Windows 10: microphone input level

I have a hp pavilion x360-<M3-U101dx. The microphone in put level is incredibly low. When I use zoom, they can hardly hear me. I have tried to update drivers and even tried an external usb microphone. This still is bad. I have searched online and found everyone that owns this computer has the same problem. I found an app that is supposed to help, but they want me to pay for it, and that is not going to happen. I wonder if you have found any other fix since the last post was made here on the community.

:)

 

Line level audio not accepted as a "microphone" input

Hi Greg -

Thank you for the quick reply!

I do understand the differences in signal levels. The references you provided explain the different levels, but do not address my question.

My problem lies in the internal connections the OS provides.

I want to use a specific program that is looking for a microphone input.

I use an external preamp to boost the microphone signal up to an instrument level, which allows me to use a switch to select between the 'mike' input and other higher level inputs before it gets routed into my audio interface to the PC.

The program I want to use doesn't see the input from my audio interface as a 'mike' input.

Any program that works with 'mike' inputs must be relying on the motherboard or soundcard to have already amplified the 'mike' signal to a level it can work with. I don't believe the programs are working with the low level microphone output signal.

I want to be clear here - I am not suggesting putting the amplified microphone signal into a "microphone" input on the PC. In fact I have turned off the internal motherboard sound system, because I use a high quality audio interface to bring audio into the PC on a USB line.

So it is a question of internal routing. How can I get a boosted 'mike' input found on a 'instrument' level input line to be accepted as speech by a program?

 

Line level audio not accepted as a "microphone" input

I have an application that wants live speech input from a microphone.

My system setup includes a preamp that raises the output of a headset microphone to standard line level.

The program is looking only for a "microphone" input, and can not see my line level as an input.

How can I get around this limitation?

 

Microphone won't work

Hello Chase,

Based on what you've mentioned, it looks like we need additional information for us to determine the most appropriate advice. To better assist you, we need the answers to the following questions:

• When did the issue start?
• Were there any changes made prior to this issue?

In the meantime, we suggest that you manually turn up mic gain by following the steps below:

• Type in “Sound” in the Search box and select Sound (Control Panel) from the list.
• Select the Recording tab.
• Right-click (or tap and hold) on the active microphone input device and select
  Properties.
• Select the Levels tab. Manually drag the Microphone gain to a higher level and click
  Apply.

Any update from you is highly appreciated.