How To Fix Microphone Sounding Muffled Or Quiet On Windows

Just bought a new studio-grade microphone and can’t figure out why its recordings sound so muffled? Got a new headset and are baffled by how low the volume on the mic is even when turned up to the maximum? Don’t worry, you aren’t alone, and while your problem may not be the same as the one others are facing, the only course of action to take in these situations is to try every solution that you can find.

I myself was troubled by this issue with my relatively unused Rode NT-USB microphone. The mic wasn’t new when the problem started and its timing seemed completely random. After not having used the mic for a good month, I connected it to my system and started recording, only to find later that the result sounded muffled to the extent that the audio was simply unusable. The quality was actually worse than that of the mic attached to my headset and I couldn’t figure out what I was missing. In what follows, I discuss the solution that worked for me in hopes that it may also help you.

1. Right-click the Sound icon in the System Tray and select Open Sound Settings.

2. Under Input, ensure that the correct microphone is selected, then click on Device properties.

3. In the screen that follows, click Additional device properties.

4. A new Microphone Properties window will pop up. Switch to the Advanced tab.

5. Ensure that the correct sample rate is selected under Default Format – 44000 Hz or 48000 Hz. If you continue to have problems with one setting, try the other.

It’s possible that settings for the problematic microphone were switched around either on being disconnected and reconnected or by a program. For me, the sample rate had been switched to a lower setting. Switching it back to the default 48000 Hz immediately fixed the problem.

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