FaceTime Mic Garbled Low Volume

On the newly released iPadOS 26, when connecting to a FaceTime video, the other party can see me, but barely hear me. One friend said it sounded like I was talking under water. I can see and hear them clearly. The mic icon in the lower right is yellow. When I tap it the icon turns red with a slash thru it.. It toggles back to yellow. It never turns green.

Can’t see any setting to text the mic, checked both the FaceTime and Microphone settings, and of course restarted the device. Any thoughts on what’s going on?

Thanks