Microphone volume too low

Anonymous
2010-01-27T00:46:44+00:00

I just bought a new Toshiba Satellite L500D, with Windows 7, and I'm having a problem with the microphone volume, in that recorded sound is barely audible.

I followed all the suggested steps on this forum topic: http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7music/thread/06582922-0014-4dac-9f74-b63f143fbb8e  ...but nothing fixed it.

It's a built-in microphone and the sound driver is Realtek.  I did a driver update check and it has the latest version.  I have all the microphone volume settings set to maximum, and have tried doing test recordings in both Skype and the Windows Sound Recorder.  They record, but it is extremely low volume, even when I lean closer to the mic and speak loudly.  Various Skype call recipients could barely hear me.  The only thing that records loudly is when I run a finger over the matte plastic of the monitor frame -- that records super loud for some reason.

I welcome any suggestions as soon as possible.  I need my microphone to get work done!

I hope the Microsoft people can remedy this situation as soon as possible, because it's crucial to fix!

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Music, photos, and video

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Anonymous
2010-02-06T17:44:07+00:00

I had this problem for a few weeks, i recently read a forum post telling me to untick the :allow applications to take exclusive control of device:

Well, I found that setting and changed a couple of others, and I think it's fixed it

I went via Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Manage Audio Devices to get to the Sound panel.

I then selected Playback > Speakers > Enhancements and made sure everything was un-checked.

I then selected Playback > Speakers > Advanced and un-checked 'Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device'

I went to Recording > Microphone > Listen and ensured 'Listen to this device' was unchecked.

I went to Levels and ensured the Microphone level was at 100% and the Boost was at +10db

I went into Enhancements and ensured everything was un-checked.

I then into Advanced and un-checked 'Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device'

And finally I went into the Communications tab of the Sound panel, and changed 'When windows detects communications activity' to 'Do nothing'

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-10-20T09:27:32+00:00

    Finally fixed this. NONE of the solutions above worked for me. I have an Dell Inspiron 7737 that has Realtek High Definition audio. The latest drivers from DELL or latest I could download from Realtek site ("Realtek High Definition Audio Version 6.0.1.7541" / "Realtek High Definition Audio Version 6.0.1.7544") didn't make a difference. Skype microphone was not usable (I had to literally speak in the microphone - 1 cm away to be usable).

    PREVIOUS ANNOYING SOLUTION (just in case the real solution doesn't work for everyone): previously I went in device manager, update driver, "let me choose" / "pick from available"... then selected "High definition audio" - so the generic driver from Microsoft. That fixed the problem but realtek specific things like jack sensing didn't work anymore so it was annoying. Also every now and then (when windows update happened I think) it reverted back to the broken Realtek driver and had to do this all over again or simply choose "rollback driver" once instead of update and then it would pin the driver to the generic "High definition audio" one.

    SOLUTION: install this driver that is not available on either dell (for this laptop model)/realtek sites at this moment ""Realtek High Definition Audio Version 6.0.1.7950". I got this from a collegue's suggestion to use "Snappy driver installer". You can find it on the internet. It showed me 5 alternative drivers, 3 of which were "newer, less optimal and unsigned", 1 on which was "old and unsigned" and 1 was "newer, less optimal and signed". I picked and installed the latter and it was 6.0.1.7950. Well it seems that this "less optimal" driver fixes it. Now ppl. can hear me on skype just like in the good old Windows XP SP3 days :).

    I think this will help loots of ppl. - I have the exact same problem on an older Acer laptop but I will try fixing that later today. It would save days for many many ppl. around the world if Microsoft/Dell/Realtek actually would use the correct drive for these laptops! Thanks "Snappy driver installer"!

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-06-23T14:08:32+00:00

    yep I had the same problem on my hp windows 10

    fixed this by turning of all enactments and uped the recording levels to max

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-11-19T17:18:55+00:00

    ► Solution:

    Voila!

    Weird thing is that I dont have the Realtek manager in notifications area, but it works

    Windows 8 64-bit and old Lenovo y560

    My story: Well, I did try every fix out there (manufacturer drivers, only left channel, windows default audio driver, things with disabling the lowering the volume when an communication occurs etc.) , but nothing worked. The drivers from manufacturer didn't work (Lenovo) and even the driver from Realtek didn't work .. but then I've gave it a try with again with this process and it worked at last.

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  4. Anonymous
    2015-10-21T01:37:33+00:00

    I had the problem with my default microphone. I am using Windows 10.

    I got it fixed by

    windows search -> "find and fix audio playback problems" -> "Next" -> "Apply fix"

    (the fix said something: make it the default device. though I tried it before through settings)

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