So when I record something or use voice chat the audio is barely audible unless I put my mouth on the mic. Doing some research I think it's a problem with my on-board audio chip (realtek).
Anyone know of any fixes?
or do I need to buy something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Syba-SD-CM-UAUD-Adapter-C-Media-Chipset/dp/B001MSS6CS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420850093&sr=8-1&keywords=usb+mic+adapter
Had the same problem with Realtek on-board audio inputs on three different motherboards. I eventually gave up and bought a USB mic. The closest I got to solving the problem was when I ran Linux and set the mic input to mono, then it worked perfectly, but only on Linux. In Windows the issue seams to be that the Realtek driver for Windows only supports stereo input and the driver tries to average the input gain across the left and the right channels, resulting in a much lower input volume.
I have the same issue with my ModMic 4.0 from AntLion. Running it trough the Realtek soundcard on my gaminglaptop - I am considering buying a Creative E5 to see if that helps as it has the possibility to connect both my headphones and my mic. Plus the E5 looks like it's portable and awesome enough to work with my portable setup :) Haven't tried it yet, so anyone here know if it will work?