Echo is a loop, and a loop has exactly two ends. Find which end is open, fix the gain and the placement, then stop stacking three echo cancellers on top of each other.
Put **headphones** on to prove where the loop is, set the mic gain so speech peaks near **-12 dB**, keep the microphone **15 to 20 cm** off-axis, and run **one** echo canceller instead of three.
Wear headphones and ask whether the echo stops. If it does, your speaker was feeding your microphone; if it does not, the echo is coming from the other side and no setting on your machine will remove it.
The call app, the headset driver and Windows can each apply echo cancellation. Stacked, they produce a watery, clipped voice that sounds like a bad connection. Leave it on in the app and switch it off in the driver.
Sound settings > Input > Device properties > EnhancementsSpeak at normal volume and watch the level meter. Peaks around -12 dB leave room for laughter and avoid the clipping that sounds like crackling distortion to everyone else.
Control Panel > Sound > Recording > LevelsFifteen to twenty centimetres, slightly off to one side of the mouth. That distance reduces plosives and keeps the speaker's output out of the capsule far better than any processing.
A rising tone is gain above unity in a loop. Lower the speaker volume or the mic gain until it stops; the whistle starts well before it is audible to you in a normal call.
Join the call from a phone, mute the phone's speaker and speak. That hears what the other side hears, including the processing and the delay, which no local test can show.
Their speaker feeds their microphone. Ask them to use headphones; nothing on your side changes it.
Two echo cancellers fighting. Disable the one in the driver or the headset software and keep the app's.
Leakage or a second mic, such as a laptop array that is still enabled. Disable the unused input in Sound settings.
The canceller needs a moment to adapt, or the call started before the device settled. Join with the headset already plugged in.
They pick up more room, so placement matters more. Distance and direction fix it, not a different microphone.
It is tuned for exactly this loop. If the app offers it, it usually beats a hand-tuned desktop setup.
Restore the previous input level and re-enable any enhancement you switched off under **Sound > Recording > Enhancements**. The app settings are unchanged by any of this.
Free · no account needed · tracks your progress