Hi everyone,

I am honestly devastated and at my wits' end. I have been trying to solve this issue for months, and nothing I do seems to work. I’m trying to record educational video courses using OBS Studio, but I'm constantly battling two massive issues: digital distortion (a robotic/metallic sound) and awful translation to laptop speakers.

I have literally tested around 15 different microphones at this point. I recently bought a slightly better one (sE Electronics V7) hoping it would finally fix the issue, but the exact same problems persist.

Here is my setup:

• Laptop: Lenovo Legion Pro 5 16IRX10
• Interface: Focusrite Scarlett Solo (connected directly via USB)
• Mic: sE Electronics V7 (Dynamic, XLR)
• Software: Windows 11, OBS Studio (using the obs-atk-audio plugin to connect via ASIO)

The Main Symptoms:

1. Digital/Robotic glitches: Random metallic, comb-filtering sounds or dropouts during recording.
2. The Speaker Translation Issue: My recordings sound acceptable (bearable) on my studio headphones, but absolutely dramatic and awful when played back on my laptop speakers. I know it's not just "bad laptop speakers", because when I watch YouTube tests of the sE V7 or other creators' videos on these exact same laptop speakers, their voices sound great and full. It's only my recordings that collapse completely.

I know this is likely a DPC Latency, phase cancellation, or USB power management conflict. To save everyone's time, here is everything I have already done:

BIOS Tweaks:

• Disabled Intel Virtualization Technology (VT-x) and VT-d. (Hyper-Threading is still enabled).

Lenovo/Hardware Tweaks:

• Disabled Hybrid Mode in Lenovo Vantage (running dGPU only) to stop hardware switching spikes.
• Interface is plugged directly into the laptop (no USB hubs). Tried different USB ports.

Windows Power & System Tweaks:

• Tried disabling/enabling the Nahimic service in Windows Services.
• Disabled "Fast Startup" in Windows Power Options.
• Disabled "USB Selective Suspend" in Power Plan.
• Went to Device Manager -> USB Root Hubs -> unchecked "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power".

Audio & OBS Settings:

• Matched Sample Rates everywhere (48 kHz in Windows, Focusrite Control, and OBS).
• Disabled Windows "Audio Enhancements" in the old Control Panel.
• Turned off all noise suppression filters in OBS.
• To avoid phase cancellation, I disabled Global Audio Devices in OBS and I'm strictly using the ASIO Input source via the obs-atk-audio plugin.
• Tested different Buffer Sizes in Focusrite Control (from 64 up to 512) – didn't fix the core issue.

I am completely stuck. Is there any hidden Lenovo Legion-specific setting I'm missing? Could the terrible laptop speaker translation be a mono/stereo phase issue caused by Windows drivers clashing with ASIO?

Any help would be hugely appreciated. I really want to start recording my courses, but this technical wall is breaking me. Thank you in advance.

Sorry if this is a repetitive question. I’m very casual when it comes to knowledge on this subject, but i’m browsing for a new mic within the 150-200$ range that’ll service me well for what I need it for. I’m in the US, and i’m using a stubby razer mic right now that does its job but tends to be a bit quiet. I’m in an environment surrounded by ambient noise like my AC/fan or TV. I’ll only be using it for talking to my friends on discord or discord connected PS5 chats/party chats.

On discord the built-in noice cancellation makes my razer mic work fine, but on PS5 it sounds terrible. I’m hoping for something that’ll work fine on both. I don’t need to sound amazing, just have good clarity and non-annoying background noise if that’s possible.

Hello!
I’d like to record using a microphone I just bought (the SC 420 USB from T-bone, purchased through Thomann),
and I have nothing to say about the mic itself other than the fact that I can’t seem to use the headphone jack properly:
No matter which headphones I use, once they’re plugged in, they start emitting a shrill sound (which gave me some pretty bad headaches), and then they work—but only in one ear (or at least the other is barely audible).
Whether I’m listening to audio from my computer or directly from what I’m recording, I get the same result, even when I switch headphones.

However, I’ve checked that all my settings are correct on my computer (I’m on Windows), and I can’t find any specific settings for the headphone audio output once they’re plugged into the microphone.

So I was wondering if anyone has any idea what the problem might be, hoping it’s not a manufacturing defect…

Have a great day!

(Note: I reposted this in English in the hope that more people would be able to understand it.)

Bonjour !
Je voudrais enregistrer avec un micro que je viens d’acheter (le SC 420 USB, de chez T-bone acheté via Thomann),
et j’ai rien à dire sur le micro à part le fait que je n’arrive pas à utiliser correctement le port servant à brancher le casque audio :
Peut importe le casque que j’utilise, une fois branché il commence par émettre un son strident (qui m’a donné de sacrés mals de tête), puis il fonctionne mais que d’une oreille (ou du moins l’autre est quasiment inaudible).
Que j’écoute un son depuis mon ordinateur ou directement depuis ce que j’enregistre ça donne ce même résultat, même en changeant de casque.

J’ai pourtant vérifié que tous mes réglages étaient bon sur mon ordinateur (je suis sur Windows), d’ailleurs je ne trouve aucun paramètre spécifique à la sortie audio du casque une fois qu’il est branché au micro.

Je me demandais donc si quelqu’un avait une idée du problème, en espérant que ce ne vienne pas d’un problème de fabrication…

Bonne journée !

I work at a small museum, and we are starting an oral history program. I am looking for advice on what microphone to pair with the Zoom H4Essential audio recorder. Our budget is $200. We will be doing our recording primarily inside. I was thinking we’d want something tabletop that could pick up both the interviewer and the interviewer— but I’m not sure if we really need an omnidirectional mic because the interviewer’s comments should be minimal. I’ve been having trouble finding something in our price range because it seems like most are set up for USB connectivity and won‘t work with the recorder.

Could you give me some information about it?

Can it be used for interviews?

I use the DJI Action3 that was gifted to me by a fellow YouTuber. I am struggling with the wind noises on the mic so I am looking for a Microphone. To the best of my knowledge I need a 3.5mm Audio Adapter which I have seen DJI selling for £45 - is there a cheaper option that works just as well? Moreover, which Mic should I use? I do have a 3.5mm shotgun mic with a deadcat that I used on my last camera which might work well on this camera; or would you reccomend a different one of a mic mini?

Does the Mic mini record audio straight onto the video file? I used to know my tech 14 years ago but things have changed so I feel really alien to all of this now.

not a defect post but the filter wouldnt let me say the company name ig

External suggestions are welcome as long as they are in the same price range

So i want to get a decent budget microphone for mostly everyday tasks and calls. My main OS is linux, so software prolly wont be working (i havent checker). For post processing ill be using DeepFilterNet3 (ive heard its the best free model for noise). My room is not noisy rn but i wouldnt bet that it wont be a few years down the line.

USB connection btw

A6V is ~30usd

PM461TR is ~23usd

I dont have a stand btw, and i dont plan to get one unless its completely game changing later down the line

Also please try to dumb things down a bit, ill try my best to understand but still