Record voiceover problem - blank clips laid down

Hello all, bit of a curious problem. I am using the FCP X record voiceover facility but after making a recording, the track laid down is mute / blank. It has no waveform at all, as if nothing has been laid down. This has happened with every attempt ,so I have reinstalled FCP X and tried again. Same each time since. The recording process appears to be working normally but nothing is in the track clip that has been laid down.

I have also used the Quicktime Player audio recording facility to test my computer. It all worked fine and I imported the quicktime audio to the storyline on FCP and played it back no problem. So what could be causing the issue here ?

I have also tried another USB mic system that was working fine on another computer with FCP. That didn't work on my laptop either, same problem, goes through the motions, appears to make a recording and then you discover nothing is in the clip. I also tested my Shure kit on the other computer , it all worked fine, as you would expect.