Microphone Too Quiet? Adjust Microphone Boost

Microphone boost amplifies the signal of the microphone. Most of the time, when you plug in a microphone into the computer, the volume is not loud enough for most programs like voice chat or voice calling programs like Skype, AIM, or MSN. If people are telling you that they can't hear you, here's what you do:

Go into the control panel and go to sound

Click on the recording tab, and find the microphone you're looking for. You really should only have one mic, but if you have more than one, you have to figure out which one to adjust. If you have no clue, just blow into your mic and the little green volume bar on the right of the device will light up. Right click on the device and hit properties.

Next, you want to slide the microphone boost slider up. Usually, the available settings are +10 dB, +20 dB, and +30 dB. You should try going to +10 dB first, then test out if you're loud enough. If it's still to quiet, then go ahead and tune it higher. The microphone slider above the microphone boost adjusts the overall output of the microphone. If you find that +20dB is too quiet, and +30 dB is too loud, you can get it "just right" by leaving it at +30dB while having the microphone volume at 85%.

Did you know you can record your system sound directly using stereo mix?