Microsoft LifeChat LX-3000: can’t hear yourself when talking on Skype?

In my home office, I predominantly use Skype for business calls as it is way cheaper for me than using a land line or the air time on my cell phone. Since I am often on the phone a lot, I decided to get a new USB headset and settled on the Microsoft LifeChat LX-3000 (found on Amazon here). Upon receiving the headsets I was pleased with the comfort and in-line mute and volume controls. Installation on my XP machine worked flawlessly and all was going well until I fired up Skype and started my first call of the day. All of the sudden I couldn’t hear myself when I spoke although others could hear me. This might not sound like a big deal to some but let me tell you it is weird and I found myself stumbling on my words a bit. I was able to keep working but knew there had to be a solution. There was nothing out on any forums so I just started clicking through sound menus until, low and behold, I found the solution! So I now present it to you.

The Problem: you can’t hear yourself when talking on a Skype call when using the Microsoft LX-3000 headset although other can hear you.

The Solution (assumes you are working in Windows XP):

1. Go to Control Panel
2. Select Sounds and Audio Devices
3. Go to the Audio tab
4. On the Sound Playback section, click Volume
5. A speaker menu will open, on it go to Option
6. Select Properties
7. Under “Show the following volume controls:”, place a check mark in the microphone box
8. Select OK
9. Now back at the speaker controls you should see the microphone controls at the far right
10. Uncheck Mute and adjust volume
11. Voila! Fixed!