Windows 8.1 USB microphone volume is extremely low

I realize this is old but this is still not fixed.  USB mics and even high end USB mix boards that use the microsoft driver don't work.  The volume has to be set far higher and then they generate a ridiculous amount of noise and just plain don't sound as good.  You've known about this since 2014 with Windows 8, why is it still broken?

After writing a long diatribe on this thread last night, as well as on another at this site, I just now deleted my comments on this.  Apparently I was wrong about what was happening (sorry).

I just measured the signal-to-noise at max microphone gain settings (according to software I'm developer for, which has a slider for that), and under Win8 the SNR is approximately the same as under WinXP mode (in Win8).  

The effect of the gain slider, though, is completely different.  The sensitivity (gain from mic capsule to the digital audio stream), with system slider at max is exactly the same (+24dB).  But using my slider, the max it would go to is +18.4dB.  The minimum my slider would set it to is -22.5dB, while the system slider can take it down to -31dB.  So the new mapping of the sensitivity slider is quite a bit different than it was in WinXP (and presumably Win7).

I think the kicker is what happens with the gain set somewhere in the middle (and specific software apps might be setting it there as default, or worse, running an automatic level routine that sets the gain too keep the system from clipping, according to the control law that USED to be!).

In my app, the gain setting (slider) normally sits at around 50% (in WinXP), which was a gain of -0.4dB.  In Windows8, the same setting inside my program results in a gain of -22.5dB! -- 22dB lower, which is going to be noisy and very weak in Windows8.

That's probably why MS doesn't "fix" it  -- it looks un-broken, but breaks the internal level setting behaviour of existing programs (like mine) which expect the old control law and end up setting the sensitivity down in the near-useless zone.

Running in a WinXPSP3 compatibility mode brings with it lots of unwanted baggage -- slow program startup, the dumb little shield that means it's going to prompt you for Admin approval everytime you start.  Maybe it would be better if they could put a little checkbox on the Recording Properties form for the mic to let you choose the 'new improved' control law (that makes lots of programs not work usefully anymore!) or the 'legacy' control law that does.  Yeah, all the programs "should" revise to the new control law (or sense the OS and adjust to it), but saying that just means accepting the fact that a huge number of people are going to be royally pissed at Microsoft (who did, in fact, 'fix' something that wasn't broken in the first place and caused all this grief).

Hello Mario,

Thank you for sharing information with us.

I hope that your suggestion may help other community members.

I appreciate it.

However, using Third Party Software, including hardware drivers can cause serious problems that may prevent your computer from booting properly. Microsoft cannot guarantee that any problems resulting from the use of Third Party Software can be solved. Using Third Party Software is at your own risk.

Thank you

I had the same issue today.  Finally able to fix it.  It was 2 things

1. Updated the drivers on my sound card - who knew the sound card would be involved??
2. Got a better sound recording program.  Try Audacity, its open-source audacityteam.org

That did it for me