You can hear yourself in your headset because of a few common reasons:
- Microphone Monitoring (Sidetone): Many headsets have a feature called "sidetone" or "microphone monitoring," which intentionally plays back your voice in the headset so you can hear how loudly you are speaking. This feature helps users avoid shouting but can be turned off or adjusted in headset or audio settings.
- Audio Feedback Loop: Sometimes a feedback loop occurs when the microphone picks up the audio from the speakers and relays it back, creating an echo effect. This can happen due to microphone boost settings, faulty headset hardware, or if other recording devices are enabled simultaneously.
- "Listen to this device" Setting: On Windows PCs, if the "Listen to this device" option is activated for the microphone in sound settings, your own voice will be played back live in the headset, causing the effect of hearing yourself.
- Noisy Environments or Faulty Equipment: Background noise can cause your mic to pick up unwanted sounds, leading to echoing or hearing yourself. Also, poorly designed or damaged headsets can contribute to this problem.
How to fix it:
- Disable microphone monitoring/sidetone in your headset software or settings.
- On Windows, go to Sound settings > Input device > Device properties > Listen tab and make sure "Listen to this device" is unchecked.
- Avoid noisy environments.
- Check your headset and microphone hardware for faults.
- Adjust microphone boost or sensitivity settings.
This issue is quite normal and usually can be resolved by adjusting the above settings or turning off sidetone if you don't want to hear yourself in the headset.
