Out of the box, all laptops have internal microphones and speakers. But if you want an upgrade, external hardware is always a better option. Whether you’re trying to stream games on YouTube or Twitch, or just trying to look (and sound) more presentable in your next Zoom meeting, an external microphone and speakers are a great start.
By default, your laptop will want to use the internal microphone input and speaker outputs. Some external hardware switches over immediately when you plug it in, while some require you to adjust the input and output settings to make sure your PC is using the external hardware.
To do this, we’ll make a couple of easy adjustments in the Sound Settings menu.
1) Click to open the quick access menu options on the Taskbar.
2) Right-click the sound icon to open the sound settings.
3) From the menu that opens, select Open Sound settings.
4) On the Playback tab select the device you want to use for speaker output.
5) Click Set Default to always use the same device.
6) Go to the Recording tab to set up the microphone input.
7) Select the recording device if it is not already selected.
8) Click OK to complete the process.
