Can connect; but can't hear anyone talking

[Druachain]

I can connect to the TS public server, and I can see others coming and going, but I can't hear anyone except for the automated voice that says "new player...new player...new player...player left...)

I have:

Windows XP
SB Audigy Audio [DF80]

I also tried a USB headset:
Logitech USB 350

[BHKai]

Settings>Sound input/ouput>is output volume up all the way?

[Druachain]

Yes. output volume is up all the way. I've tried both wave, and direct options. Nothing seems to have any effect.

[BHKai]

If their green light is showing up then I do not know what your problem is.

Are you able to hear yourself when you do a local voice test?

Settings>Sound input/ouput>activate local test mode

[Druachain]

There is a green dot next to everyone's name, but I could not say whether they are "lit" because they all look the same. Occasionally someone mutes their mic and the icon changes. The dot next to my name also changes if I mute myself or my mic.

I cannot hear myself when I do a local test. I can sort of hear myself if I put my mouth very close to the mic and speak loudly, but it seems like more of a mechanical result (like speaking into a child's toy stethoscope) then an electronic one. Also, it does not cause the green dot to "light up" and I do not hear my spoken text echoed back to me as the manual suggests.
I have tried the voice activation level at both extremes.

Are there any other troubleshooting things I can try? Everything else about my sound seems okay. I can hear music or game sounds just fine. Could it be something with recording and playback capabilities? If so is there some way to test that outside of TS?

[BHKai]

Start>Control Panel>Sounds and Audio Controls>Advanced>Options>Propertes>Recording(Make sure all boxes are ticked)>OK>Check to see if you mic is all the way up.

If you can here yourself but not enough you can click advanced and boost your mic with the option at the bottom.

[Druachain]

hmm...progress...but still not there. When I checked all of the boxes (good tip), I learned that a few of them had been muted (e.g. auxilliary, cd audio, and TAD-In). When I unmuted and turned up the volume, it had a profound effect on how well I can hear myself when I speak into the mic. I also almost blew an eardrum when that TS voice came on and said "LINK ENGAGED...NEW PLAYER...NEW PLAYER." But it is progress.

However, I still can't hear anyone speaking...I assume they can't hear me...and the local test does not seem to work.

I did do a hardware test using the little wizard on my machine and it records my voice and plays it back.

Could it have anything to do with ports or my internet security program?

btw...thanks for all of your help.

[BHKai]

Which devices you have selected in the options?

[Druachain]

Sound Driver: Wave (have tried Direct Sound)
Compatibility: Force 8 bit ... (not checked)
Direct Sound Buffer size: currently in the middle, but tried all settings.
Input Device: SB Audigy Audio [DF80] (have also tried Logitech USB Headset)
Output Device: SB Audigy Audio [DF80] (have also tried Logitech USB Headset)