Microphone volume too low

Anonymous

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!

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Anonymous

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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45 additional answers

Anonymous

2010-06-12T01:39:19+00:00

I was having the same problem, and tried everything, until...

In my control panel I noticed I have 2 microphones when I selected record. I disabled one, and had no sound recording, so I reenabled it. When I disabled the other one, however, it fixed the problem.

Play with this, and make sure you only have one microphone, or make sure that you are using the correct one for default.
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Anonymous

2010-04-19T21:39:51+00:00

The control panel route is slightly different for me. On 64 bit UK English Win 7 in both Pro and Home Premium editions I had to follow

Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > Sound

then select the "Recording" tab, go to the correct input device, double click on it, go to "advanced" to uncheck "Exclusive Mode" and then to "Levels" to set the levels using mark 1 trial and error.

Our MS friends will doubtless be able to clarify which versions of Win 7 use the dialog Sogs described and which use the one I have seen.

Thanks to the approach suggested by Sogs, I now have a working sound input system.
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Anonymous

2010-02-03T02:42:58+00:00

I have a similar problem. I have a Dell Studio laptop with Windows 7 and when I record audio with an external microphone, it will replay loud and clear on my new Dell, but when I transfer the wav files to any other computer, I can barely hear it even with headphones on! That's how I get work done, sending wav files to a person on another computer! I want the problem fixed as well; it's crucial!
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Anonymous

2010-02-02T03:59:07+00:00

Thank you for the suggestions; I tried each step you described above, and I still have the same problem. The built-in microphone records too at too low of a volume level, even though I have the microphone levels at maximum and the boost at 20 dcb. I uninstalled the driver and reinstalled the latest driver. There is no "faulty" message in the driver properties. Windows Audio in Services is set to automatic start.

From the sound of things on this website, my Toshiba laptop is not the only one having this problem, which means it is a Windows 7 problem. Please elevate this to whoever needs to know about it so that it gets fixed in a patch.

Thank you!
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