Lenovo U400 Conexant Internal Microphone Receives Static Input

Recently received my U400 and the microphone worked great. However, at some point during a Skype call, my partner could not hear me very well and was only able to hear static on my end.

I checked my sound setting and under the "Recording" tab, the Conexant Internal Microphone was very active and "loud" (as if I was constantly talking). I went under properties and checked "Listen to this device" and all I could hear was static. I tried talking but couldn't hear myself. Lowering microphone level didn't seem to change the amount of static I hear from my microphone. I turned off mic boosts and enhancements, but it didn't change static.

Internal microphone is set as default device. Stereo mix is similarly active and loud. Driver version is 8.54.19.0. (up to date). Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit.

Tried uninstalling driver and letting Windows install a new driver, but problem persisted. Pretty much can't use microphone to record, but it shows that it is active and is receiving a lot of sound somehow.