Many users at least occasionally need to use a microphone for a computer. But a good quality microphone may not be at hand, while budget models are far from always pleasing with the quality of the recorded sound. In this situation, almost any Android smartphone will help you out. Moreover, to use a mobile device in microphone mode for a PC, you do not need special knowledge, as well as a long setup.
Connecting a smartphone to a PC
The most popular and easiest method for using a smartphone as a microphone is WO Mic software , and there are no worthy analogues for it yet. One of the main advantages of the program is that it does not need an audio cable to work – just the most common USB data cable is enough (some budget options are only suitable for charging and will not work for us).
After turning on the software for the first time, the user is greeted by the main screen, on which there is a strip for adjusting the microphone volume and a button for quickly turning off the sound. To be able to adjust the sensitivity of the microphone, as well as to remove ads, you need to subscribe – at the time of writing, its cost in Russia was 75 rubles per month or 349 rubles per year. Please note that you can unsubscribe at any time. The application does not require Google services, which will be good news for owners of new models of Huawei and Honor smartphones, as well as for those users who have intentionally removed services from their devices. At the same time, it will not be possible to purchase a subscription, which means getting additional functionality, in the absence of the Google Play app store.
For Android smartphones and tablets, 4 connection options are available – via USB cable, via Bluetooth, as well as via Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi direct.
The PC program can work on Windows 7, 8 and 10 operating systems – the PC client available for download here , after installation, it also requires you to install the drivers necessary for the smartphone to be detected by the program.
Craftsmen also created an unofficial version of WO Mic for Linux, available for download on a specialized forum .
On Windows 7 that has not been updated for a long time by the user, the WO Mic client may require the installation of update KB3033929 .
When used to connect a cable in a smartphone, you will need to activate the developer mode by. To do this, in the settings, several times click on the item with the build number. In the menu that appears for developers, all that remains is to enable the USB debugging mode.
Only after that we connect the smartphone to the computer, wait for the drivers to be automatically installed (which may not be required), and then select the USB connection in the mobile application and click on the Play button.
The message “Started. Please connect via USB”, which means it’s time to open the PC version of the program, also selecting the USB connection. On this, all the difficulties, as a rule, end.
Perhaps even in the sound settings you have to set WO Mic Device as the default device.
For Windows 10 PC owners who are having trouble using their microphone, it’s helpful to know that you need to give apps permission to access the microphone in your privacy settings.
Wi-Fi connection works if the computer and smartphone (or tablet) are connected to the same router. If one of the devices acts as an access point, then you should select the Wi-Fi Direct mode, and more detailed instructions are in the PC program, on the official website of the developer and in the screenshots below.
WO Mic Setup
When a smartphone is connected, the recording goes at 16 bit / 48000 Hz, with one channel (mono) and using the Opus codec, even if the mobile device has several microphones that can record stereo sound. However, the settings in the smartphone application provide for the choice of a microphone for recording – mode 1 is recommended by the developers if you need to use a wired headset connected to your smartphone. Mode 2 can be useful if echo is heard in other modes, while mode 3 is useful for recording in noisy places or far from the microphone. Mode 4(rear microphone) is needed for better recording from an additional microphone, which does not have to be at the back at all. Depending on the smartphone, some modes may not work correctly, and changing modes changes the sensitivity and the number of microphones used (provided that the smartphone has several of them).
To record sound in various programs, you may need to go to the software settings and also set the microphone as the main recording source. For example, in Adobe Audition, you need to go to Preferences\Audio Channel Mapping and select WO Mic Device from the Default Stereo Input menu .
Of the additional settings – the size of the buffer, which should be increased in case of sound breaks, and a choice of network ports is also available.
Can a smartphone and WO Mic fully replace a microphone?
Due to the peculiarities of smartphones (and do not forget that this is not specialized equipment for transmitting and recording speech and other sounds), as well as due to some limitations of the WO Mic software , a mobile device as a microphone is not suitable for all users, but for average budget microphones are able to replace most modern smartphones.
There is a sound delay, but with a USB connection it is not high – about 0.3 seconds, while with Bluetooth the indicator can increase significantly, and here much will depend on the smartphone model and the equipment used in it. Noise canceling when using WO Mic does not work even if the smartphone supports this function. The links below provide examples of recordings on ASUS ZC520KL and Huawei P40 Pro , where you can get an idea of ​​the sound quality.
