How to Play Music Through Mic - Step by Step Guide

Streamers and YouTubers can speak on their mic while music or audio effects are playing. The question is, how can they do it?

Does it require expensive software or heavily technical stuff? The truth is that knowing how to record and how to play music through a mic simultaneously is actually very easy.

Although it’s true that some big-time YouTubers or streamers will invest in expensive software to perform this task, there’s a free or low-cost option for you. The internet offers a lot of alternatives and you just have to find them.

So to save you from the hassle, we researched the web for these solutions so you no longer have to. Don’t worry because even if you’re not a tech geek, you can still make this happen.

Just take note that the solutions below may or may not work under certain conditions. You have to factor in the specifications of your device, software compatibility, and similar aspects. But for most of our experience, one of these hacks will work at some point.

Below, we discuss the step-by-step guide based on the applications you want to achieve. Read on and feel free to comment if you have other methods or questions in mind.

Can you Play Music Through a Mic Port?

Playing music using your mic port is possible using different methods. The easiest way is to install software on your computer that will tweak your sound input and output. This is often the solution used by streamers and YouTubers, though the choice of software widely varies.

Overall, the process is simple whether you’re using it on your PC, Discord, CS GO, or even Skype. Knowing how to play music through your mic can also be turned on and off, so you can use your sound settings in their normal configuration.

Take note that the process may need trial and error to find the option that will work for you. Nevertheless, this goal is very much possible with the technology we have today. After all, the internet offers endless possibilities, especially for a query as simple as this.

For this part, we will give you both the free and paid option on how to play sounds through a mic.

How to Play Music Through Mic on PC

For Windows 10 and 11 users

Knowing how to play sounds through your mic on a PC is fairly simple. Here’s how you can do it:

Go to ‘Control Panel’
Click ‘Hardware & Sound’
Go to ‘Manage Audio Devices’
Choose ‘Recording’
Enable ‘Stereo Mix’ then designate it as your default microphone
Test if it works by playing any sound using your preferred software

This method works for both Windows 10 and Windows 11 users. There’s no need to use third-party software just to enable this feature. Just make sure that your system is fully updated to avoid audio bugs or glitches.

Through this method, you can play sound effects, music, or any audio file while speaking. You can use this for streaming or simply recording an audio or video of yourself. The best part here is that you can easily play the music that you like by using hotkeys.

If the sound isn’t being played through the microphone properly, you should check if you followed the steps thoroughly.

For Mac users

For Macbook or iMac users, the steps of how to play music through your mic remain easy. Here’s what you need to do:

Look for ‘QuickTime’ in your applications folder. This is the multimedia framework of Apple.
Open ‘QuickTime’ then choose ‘File’
After that, click ‘New Audio Recording’
Look for the triangle located at the top-right corner then click it
There, you can choose your built-in input and your desired volume.
Make sure that you choose your microphone as the input.
After that, play your music and see if the steps worked.

If it didn’t work, try to repeat the process. You can also restart your device or see if its sound drivers are up to date. As with Windows 10 or 11, these steps usually work for Mac devices.

How To Play Music Through Mic on Discord

Discord is very popular among gamers, streamers, and influencers. Fortunately, you can also utilize playing music through your mic on your next stream. But unlike playing music on your mic offline, using this setup in Discord requires third-party software.

Basically, you need any soundboard application. You can easily find one that’s free or if you don’t mind splurging, you can also purchase a license for commercial use.

Best soundboards to use on Discord

EXP Soundboard. This is free software and widely used by Discord streamers. It can be used on Windows, Mac, and even Linux-operated devices. And since it’s open source, you can add any sound bites or music that you like and assign hotkeys to them. This way, you can play the audio on the fly as you speak.

MagicMic Soundboard. If you have a low-spec device, you can use MagicMic Soundboard instead. This is light on installation requirements, but it remains effective when playing sounds on your mic while using Discord.

Voicemod Soundboard. Aside from using it to play music on your microphone, you can also utilize this soundboard to change how your voice sounds. You can make yourself sound like a demon, chipmunk, baby, and so on.

How to play sounds through mic Discord

If you have a Discord channel and you want to play music while talking, you can do the following steps:

Install your chosen soundboard software
Connect your device’s microphone inside the app
Go to ‘Control Panel’ and choose ‘Sound Settings’
Enable ‘Stereo Mix’ located on the ‘Recordings’ section.
Next, open Discord and look for the gear icon at the bottom left area
Select ‘Voice & Audio’
Choose ‘Stereo Mix’ located under ‘Input Device’
Tick ‘Voice Activity’ under ‘Input Mode’
Play any music while speaking to see if the steps worked

How To Play Music Through Mic on Skype

Do you have a Skype call and you want to play music while talking? This is also possible with very simple steps.

Overall, this hack on Skype is helpful, especially for teachers who want to make online classes interactive, presenters who need to play a sound bite, and similar applications.

When you enable playing music through your microphone, the person on the other line can hear any audio file you’ll play. Make sure that you turn this off after use to prevent messing up your other Skype meetings.

Here’s how you can play music on your mic during a Skype call:

Look for the Windows Sound Menu on your system tray or settings
After that, click ‘Playback Devices’.
Right-click then choose ‘Show Disconnected Devices’
Click ‘Stereo Mix’ then choose ‘Set As Default Device’
After that, close the menu and launch the Skype app
Next, open your Skype Tool menu
Click ‘Audio’ then select ‘Microphone’
Look for the ‘Stereo Mix’ option to play music during your call

However, you should know that with this method, you can’t speak and play music on your Skype mic at the same time. You can only play one of those two during the Skype call. Aside from that, not all devices have the Stereo Mix feature or compatibility.

If you want to speak and play music on Skype, your best bet is to install a third-party plugin. One good example here is Skype Audio Player. Using this tool, you can play audio files during the call without losing access to your microphone.

You can also try other plugins like TunesUp or Clownfish to see which one works for you best. Most of these tools have hotkeys, so you can play audio files easily. Just make sure that these plugins are active and launched before making the call.

How To Play Music Through Mic in CS GO

CS: GO or Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is a popular game. Since it’s a multiplayer shooter, gamers communicate by talking to the mic. Others will also play music or other audio files to make their gaming experience more fun.

For this, you can use the software SLAM or Source Live Audio Mixed. This is made specifically for CS: GO by a fellow gamer. Basically, this program will take care of all the music you want to play in the game.

Step 1: After installing SLAM, launch it and click the ‘Import’ button. From there, you will be prompted to choose the music you want to play in the game.

Step 2: Make sure that you set the volume on the program at around 50%, so it won’t be too loud for your teammates. Next, you need to set a hotkey as a shortcut to play your music.

Step 3: Once done, you need to open the CS-GO console to type “exec slam” followed by “la”. There, you will see a corresponding song number for each audio file you imported earlier. To play the music, you will press the song number followed by the hotkey you set.

However, SLAM is only available for Windows computers for now. For Mac users, a program called Loopback might be the solution.

How Do You Play Music and Talk at the Same Time?

Playing music and talking at the same time can be pretty tricky. It’s because your attention will be divided into playing the audio file and keeping the person on the line hooked.

For this, you have two options: use your Windows settings or install an audio mixer app. These are pretty similar to what we discussed earlier, but we will tackle the pros and cons of such options.

Using your Windows settings

To speak and play music on your mic at the same time, you can utilize the ‘Stereo Mix’ feature of Windows. The steps are discussed above, which are simple and even non-tech geeks can easily set it up.

Overall, this is easy since everything is built into your computer. You can also listen to the sounds at the same time, so you’ll know what you’re actually playing. Also, you can use multiple audio jacks to connect as many audio devices as you like.

However, we noticed that there’s a slight delay if you’re playing music from a secondary device. Of course, this depends on the device you’re connecting to and the configuration of your computer.

Aside from that, volume control with this method is fiddly. You may have to tweak it several times based on what the person on the line hears.

Using an audio mixer app

Audio mixer apps or programs eliminate any limitations your Windows sound settings may pose. Some of these apps even let you assign hotkeys on each audio file for easy playing while talking. Moreover, some are built with sound effects, which can come in handy for you.

However, you should be aware that audio mixer apps may cause a slight decline in sound quality. You can also notice a delay between your speakers and headphones. Nevertheless, these apps allow you to adjust audio quality, volume, and other settings to achieve the sound that you like.

Final Thoughts

By knowing how to play music through your mic, you can make calls, gaming, and streaming a more immersive experience. The good thing is that making this possible is quite easy. It may sound too technical, but the solution is actually just a few clicks and downloads away.

Moreover, playing audio content on your mic makes sharing easier for you and the other person you’re talking to. The two of you can listen to it at the same time and in good audio quality. This is far better than playing the audio manually on your mic from an external device.

Even if you’re not into gaming, this knowledge will surely come in handy for you in the future. It’s also another tech hack you can teach your friends.

Do you have other methods of playing music through a microphone? Did these steps work for you? Feel free to share them with us and comment down your thoughts.

How to Play Music Through Mic – Step by Step Guide