Low USB microphone recording volume (AT2020)

Anonymous
2013-01-12T10:07:02+00:00

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.)

--

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.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-07-14T10:41:55+00:00

    Hey, 

    I've already posted in here because I had this issue but it is now fixed on my windows 8 computer. I get perfect recording levels with my USB mic on my windows 8 laptop.  After I posted bfore a few people commented to say how my fix couldn't possibly work as the firewall can have no bearing on recording level and I totally agree - it makes no sense whatsover to me either but all I can suggest is that there is some quirk as when I did it the recording levels worked fine. 

    I thought I'd post again just in case any of you have the same luck I did. 

    • I went to the main screen and searched on "Firewall"
    • Clicked on the 'allow an app through the firewall - see below. 

    I use Adobe Audition and that wasn't listed in the apps in the box below so I clicked on

    "change Settings" see below

    Then "allow another app" and I added adobe manually.  

    Right click on the speaker icon and then select Recording Devices in the menu below. 

    Double click on your USB Mic

    Select the "Levels" tab and make sure it is set at an adequate level. (just in case anyone thinks that it is this level setting that fixed the issue rather than the firewall settings - believe me I tried all of this before and nothing worked)

    I really hope that this helps someone.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-07-15T05:20:12+00:00

    Hi,

    Thank you for the reply and update.

    Happy to know that you were able to fix the issue. Your efforts to work on this issue is very much appreciated.

    Feel free to post your query here on Windows Forums, we would be happy to assist you.

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-10-19T02:12:50+00:00

    I am having this issue as well, turning the mic up or down on level basically mutes all sound.... Worked great on windows 7, Levels could be at 1-20 and now in windows 8.1 the lowest varies from 40 to 80

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-10-24T08:29:33+00:00

    Hi Jordan,

    You may check the Windows Updates screen and install any relevant update including optional update to check if this helps.

    Further, you may update the audio driver manually from the Device Manager and restart the computer to check if this helps.

    Thank you.

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  5. Anonymous
    2014-11-03T12:41:26+00:00

    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.

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