Microphones, plural, are not loud enough to be heard at max volume

[winged gorge]

I have tried both with my onboard soundcard, and with a USB microphone that I am borrowing from my SO, in both cases, even with everything at 100% in both the volume control gui and discord, people are complaining that I'm not loud enough to be heard. Furthermore, repeated audio tests in discord show a decrease in volume as time passes.

I am sorry I am unable to follow the usual post guidelines, as I do not know how to reproduce a constant problem.

[onyx plume]

try these settings.

open alsamixer in terminal

press f6 to pick your soundcard (not pulse)

press f4 to show inputs only

in Discord, sound & video preferences, deselect autogain control.

in your usual gui mixer, set mic volume to about 40 percent, increase slightly, perhaps up to 60% maximum if needed.