Windows 10 Pro is not cooperating with my microphone

[GameSlayerShea]

Hi there, I'm trying to get my new recording rig set up and I'm running into some very strange and inconsistent problems. I'm trying to troubleshoot, so the list below contains my problem and everything I've done to try to resolve it.

1. My microphone is listed as the chosen input devices in Settings > Sound but the meter that is supposed to show my microphone activity as it picks up sound is dead. No movement on the meter whatsoever. Curiously, I DID see movement on the meter when I started this process but not anymore
2. Everything seems to recognize that the microphone is present, but no recording is done. When I try to record, I just get dead air
3. I navigated to Control Panel > Sound > Recording tab and the microphone is in the list with a green check mark but again, the meter shows no activity. I also am unable to set the microphone as default - the button is just "greyed out" and I can't select it.
4. In Control Panel > Sound i select the microphone and press Configure. When I try to Set Up Microphone, I get an error message that reads: "The Wizard could not start. Make sure your audio hardware is working properly and check your audio configuration in the audio devices and sound themes control panel
5. My current setup is a microphone running through a preamp to my PC via USB. The preamp comes with software that gives me a read out of the levels on the preamp. I know for sure that signal is being pushed to the PC, so I can rule hardware failure out
6. From Settings > Sound I tried running the microphone troubleshooter but it says "Troubleshooting couldn't identify the problem"
7. Device manager tells me Device Status for the microphone is: "This device is working properly." All drivers are up to date.
8. After several times powering down my preamp/unplugging the USB and hooking it all back up again, I know getting the meters in Settings > Sound to show me that it's detecting signal but the Set up your microphone feature (referenced in point 4 above) still gets me an error message
9. The activity meters are still showing me that Windows is detecting signal from my microphone. I temporarily got my recording software to work with the microphone, but everything I recorded was slowed slightly and my voice was much deeper when I played the audio back. Then the software stopped picking up any signal at all from the microphone
10. I tried the windows voice recorder app from the microsoft store and that app is telling me that the microphone isn't working
11. Skype seems to have no trouble connecting to the microphone
12. I navigated to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Sound > Recording and selected properties on the mic. I enabled "Listen to this device." I can hear myself in my ear now, but again, the voice I hear in my ear sounds much, much deeper than it should.

Long story short: Every step of this experience is inconsistent. Sometimes the microphone is being picked up but the playback doesn't route properly. Sometimes the playback is good but the mic doesn't pick up. Sometimes the mic picks up but what it records is full of clicks and hiss and static. Certain apps or utilities will recognize the microphone just fine while others simultaneously do not.


Please help!

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