Here is the old thread I started 2 1/2 years ago.
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Yes, two and a half years later we're now on an entirely new operating system and still facing the exact same issue.
Quick recap: On older versions of Windows, AT2020 USB microphones work perfectly, whereas in newer versions (with the exact same settings) recordings are way too quiet.
Windows XP: Works fine.
Windows Vista: Works fine.
Windows 7: Works fine.
Windows 8/8.1: Broken.
Windows 10: Broken.
On XP-7 I can set the volume to about 30 and the sound is crystal clear and loud. On W8-10, I have to boost it to 100 to hear it and then the sound is distorted. Not good!
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The following things are NOT solutions to this problem:
- Reinstall/update the driver. There are no drivers. There never were and there never will be. They're built into Windows and until Windows 8, they worked perfectly.
- Contact the manufacturer. I did. Several times. They cannot help with this issue as, again, there are no drivers for this device. All they do is provide the hardware. Everything else is up to Microsoft.
- Boost the volume. Artificially boosting the volume in any way results in quality loss and is in no way a valid solution. If it works for you, great! However, it doesn't solve the actual problem, which are the faulty USB audio drivers.
- Run the recording audio troubleshooter. All this does is check to make sure the audio services are running and that the microphone is detected. Neither of those are the source of the problem, therefore this fixes nothing. Neither will any other troubleshooter.
- Install Windows updates. As of this post, there is no Windows update that fixes this. I've installed every update for the past 2 years and they've done nothing to address this. Unless an update has been released that specifically addresses this, installing updates will fix nothing.
- Contact Microsoft support. I've tried. They don't care and will not respond. I've sent roughly a dozen emails to them about this over the years and was ignored each and every time.
Temporary solution: Run Windows 7 in a VM and record things there. Not ideal and quite annoying, but it works. We shouldn't have to do this, but for now... we do.
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If you're facing this issue, POST ABOUT IT HERE. Reading through these threads and not making your voice heard isn't going to help get Microsoft's attention. If there are enough of us, they can't ignore us forever. Although, I'm quite sure they'll try.
Update (7/13/16): User fda431rfdsa has found that, for some, the issue may just be a problem with gain and that simply turning the recording volume up may fix the issue with no adverse effects. This was not the case for me or many others, but give it a try and see if it works for you.
