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I've been using an AT2020 USB microphone for several years now, first on Vista and then on Windows 7, with no problems at all. After upgrading to Windows 8, I've found that the recording volume using this microphone is now very low. The hardware is all the same, as is all the configuration.
I usually have the volume set at ~30-40. On Windows 7 it's loud and clear, and there is no distortion. On Windows 8, even if I turn it all the way up to 100, the recording volume is way too low and the sound is distorted due to the volume being set so high.
There is clearly something wrong here and as of now Windows 8 is completely unusable to me because I need to be able to record. Any possible solutions would be very much appreciated.
Thank you.
(Also, there are no actual drivers for this device. I've always just plugged it in and it has worked right away.)
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Update (7/29/15): This issue has not been fixed with Windows 10. I've started a new thread here for those who have updated. If you want this fixed, please continue to post about it. I doubt it will help, but the only other option is to stick with W7 or buy a new mic.
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
Same here, I just purchased my C01U only to find out that I can't hear anything through the mic unless I push the levels up to 96%. Anything below that is extremely soft. At it's current level, it picks up everything, makes recording very difficult.
Is there any way to get the Windows 7 drivers onto Windows 8?
Hi,
You can install the driver in compatibility mode and check if this helps. Compatibility mode runs the program using settings from a previous version of Windows.
Make older programs compatible with this version of Windows
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/older-programs-compatible-version-windows
Reply with the status of the issue and we will be glad to offer our assistance.
I am also experiencing this issue.
My AT2020 USB mic has worked perfectly with windows 7 for over a year, but yesterday when I did a fresh install of Windows 8.1 on my system, now the volume from the microphone is very very low, even when set up to 100 in the recording device properties.
The drivers are all fully up to date. Please do something to fix this driver problem Microsoft.
Hi,
You may reinstall the audio drivers and check if the issue persists.
Download the latest drivers from the computer manufacturer’s website. Uninstall the existing audio driver from the Device Manager and install the downloaded driver. Once the installation is done, restart the computer and check if the issue persists.
Thank you.
Hi Srimadhwa B,
No offence but if bother to read the thread, you would know that USB microphones use native windows drivers. ( USB audio device ) and therefore does not have drivers provided by manufacturer, as all they had to do is to create the device to correspond to USB windows driver specification provided by Microsoft.
Which worked perfectly in Windows 7 and bellow, but some genius thought that he is going reshuffle the perfectly working drivers for no god damn reason in windows 8 and break virtually all USB microphones that were build for windows native driver.
This issue was reported multiple time, its not a fluke or random bug, its perfectly repeatable 100% all the time on different HW and Microsoft could not care less about this issue ( its why I returned my copy of windows 8 and got my money back, and sure as **** will not upgrade any time soon ).
This issue is persistent since windows 8 release to this day, how hard is to port the windows 7 driver as legacy to window 8 and have us choose it for microphones ?
I really don't know why is this such a problem to fix.
