Integrated Microphone windows 7 issues

Hello everyone, I recently acquired the MSI GX660-253EU. The integrated microphone, although working, produces awful sound which is barely audible. I have been using an integrated microphone for the last 4 years on my previous laptop, and it was good enough for voice chat (skype, ventrillo etc.). I cannot imagine that MSI have created a notebook with such incredible audio output but they have jacked in the worst mic out there. Hence I assume it is a software issue.

I am running W7 64bit. I tried nearly every version of skype out there, all produce the same, undesirable result. There is no echo, as one might expect from an integrated mic in a notebook (the close proximity of mic and speakers), but instead my voice is very metalic, hushed and trails out. People tell me that my tone of voice changes mid sentence.

I tried messing with everything in the Realtek software and Sound menus in the control panel (which isn't much). Mic boost is on maximum now, none of the other options makes things better, only worse. I even redownloaded the latest Realtek HD audio drivers, replacing those that came with the notebook - no change.

I have only used one notebook before and its mic was good enough. I am certain this one is too, but for some reason it transmits very low quality. Any ideas on how to approach the issue are welcome.