Choose the microphone
The MICROPHONE list on the INPUT panel shows the recording devices Windows sees. It updates by itself when you plug a device in or out. VoiceKeyboard remembers your choice by name.
If the chosen microphone disappears, for example wireless headphones switch off, recording goes on from the Windows default microphone and a message says so: "Microphone “…” is not found — recording from “…” for now. I will switch back when it returns." When it is back, VoiceKeyboard uses it again.
Google works a little differently. With Chrome 135 or newer it hears the microphone chosen here. If Chrome cannot use that microphone, for example because Chrome is older or cannot open the device, Google switches to the Windows default microphone. Dictation goes on, and VoiceKeyboard shows a message saying which microphone Google hears. To change the Windows default, see how to make a microphone the Windows default.
Sensitivity and AUTO
Sensitivity is the volume of the microphone in Windows, from 25% to 100%. With "AUTO · keep microphone level" ticked, VoiceKeyboard holds that volume where you set it, even if another program tries to move it. Untick it to control the volume by hand; the label then reads MANUAL.
BOOST
BOOST is extra amplification inside VoiceKeyboard, from 1 (least) to 5 (strongest); new installs start at 3. It helps a quiet microphone without touching the Windows volume. BOOST works for Soniox and the offline models. Google takes the sound itself, so BOOST does not change what Google hears.
Speech threshold
SETUP → App has one more control, the speech threshold: how loud a sound must be to count as speech. A higher value ignores more background noise but may miss quiet speech. Like BOOST, it applies to Soniox and the offline models, not to Google.
CALIBRATE: let the app set it from your voice
The CALIBRATE button sits on the INPUT panel and again next to the speech threshold in SETUP. Stop any recording first; calibration does not start while one is running.
- 1 · VOICE. Press START and read the text on the screen in your usual dictating voice. If AUTO is on, the app adjusts the Windows volume while you read. Reading ends after a pause, or when you press DONE.
- 2 · SILENCE. Stay quiet for a few seconds while it listens to the room. If it hears a voice, it waits three more seconds.
- 3 · RESULT. A table shows Sensitivity, BOOST and Speech threshold, before and after. APPLY keeps the new values; CANCEL puts the volume back.
Calibration can also give advice. "The voice is quiet even at full sensitivity" means you should speak closer to the microphone; "The voice overloads the microphone even at low sensitivity" means move back. CANNOT HEAR, NOT QUIET or NO MICROPHONE on the screen mean the step did not work; press REPEAT.
Read the meters
The level meter on INPUT and the needle meter show what the microphone picks up, and during a recording the VOICE lamp lights when the app hears speech. If they stay still while you talk, the wrong microphone is selected or Windows has muted it.