Audio-Technica AT2020 - Quiet in Windows 8

Question

I have an Audio-Technica AT2020 that I have used for years with Windows 7 without any issues. I just formatted and installed Windows 8. My microphone is recognized, but it's VERY quiet. I've found several references online of people having the same issue with Windows 8.

Here is one post: http://www.overclock.net/t/1323451/windows-8-mic-issue

And another: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-hardware/low-usb-microphone-recording-volume-at2020/9528f797-65c8-4033-a4d6-39995cd0d074

Connecting the microphone back to a Windows 7 machine or an OSX Macbook - the Microphone works great. Thoughts?

Answer 1

I'm the one who posted about this on the Microsoft forum. As you can see, no help from them and my email went completely ignored. I don't think they'll be of any help, as this doesn't seem to be widespread enough for them to care.

I did manage to get in contact with somebody at Audio Technica though and explained that I'm having this issue with two AT2020 USB mics across multiple computers, both with Windows 8. I sent the overclock.net link as well, so hopefully it got through that this isn't a faulty mic or a setting that needs to be changed somewhere. In the last email I sent (about a week ago) I asked if he could get this looked into further, as it's obviously going to become a bigger problem as AT2020 users start upgrading to Windows 8. Hopefully that doesn't go ignored as it seems to be the only way that this is going to get resolved.

As of now, the only option I see going forward is to revert back to Windows 7 or get new mics. Either way, it's money down the drain (unless you can get a refund for W8). I upgraded all my computers to Windows 8 though, so that makes things especially frustrating for me.

I'd recommend sending them an email ([e-mail]) explaining that you are also experiencing this issue, so they at least know that this problem is continuing to grow.

Answer 2

I was having the same problem in windows 8.1 with magix sequoia as my daw. after 3 hours i was pulling my hair out ( though i dont have any). I finally figured out asio drivers only recognise 1 usb device at a time and as i have a usb audio interface i could only select one or the other. The answer was asio 4 all. I went into the advanced settings where you can select the usb mic as the input and the usb soundcard as the output. Now works perfectly

Answer 3

Well for me the AT2020 didn't even start working, it shows in Device Manager but it say that driver is not installed, and there are no drivers on the internet that I could find.

Also Before I used Blue Snowball another not cheep usb mic, it got detected in win but was quite as you described, and after ramping up every possible thing to make it louder, sounds get distorted.

It is clearly Win 8's fault, as on my Mac Book it works great, so now I'm in kind of a strange setup where I do video on the PC with win 8 and simultaneously doing recording on the macbook and then syncing... it is driving me nuts.

Answer 4

I have the AT2020USB as well. Dual Boot Setup Win7/Win8. Win7 is crisp and clear, and Win8 is very quiet with the same volume settings. I use ACID Pro 7 as my main DAW. my only fix was to find a decent volume setting (35-45), and Normalize my Raw Recording before mixing/mastering any further... in ACID PRO 7 you right click on your waveform (your rough recording), Top option says Event Clip with a submenu that pops up, and in the middle you can click on Normalize to sort out any volume issues. Too much work TBH, I would stick with Windows 7 for now. But if you're stuck with Windows 8 i hope this helps in any way. Any other Recording Software should have a Normalize option on any audio that's inserted into the program.

Answer 5

My AT2020USB does not work at all in Windows 8. It shows in Device Manager as installed with an up to data driver but is not available as an Audio Input Source anywhere including in Cubase 7. I basically wasted $ on this Mic. I'll buy a regular mic instead and run it through my NI Komplete Audio 6 instead.