I'm using a Logitech webcam/microphone for skype. Yesterday began with the dreaded chipmunk voice whenever I spoke via skype. That quickly (within 2 hours) decayed into no audio sounds at all. I can hear others, but they can't hear me. No sound recording on Audacity either. The skype test call and all of its voice controls show audio, but nada. Running Debian 8. Now can I say "Help?"

It could be the mic, the mic jake, or the OS install. The first step is to identify the location of the problem. The odds are that it's not software, so long as all your mixer settings are okay, though it could be.

Here's one way to do it: Test the mic with another computer. If it doesn't work, it's the mic. If it works in another computer, it's not the mic.

Boot the problem computer to a Live CD of something else and test again. If it works, it's not the mic or the mic jack or an internal connection (I had a wire to the external speaker jack in a desktop work loose once), so it's likely the OS. If it still doesn't work at this point, it's almost certainly hardware.

If you get this far, obtain a known-good mic from somewhere and test with it. That will give you near certainty as to whether it's the mic, the hardware, or the OS install.

When I go to pavucontrol, input shows when I speak into the microphone. Yet nothing in Audacity or Skype. So the mic is working, but not connecting to these other programs.

I haven't had to deal with something like this myself, so I don't have any other ideas, but perhaps someone will come along to educate both of us.