Mic issue

Microphone issue

Hello,

I’m experiencing an issue with my microphone on a new PC. In the attached photo, there’s a bar located in Settings > System > Sound > Input > Volume. Although it’s not visible in the photo, even when I’m not speaking into the microphone, this bar flickers rapidly, and when I press the center button on the EarPods, it jumps to full. I’ve tried reinstalling the driver, adjusting the microphone boost in settings, and many other things, but nothing has helped. My output is set to Realtek HD Audio 2nd output, and input to Realtek(R) Audio. I’m using Windows 11 24h2 and Apple EarPods with a 3.5mm jack. (The headphones/microphone work on another laptop with Windows 11.) I also used AirPods Pro 2, and the microphone works, but the sound quality is terrible – it cuts out, crackles, and has a lot of noise.

As you can see in the video, the bar jumps like this even when I’m not speaking. As soon as I press the center button on the EarPods, the bar immediately spikes up.

Thank you for any advice.