Edit: Aug 1, 2025 - We believe we have determined the source of this issue is Intel SST (Intel Smart Sound Technology). You can disable this in Device Manager, detailed below.

Does your USB mic sound perfectly fine on one device and awful on another? We've had this issue come up a few times on Windows 11 machines, all laptops so far, and while we do not believe this is a microphone hardware issue, we do have a workaround to fix it.

By low quality we mean that certain frequencies are getting cut off. Not stuttering or clipping, having high background noise (hiss) or making weird noises. Just that it sounds bad.

Here's an example of the same mic on two different machines with the exact same settings:

Desktop (Sounds Normal)

Laptop (Sounds Bad)

 

After a ton of research and the help of several awesome users on our Discord, we believe we have tracked this issue down to a problem with Intel SST. To fix this issue, simply disable (Do not delete) Intel SST from your device manager.

To disable this product open Device Manager, locate the Intel SST device in Sound, right click, and select disable.

If you delete this device instead it will re-appear on restart.

If this does not work, please see below or join the Discord for additional help.

Adjusting the sample rate

Simply open your sound settings, navigate to the sound control panel, open the recording tab, and go to the mic properties.

Once there navigate to the Advanced Tab and from the drop down list set you mic to at least 16 bit 44.1khz, ideally 48khz.

Test and see if this resolves your issue. If not, continue on.

Something Else Entirely

No point in beating around the bush: We do not yet know the cause of this issue, but we do know a cure to the symptom. A USB Hub.

We have two conflicting reports from the results of this fix: One report tells us that once they used the hub they went back to no hub and it worked fine. The other told us that it had the same problem after removing the hub, so your mileage may vary. That said, both reported the issues resolved via a USB hub.

We will continue to search for the root cause and fix that does not involve the purchase of additional hardware, but for now we hope this helps!

Some more info for context

Based on the spectrum analysis of the recordings we've seen of this, the laptop (bad) recording appears to be cutting off all frequency above ~4khz, which makes us think the mic is being set to the wrong recording values.

Bad Sample

Same Mic & Settings, after fix

If you happen to have a solution or suggestion on how to resolve this issue in a better way than a hub replacement or are experiencing a quality issue with your Antlion Audio microphone please contact our support team!

Special thanks to Discord user Gadoy for his assistance in trouble shooting this issue and to Shane5CFA's post on the Adobe forums for putting us on the right track for a fix. https://community.adobe.com/t5/audition-discussions/spectral-display-shows-recording-cut-off-at-4khz/m-p/14696106