Razer Barracuda X Mic Not Working: Causes & Fixes

The Razer Barracuda X is one of Razer’s high-end gaming headsets in their product line. Primarily designed for gaming, it is equipped with the Razer SmartSwitch Dual Wireless and allows you to switch between 2.4GHz wireless and Bluetooth connectivity. In addition, you get the TriForce 40mm rivers for immersive sound quality – even though there’s no active noise cancelation mechanism.

All in all, it’s a great headset for gamers, the only blemish is that a lot of users have recently complained about not being able to connect its mic to their PC or mobile device for multiplayer games. If you happen to fall among such users, don’t worry, we’ll be giving some solutions in this article.

Razer Barracuda X Mic Not Working: Possible Causes

• Incorrect Microphone Settings

If you’ve got the headset and you haven’t used a microphone headset on your PC before, then this is most likely your problem. You want to navigate through all the microphone settings (including the one in Control Panel) on your PC and set things up properly.

• Low Battery Level

Surprising as it may sound, a low battery level on your headset can affect microphone delivery. The receiver may either get a distorted sound or nothing at all.  You want to make sure your headset is at a reasonable charge before making any conclusions about its mic’s functionality.

• Outdated Razer Barracuda X Firmware

The headphone company is quite frequent with updates of their devices to meet up with the competitive demands of the gaming world. Chances are that your mic has suddenly stopped working properly because your current install firmware is outdated.

This is often the case when you notice that the mic quality gradually reduced before becoming completely unusable. You want to install the latest Razer headset firmware as soon as possible, then try it on your PC again.

• Incorrect In-App Settings

There are situations where even if you’re able to get the mic settings on your PC correctly, the specific communication app you’re utilizing may have other plans as you may not be able to use this mic.

This is often the case with any software that has a separate microphone settings panel. To solve this, you want to know how to operate the app, go to its audio/mic settings, and select the Razer Barracuda X as your microphone source.

• Microphone Mute Button Has Been Pressed

The microphone mute button on the Raze Barracuda X is quite small, and can easily be activated. You want to make sure that the microphone button isn’t on mute as this can make it not function with any app you’re using, and it doesn’t necessarily need to indicate that it’s on mute within the app. To make sure it’s not on mute, you want to make sure that the red LED light on the microphone tip is off.

Razer Barracuda X Mic Not Working: How to Fix

The Razer Barracuda X headset is quite a durable device, so the chances that the problem is with the mic’s hardware are quite slim, especially if you’ve just got them. Thus, you want to primarily focus on software issues and settings within your PC/PlayStation.

• Make Sure Your Drivers are Updated

The easiest way to confirm this is to download and run Driver Easy on your PC. Click the updates option to see which driver needs updating or which driver is currently not installed. If there’s an audio driver on the list, you’ll want to follow the installation wizard to get it fixed. In most cases, this may not be necessary if your PC has always been able to play audio properly without connecting with the headset. 

• Make Sure your Microphone Settings are Correct

There are two steps to this; the first, is within the Settings interface, and the other is in the Control Panel. Press the Windows key on your PC, navigate through to Settings >> Privacy >> Microphone, and make sure that the options “Allow access to the microphone on this device” and “Allow apps to access your microphone” are both turned on.

Also, you want to make sure that permission on your specific software isn’t turned off; if it’s not listed there, then you don’t have to worry about it as it’s automatically turned on by default.

If all that checks out, you want to proceed to your System’s Control Panel – you can search for it with the search bar. Open it, make sure the viewing option is set to large icons, and click on Sounds.

Now navigate to the recording section of the settings, and set your headset as the default microphone device. If your headset isn’t visible, you’ll want to right-click on any space and check “Show Disabled Devices.”

• Make Sure Your Microphone isn’t Being Used by Another Device

This is often the solution if your mic used to work before and then suddenly stops, or usually only works when you cold start your PC and head straight to your choice software. You want to check the taskbar and make sure that you aren’t running any other program in the background that’s currently using the microphone – if there is, shut it down.

Aside from the typical microphone headset troubleshooting, there’s no real special problem that may be associated with your Razer Barracuda X and stop it from working. While that’s the case, don’t hesitate to contact Razer support for step-by-step assistance in getting the headset’s mic to work with your PC/Playstation.