I can confirm this on my Pixelbook.

Google Branded wired headset from Stuff using 3.5 mm jack - remote participants say I am very quiet. When using the same headset on a Pixel 2 (Samus) remote participants say audio is normal

Using unbranded earbuds from Stuff has the same issue. When using a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter (from my Pixel 2 phone) the mic volume is then correct.

I will adjust the gain in UCM file to make it louder.

I found that setting MaxSoftwareGain "3000" in Mic section greatly helps the gain.
But we should check whether this will break audio loopback latency CTS test.
Yuhsuan, please modify UCM file and see if it can still pass CTS test.
Thanks!

After some experiments, setting MaxSoftwareGain is difficult to pass the CTS test. I'm trying another method to fix it. (Eg. gain ADC volume)

The following revision refers to this bug:
  https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromiumos/overlays/board-overlays/+/a768a72da8d1d995698e7962dbcbc05caffddb95

commit a768a72da8d1d995698e7962dbcbc05caffddb95
Author: Yu-hsuan Hsu <yuhsuan@google.com>
Date: Mon Apr 30 17:19:31 2018

eve: Set ADC volume from 23 to 28

Default capture volume 23 is too small.
Gain a capture value and check it can still pass CTS loopaback latency.

BUG=chromium:834883
TEST=check loopback latency in CTS test can still pass reliably.

Change-Id: If29a5e65979cfe4246bfed34d38c2392e9fcc6f5
Reviewed-on: https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/1034554
Commit-Ready: Yu-Hsuan Hsu <yuhsuan@chromium.org>
Tested-by: Yu-Hsuan Hsu <yuhsuan@chromium.org>
Reviewed-by: Cheng-Yi Chiang <cychiang@chromium.org>

[rename] https://crrev.com/a768a72da8d1d995698e7962dbcbc05caffddb95/overlay-eve/chromeos-base/chromeos-bsp-eve/chromeos-bsp-eve-0.0.1-r47.ebuild
[modify] https://crrev.com/a768a72da8d1d995698e7962dbcbc05caffddb95/overlay-eve/chromeos-base/chromeos-bsp-eve/files/audio-config/ucm-config/kbl_r5514_5663_max/HiFi.conf

Finally I increased ADC capture volume to solve this problem. It still can pass CTS loopback latency reliably.

The change only affects Pixel (the audio capture volume of Pixel) so it should be safe to merge.

This bug requires manual review: M67 has already been promoted to the beta branch, so this requires manual review
Please contact the milestone owner if you have questions.
Owners: cmasso@(Android), cmasso@(iOS), kbleicher@(ChromeOS), govind@(Desktop)

For more details visit https://www.chromium.org/issue-tracking/autotriage - Your friendly Sheriffbot

Is this a M67 regression or has the Pixelbook always been like this?  

Also, I'm not clear if the CL listed solved the problem per the comments.  Can the specific CL merge request be listed?  Has this been extensively tested on other devices as well (or verified the change is limited to that board)?

It is problem on eve board and it's not regression. The CL (https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/c/chromiumos/overlays/board-overlays/+/1034554) just modify capture volume on that board. It doesn't affect other devices. I verify it on version R68-10666.0.0

If this has already been in prod for Eve I'm going to reject the merge request for the sake of release stability.  Please target M68.  Thanks.

Re-open this since user still have complaint on mic gain.

The following revision refers to this bug:
  https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromiumos/overlays/board-overlays/+/bb34b30acd019cb159def8e7b79e32601fb2191b

commit bb34b30acd019cb159def8e7b79e32601fb2191b
Author: Yu-Hsuan Hsu <yuhsuan@google.com>
Date: Thu Sep 13 13:14:05 2018

eve: Set ADC volume from 28 to 35

Default capture volume 28 is too small.
Gain a capture value and check it can still pass CTS loopaback latency.

BUG=chromium:834883
TEST=check loopback latency in CTS test can still pass reliably.

Change-Id: Id56c2372c7e93de66482b99870f03737285db6f5
Reviewed-on: https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/1221107
Commit-Ready: Yu-Hsuan Hsu <yuhsuan@chromium.org>
Tested-by: Yu-Hsuan Hsu <yuhsuan@chromium.org>
Reviewed-by: Cheng-Yi Chiang <cychiang@chromium.org>

[rename] https://crrev.com/bb34b30acd019cb159def8e7b79e32601fb2191b/overlay-eve/chromeos-base/chromeos-bsp-eve/chromeos-bsp-eve-0.0.1-r49.ebuild
[modify] https://crrev.com/bb34b30acd019cb159def8e7b79e32601fb2191b/overlay-eve/chromeos-base/chromeos-bsp-eve/files/audio-config/ucm-config/kbl_r5514_5663_max/HiFi.conf

Request to merge to M70. The change only affects Pixel (the audio capture volume of Pixel) and just modify capture volume on that board. So it should be safe to merge.

This bug requires manual review: M70 has already been promoted to the beta branch, so this requires manual review
Please contact the milestone owner if you have questions.
Owners: benmason@(Android), kariahda@(iOS), geohsu@(ChromeOS), abdulsyed@(Desktop)

For more details visit https://www.chromium.org/issue-tracking/autotriage - Your friendly Sheriffbot

The following revision refers to this bug:
  https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromiumos/overlays/board-overlays/+/0c3d4e57f76a7714aa7126bb8a2c4bf0943b70ce

commit 0c3d4e57f76a7714aa7126bb8a2c4bf0943b70ce
Author: Yu-Hsuan Hsu <yuhsuan@google.com>
Date: Tue Sep 25 08:44:41 2018

eve: Set ADC volume from 28 to 35

Default capture volume 28 is too small.
Gain a capture value and check it can still pass CTS loopaback latency.

BUG=chromium:834883
TEST=check loopback latency in CTS test can still pass reliably.

Change-Id: Id56c2372c7e93de66482b99870f03737285db6f5
Previous-Reviewed-on: https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/1221107
(cherry picked from commit 58168567e2af6cf6fa4cfd4431c79f6122a19ca6)
Reviewed-on: https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/1242865
Reviewed-by: Yu-Hsuan Hsu <yuhsuan@chromium.org>
Commit-Queue: Yu-Hsuan Hsu <yuhsuan@chromium.org>
Tested-by: Yu-Hsuan Hsu <yuhsuan@chromium.org>

[rename] https://crrev.com/0c3d4e57f76a7714aa7126bb8a2c4bf0943b70ce/overlay-eve/chromeos-base/chromeos-bsp-eve/chromeos-bsp-eve-0.0.1-r49.ebuild
[modify] https://crrev.com/0c3d4e57f76a7714aa7126bb8a2c4bf0943b70ce/overlay-eve/chromeos-base/chromeos-bsp-eve/files/audio-config/ucm-config/kbl_r5514_5663_max/HiFi.conf

This issue has been approved for a merge. Please merge the fix to any appropriate branches as soon as possible!

If all merges have been completed, please remove any remaining Merge-Approved labels from this issue.

Thanks for your time! To disable nags, add the Disable-Nags label.

For more details visit https://www.chromium.org/issue-tracking/autotriage - Your friendly Sheriffbot

Can someone comment as to when/how we can get this fix? I am experiencing it on both Pixelbook and HP Chromebook 13.

Hi rnewpol,
The fix to increase external mic gain for pixelbook is in R70, image version >= 11021.28.0. If you switch to beta channel you will get the update (11021.34.0) containing the fix.
Stable release of R70 will be after 10/23.

As for HP chromebook 13, we have increased the gain in https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=775206.
Please report another bug with image version and the steps to reproduce the issue.
For example, what app you fell that external mic gain is too low.
https://online-voice-recorder.com or hangout ..etc

Thanks!