The microphone on macOS is unusable. It works for short periods, when it suddenly starts to distort sound both during Zoom or Discord calls and when using Voice Memo.

The only temporary remedy is to change the format in the 'Audio MIDI Setup' panel (no matter what I select, it’s enough to select another value). The issue may recur within the same call after a few minutes, so people have to stop me and I have to repeat what I said. It’s quite frustrating that I cannot use a pricey microphone.

How can I resolve this?

Apple M1 Pro - Sonoma 14.1.2 (23B92)