Mic volume too low

Question

My Snowball Blue USB microphone records at a very low level, despite input level being set at 100%.
Using a cheap microphone plugged into the Mic input also puts out low volume. My sound system is on-board Realtek and it shows no errors in devmgr.
Wojtek

Answer 1

Welcome Wojtek Ciszak,

I understand how frustrating it can be when both your Blue Snowball USB microphone and a separate microphone connected through the microphone input are recording at a very low volume level in Windows 11, even with the input level set to 100%. 

Before proceeding, could you please clarify:         

• Does the low microphone volume occur in all applications (such as Voice Recorder, Teams, Discord, etc.)? 
• Did this issue start after a recent Windows update or driver update? 

In the meantime, you can try these steps below to troubleshoot the issue:  

Option 1: Reinstall the audio drivers  

• Open Device Manager 
• Expand Audio inputs and outputs and Sound, video and game controllers 
• Uninstall the microphone and Realtek audio devices 
• Restart the PC to allow Windows to reinstall them 

Option 2: Test with the generic audio driver  

• Open Device Manager 
• Right-click the Realtek audio device and select Update driver 
• Select Browse my computer for drivers 
• Select Let me pick from a list of available drivers 
• Choose High Definition Audio Device and test the microphone 

Option 3: Check Privacy settings  

• Open Settings > Privacy & security > Microphone 
• Ensure Microphone access and Let apps access your microphone are enabled 

I hope the steps above help you deal with your issue.  

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Answer 2

Hi,

The Sound card might have an issue.

Press Windows+R keys on the keyboard, or Right-click Start on the Taskbar and choose Run.

Type mmsys.cpl

Press Enter.

Go to the Recording Tab. Take screenshot of the same.

#2: Right-click the Mic and choose Properties. Take screenshots of all the tabs.

#3: If you have Realtek HD audio control panel, send a screenshot of the same as well.

I look forward to hearing from you to get the results of the troubleshooting.