too low sound on play... no idea what changed since last

same problem with updated, 2.2.2 (?) updated today…

last time I played a recording from my voice recorder, everything played

today, sound so low even at highest settings, I can’t hear what is said
other sound works fine, I played something on YouTube… sound is normal
same with windows media player…

no idea what to try next…

windows 7, PowerSpec

If you import a “known to be good” into Audacity and play it, does it play at a reasonable volume?
If not, you need to check the Windows playback volume settings for Audacity (right click on the speaker icon in the System Tray, then select “Open volume mixer”).
If that plays OK, but microphone recording are very low, open the Windows Sound Control Panel and increase the recording level for your microphone.