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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!
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.
I very much have to agree—and it's creating some real headaches with everything from telehealth to gaming not to be able to use wired connections for audio and microphone input anymore. Relying on Bluetooth alone for both results in heavily compressed audio.
To anyone at Microsoft: If there's any way to help diagnose or escalate this, please let us know!
Hi Welcome to Microsoft community.Thank you for taking the time to share your experience and feedback regarding the microphone volume issue with Intel SST on Windows 11 version 24H2. We truly appreciate your diligence in troubleshooting and providing such detailed information, which is invaluable for us to understand and address these types of compatibility issues.We're glad you utilized the Feedback Hub to report this problem, as this is the most effective way for us to gather insights directly from users like you. We appreciate your patience and understanding while we work on these matters.While we don't have specifics to share at this time, we encourage you to keep an eye out for future updates that might address this issue. Your support and understanding are greatly valued, and we look forward to improving the user experience in upcoming releases. Thank you once again for your contribution to the Windows community.Best regardsDerrick Qian | Microsoft Community Support Specialist
Do you mean to say that the only support Microsoft will provide is the suggestion of a probability that this may be fixed in a future update over an indeterminate amount of time? Will this at least be made visible on the issue tracker for 24H2?
Hi
Can you share a screen shot of the audio test page.
The one you get when you right click on the speaker icon and go to Sounds Settings. Look at input devices and chose the internal microphone.
I’m interested to see if you have the same options on enhanced sound as my DELL laptop.. which also broke recently but I also noticed this test page changed too
Jamie
Sure, here you go! Note that neither the microphone nor built-in microphone array are working, nor are the wired headphones without disabling audio enhancements first. I also contacted Lenovo Support, did a system restore, reinstalled all audio drivers, did a Windows 11 repair install, and nothing has fixed it. Unfortunately, the next step Lenovo Support suggested is the go-to factory reset option, which I'm just not prepared to do at this point after all the other troubleshooting time and energy I've expended trying to solve this.
Hi Jamie,
Yea, it broke that too. The advance features no longer appear. I've ran the Lenovo bridge, and all SST drivers are up to date. Was there prior to 24H2 upgrade.
