product that worked, and it may or may not be available under a different name or from someone else, I didn't look beyond the 404 I got when I clicked the link on the archived Mac Pro support page linked above.
4. The reason that Bytehoven's Turtle Bay headset works is because it is a combo unit. Both OS X and Windows probe the hardware when it's plugged in to the headphone jack and can treat the headset's microphone as such provided that the microphone is a line level device that is powered/amplified.

Thank you for bearing with me as I continue my edumacation.

ahhhh.... that makes sense. My Turtle Beach rig use the USB port to power the unit and the mini MIC output plug is really a LINE output, albeit a lower signal than you might expect. Maybe that's so it can also interface with a traditional hi impedance mini mic jack.

 

[FrozenRain00]

In desperate need of help with my IMac 27" 2013 that is running windows 10 on BootCamp. Since apple store replaced the monitor stand my audio has been all out of whack- specifically with my microphone. On Skype, Facebook calls, etc.. the mic only works for like a minute then it cuts out. The apple stores will not help- despite everything having worked perfectly fine before they gutted my computer and reformatted it to replace the tilting mechanism on the monitor.


I tried the recommendations below but I cannot get things to work. I put so much money into having this custom built through Apple so I could game on it via Windows... and now I cannot do what I need to. I used to Stream video games on Twitch and YouTube and haven’t been able to do so for almost half a year now and with so much money sunk into this machine I cannot afford a new one. It's become around a 5k paperweight- not including all the accessories.


Microphone works on Mac side. Have uninstalled and reinstalled windows numerous times. I cannot seem to get the drivers to talk anymore. Again- this worked perfectly for years until I had the computer repaired. Any help would be immensely appreciated.


Thank you,


FrozenRain00

 

[h9826790]

In desperate need of help with my IMac 27" 2013 that is running windows 10 on BootCamp. Since apple store replaced the monitor stand my audio has been all out of whack- specifically with my microphone. On Skype, Facebook calls, etc.. the mic only works for like a minute then it cuts out. The apple stores will not help- despite everything having worked perfectly fine before they gutted my computer and reformatted it to replace the tilting mechanism on the monitor.


I tried the recommendations below but I cannot get things to work. I put so much money into having this custom built through Apple so I could game on it via Windows... and now I cannot do what I need to. I used to Stream video games on Twitch and YouTube and haven’t been able to do so for almost half a year now and with so much money sunk into this machine I cannot afford a new one. It's become around a 5k paperweight- not including all the accessories.


Microphone works on Mac side. Have uninstalled and reinstalled windows numerous times. I cannot seem to get the drivers to talk anymore. Again- this worked perfectly for years until I had the computer repaired. Any help would be immensely appreciated.


Thank you,


FrozenRain00

Not sure if it helps. You may try Driver Booster in Windows. This software works very well for me. It identify the hardware that do not work properly with the bootcamp drivers (e.g. my self installed Wi-Fi ac card), then download and install the latest driver.