In this post, I will show you how to enable echo cancellation for a VMware VM. We will also go through the sound card settings available for the virtual machine. You can turn on the echo cancellation for a virtual machine using multiple software such as VMware workstation, VMware Player, Fusion etc.
Echo cancellation is used in telecommunications and telephony to improve voice communication. It prevents echoes from being created or captured. It can also remove the echo in post-processing.
If you are using a virtual machine for audio communication and experience echoes during the calls, you can turn on the echo cancellation with a few easy steps. Not only that, you can choose a specific audio device for communication via the Sound Card settings.
VMware allows you to configure sound card settings for virtual machines. You can configure the settings when a sound card is connected to a virtual machine. You can also configure whether a virtual machine uses a specific sound card or the default sound card in the host system.
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Configure Sound Card Settings for Virtual Machine
Workstation Player provides a sound device compatible with the Sound Blaster Audio PCI and supports sound in Windows and Linux guest operating systems. The Workstation Player sound device is enabled by default.
A sound driver is installed when you install VMware Tools in a 64-bit Windows guest operating system. To install a 32-bit driver on a 32-bit guest operating system, you must use Windows Update.
You can configure the sound card settings for a virtual machine from its settings. The table below lists all the sound card settings that you can configure per virtual machine.
| Virtual Machine Sound Card Settings | Description |
|---|---|
| Connected | Connect the sound device while the virtual machine is running. |
| Connect at power on | Connect the sound device when you power on the virtual machine. |
| Use default host sound card | Make the virtual machine use the default sound card in the host system. If this option isn’t working, ensure that you reinstall the VMware tools on the host machine. |
| Specify host sound card | (Applies to Windows hosts only) Select a specific host sound card for the virtual machine to use. |
| Use physical sound card | (Applies to Linux hosts only) Select a specific host sound card to for the virtual machine to use. |
| Enable Echo Cancellation | Turn on the echo cancellation for the sound card. The VM must be powered off to enable this setting. |
In the virtual machine settings window, you can configure the sound card settings by choosing the host sound card. This option is useful when you have multiple audio cards, and you want to select a specific one. By default, a virtual machine uses the default host sound card.
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How to Enable Echo Cancellation for a VMware VM
You can enable the echo cancellation for a VMware VM with following steps. I am using Vmware workstation in this example to turn on the echo cancellation.
Step 1: First power off the virtual machine. You cannot enable the echo cancellation when the virtual machine is ON. Right-click the virtual machine and select Settings.
Step 2: On the Virtual Machine Settings window, select the Hardware tab. Select Sound Card settings and here you can enable echo cancellation. Click OK to save the changes.
If you are using VMware Player to manage the virtual machines, you can configure sound card settings for a selected virtual machine by selecting Player > Manage > Virtual Machine Settings, click the Hardware tab, and click Sound Card.
Turn off Echo Cancellation for a Virtual Machine
If the echo cancellation isn’t working, you can turn it off from the virtual machine hardware settings. Power off the virtual machine and go to the VM settings. Switch to the Hardware tab and select Sound Card. Uncheck the option “Enable echo cancellation” and click OK.
