OK chalk up one for the case. I've looked at a lot of cases, never came across this brand, and this is the first one I've seen without front (or top) audio jacks.
Back to the problem. Has the mic ever worked properly with this PC? Is there anything accidentally plugged into the audio header on the motherboard?
It worked perfectly until I upgraded to Windows 10. Initial research showed that it was hopeless apart from waiting for Realtek to fix it, so I waited. I recently looked into it again, found out that they fixed it with their latest drivers, so I upgraded, and it still doesn't work. Nothing is plugged into the audio header. The only hardware changes I have made since upgrading to Windows 10 is replacing and increasing my RAM, but I had the problem before I did that.
Other than a hardware problem, at this point, the only other thing I can think of is a corrupted Win 10 upgrade. Possibly a complete, clean, reinstall of Win 10 would fix it. This is extreme but may be needed.
That's what I was afraid of. I guess I'll try that.
If you have another hard drive (or SSD) use that for the clean install. Keep your current hard drive in case that doesn't fix it.
I would do it this way, bearing in mind onboard audio is reliant upon it being designed properly and isolated on the MOBO.
1) Install any MOBO system drivers.
2) Install MOBO manufacturers driver.
3) Go to Windows 10 Settings, increase the level of data collection, then go to Windows updates and see what happens. Make take sometime.
Specifically do not install 'latest driver'.
In the Microphone Properties > Levels, vary the Mic gain and Mic Boost, whilst speaking close to and far away from the Microphone such that output levels are broadly the same.
Does the Audio to fuzz ratio change.
A way around this maybe to buy a PCI-E Sound card and use that instead, it maybe more isolated.
Ok, all drivers are installed, all updates are installed, and the microphone is always fuzzy. I'd really rather not spend a bunch of money on a sound card, but it's not looking like I have much choice on that, right?
It appears, from what you have done, that the on board sound is trashed. Depending on what you want from sound, cheap USB connected sound devices may work for you and something to consider as a cheap way to verify that the on-board sound chip is defective. I've seen them for under $10. Look at Computer Parts, Laptops, Electronics, and More - Newegg.com or Amazon.
For now, all I need is something good enough for game chat, so I've ordered a USB one. But in the future, I'll need something good enough for sound recording, so I was going to pick up a better PCI one anyway. Hopefully I can wait on that, though.
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