I have about had it! Need some serious help here!

Bazeleel

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Dec 21, 2011
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So I just built a new rig

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB 1600 Mhz
GIGABYTE GA-970A-UD3 AM3+ 970
EVGA nVidia GeForce 460 1GB
AMD FX-4170 Zambezi 4.2GHz
600w PSU

I was hoping my mic issues would have gone away but it still is here. The mic it self is very quiet and frustrating to try and get any kind of loudness from it. The headset I have is http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Labs-51MZ0310AA002-Fatal1ty-Headset/dp/B000RI397G It is not even a year old yet.

What can possibly be the issue? Streaming and recording seem to have the lowest volume and in skype it seems to be fine. I am at my last step before jumping from my window I am so frustrated :(
 
The answer is likely in software configuration, where I am not an expert but just a dabbler. What version of Windows are you running? Have you opened the full volume panel, which has settings for multiple devices?

If you haven't done this yet, please try it: Try the same microphone with other equipment. Try the same headphones with other equipment. If either one shows abnormally low volume, you have found the problem.

Is there any possibility that the headset is plugged into a line-out rather than a headset jack? Seems unlikely, but I've done it.
 

Bazeleel

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Dec 21, 2011
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18,510


I am running Win7 (64bit) I have tried the headset on other computers and I get better audio levels then I do on my rig :(
 
Okay, that's useful. If you play the same input (iTunes, a CD, web site) with the same cans on different rigs, then there is something on the specific rig. You did test with comparable sound sources, I hope?

Try simple first. Right-click on the speaker in your icon corral, select Open Volume Mixer, make sure that nothing critical is turned down. Right-click on it again, select Recording Devices, and check the mic level.

Oh, I forgot a test. Move the mic to one of those other computers and try the same thing that you were doing on yours. If it's hard-of-hearing, mic problem. If not, PC problem. End-to-end tests with one piece of hardware changed are very useful.