Issue with Microphone Volume with Intel SST on Windows 11 24H2

Anonymous
2025-01-22T12:38:06+00:00

Hello everyone,

I’m using a ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 5 and recently ran into an issue after upgrading to Windows 11 version 24H2. The microphone volume is incredibly low, making voice communication nearly impossible on apps like Discord or during calls.

After thorough troubleshooting, including reinstalling Windows, I identified the problem: a compatibility issue between Windows 11 24H2 and Intel Smart Sound Technology (SST) audio drivers. The "Audio Enhancements" option, typically found under System > Sound > Microphone Properties, is also missing in this version.

When I revert to Windows 11 version 23H2, the microphone works perfectly, and the "Audio Enhancements" option reappears. However, updating to 24H2 causes the issue to resurface, which aligns with previous reports of Intel SST causing compatibility problems on Windows 11.

I submitted feedback through the Feedback Hub app, but I haven’t received any updates or acknowledgment yet. For now, I’ve reverted to version 23H2, but I hope Microsoft and Intel can address this with a driver update or patch soon.

If anyone has found a workaround or has more information, please share it here.

Thank you!

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Devices and drivers

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  1. Anonymous
    2025-04-21T20:00:37+00:00

    Unfortunately not...

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  2. Anonymous
    2025-04-22T09:45:07+00:00

    This suggests its a config somewhere and probably something that is universal to sound input devices.
    I have been in contact with Lenovo on this, and they are asking me to reimage my BIOS to fix, the above suggests to me that a BIOS fix will not work, so will abort on that.

    Someone at MS will know exactly whats going on here, IMO

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  3. Anonymous
    2025-04-22T13:33:49+00:00

    im on 2h42 win11 but i dont have the ability to change the quality of my intel sst for digital microphones. like if i want higher quality then it will be greyed out. please help

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  4. Anonymous
    2025-05-26T00:31:30+00:00

    Hello, I'm having the same problem as you, and I tried your technique, but I can't add it to Discord. I can't find the Audio Subsystem section in Discord, so I can't get it to work.

    Thank you in advance for your reply.

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  5. Anonymous
    2025-05-26T07:46:55+00:00

    Hi, and thanks for the heads up!

    Indeed, the option was removed from the new versions of Discord.

    I managed to get it working by disabling the option "Bypass System Audio Input Processing", as suggested here: Reddit link

    I had to reboot for this setting to appear, but once disabled, the microphone as working correctly again.

    I'll update the original tutorial. Let me know if it works again!

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