Windows 8.1 USB microphone volume is extremely low

Anonymous
2014-03-14T02:41:12+00:00

I have a Samson C01U USB mic. It is a plug-and-play microphone. There are no drivers for it. There is no firmware for it. You just plug it in, and it works.

This mic has always worked perfectly. When I used Windows 7, I set the volume level of it to about 40-50% and everything sounded crisp, clear, and loud. On Windows 8, it is inaudible unless I set the volume to 90% but even at that point it is not loud enough. Setting it to 100% results in a lot of noise in the background.

This is not the first time someone has brought this issue up as it is extremely common to everyone owning a USB plug-and-play mic:

http://www.overclock.net/t/1323451/windows-8-mic-issue

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/2da97f80-f58b-4635-acbf-9dd7292ed752/microphone-very-low-volume?forum=w8itprohardware

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows\_8-hardware/low-usb-microphone-recording-volume-at2020/9528f797-65c8-4033-a4d6-39995cd0d074

Has there ever been a fix for this issue?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

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Anonymous
2014-07-31T00:46:56+00:00

Hi,

Thank you for the reply.

As you have mentioned that you have checked the issue with other microphone but you still face this issue. We have already tried to uninstall and reinstall the drivers. I suspect this issue to be a hardware issue. Check the issue with a local technician.

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-11-05T07:48:50+00:00

    Hi,

    I suggest you to contact the manufacturer of the device for the relevant driver.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-11-01T22:10:56+00:00

    Anyone know of an alternative driver to Windows 8.1's **** usb audio driver?

    Or, a link to the usb audio driver for windows 7 might also help. I've searched google and microsoft's website and can't find any download.

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-11-01T20:17:13+00:00

    Same issue with my Logitech H800 Headset using its USB dongle. Works great on Ubuntu 14.04 and OS X Yosemite, so it's not the hardware. Upgraded the Window 8.1 to use the latest Realtek HD Audio (the audio chip on my motherboard). Still no improvement.

    Microsoft should step up and fix this. It's not as if you need an exotic audio lab to test this.

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-11-01T09:24:04+00:00

    I have exactly the same issue with a Blue Snowball mic.  Quite clearly this is a problem with the Windows driver as supplied by MS and it's really disappointing that nobody from the organisations seems to understand the problem, let alone have a solution.

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