Headset microphone grounding issue?

[ysaric]

Have been having a loud humming/buzzing most of the time I have been using my microphone for . . . some time, really. Sometimes works ok, sometimes buzzing means no one can hear me at all.

Finally tonight I started looking into whether this might be a grounding issue somehow. Here is what I can recreate:

1. With my headphones on, there is a loud buzzing when I test my microphone.
2. When I check my Recording Devices, it is showing all green bars (as if it is getting 100% input).
3. If I take my headphones off and set them on the desk, nothing changes.
4. If I put my headphones back on . . . then touch and keep contact with my computer case, the input bars drop to what look like mostly normal levels. When I test my headset microphone while touching the computer, the buzz is almost totally gone and I can hear my voice cleanly.
5. Tried plugging my computer directly into the wall rather than surge protector, doesn't change any symptoms.

My sound device is a USB Xonar U3, I had the same buzzing with onboard sound on my ASUS M3N-HT, which is actually why I tried the Xonar in the first place.

Yes, I have a cheap headset. If getting a marginally better headset is likely to fix this issue, that's probably the next thing I'd try but I thought I would post here and see if anyone else has run into this issue and whether replacing the headset might be a fix. (although I like it, I probably would not have bought the Xonar if I thought it wasn't going to fix this issue). Also. gaming with one hand on the computer isn't going to cut it.

Thanks much for any advice.

 

[C1]

Yes, purchase a better quality headset.

Microphones used with computers are of the electret type which requires getting a small amount of voltage/current from the microphone circuit connection. Your headset in all probability has an improper implementation for this circuit.

As an experiment, try connecting a wire between ground at the computer and something metallic on the headset. (You may have to try different spots on the headset till you locate something that is like its chassis.) If the buzzing diminishes or is affected, then that is suggestive that what I am saying is the case about what is going on. Replacing the headset with a quality unit should resolve your issue.