Headset mic drops out mid-call since a Windows update: what actually fixed it for you? Troubleshooting

If that does not do it, try a different physical port and specifically one on the back of the machine rather than a front panel or a hub. Front panel headers and cheap hubs are the most common cause of intermittent audio devices, and the fact that it survived two years does not clear them, because a cable inside a case can work loose.

Check USB selective suspend and the power management tab on the USB root hub before you buy anything. The classic version of this is the operating system putting the hub to sleep because it thinks the device is idle, and it looks exactly like a hardware fault: works, then does not, then works again on replug. Untick the allow-the-computer-to-turn-this-off box on every hub in the list, not just the one you think it is on.

Also worth ruling out the software layer: some vendor control apps update themselves quietly and take over the device, and some conferencing clients grab exclusive access. Close the vendor app entirely, not to the tray, and see whether the fault survives. I lost a whole evening to a companion app I did not know had installed a service.

Test it on a phone with an adapter or on another machine for an hour. Fifteen minutes of that tells you whether you are debugging a headset or debugging a computer, and everyone including me skips it and then buys a new headset that has the same problem.

If it turns out to be the cable at the connector, which is where these usually die, and the headset is otherwise fine, a lot of models have a replaceable cable for a fraction of a new set. Worth checking before you write it off.