I’d love to be able to record using Audacity, but since my Yeti mic doesn’t show up in the list of options, I can’t. When I checked the tutorial on recording, it said that I had to use a compatible mic, and it seemed to imply that compatible meant that it had to have a jack. I’ve got a Macbook Pro, I use a Yeti mic and have the adapter that connects the two. What else do I need to do? Thanks for any help.
Toni
Connect the mic to your computer. Go to Apple menu > System Preferences > Sound > Input. Does the microphone show up there? If it does, select it then talk into the mic and see if the input sound level meter bounces. If not, find out why.
Now start Audacity. Does the mic show up in the Device Toolbar recording device menu? If so, select it. Now try to record.
– Bill
Thanks Bill. I followed every step you suggested - everything was as it should be, until I got to the device toolbar. The Yeti didn’t show up there. It shows up in the Apple system preferences under sound, but not on the Audacity device toolbar.
Any thoughts on this?
Are you in Audacity 2.4.2?
You can get a cross between Audacity and the microphone if you pick Stereo/Mono wrong. I think the Yeti will mount either one, but if you have one selected, try the other.
Also you can try preferences.
Audacity > Preferences > Devices > Recording
I’m trying to remember if the Yeti shows up as “USBAudoDevice”. Channels 1 (mono)
There may also be a permissions issue with Catalina.
Koz
Audacity does need to be granted permission to access the mic
Desktop > Apple (upper left).
System Preferences > Security and Privacy > Microphone
See if that helps.
Koz
Koz - Thanks for your reply.
I went into system preferences > Security and Privacy… Microphone shows up on the left, but Audacity doesn’t show up on the right, under the list of apps that can access the microphone. What do I need to do to make it show up there?
I appreciate all the help!!
Toni
Are you in Audacity 2.4.2? Audacity (upper left) > About Audacity.
Earlier Audacity versions didn’t “know” about Catalina.
Past that we should wait for a senior forum elf. I didn’t do the Catalina update, so I’m working from other people’s experiences.
Koz
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Most Yeti microphones come with USB. That’s their “thing.”
Usually USB is a pretty good idea. Analog “Mic-In” on most computers is pretty poor with high distortion and noise level. The delicate, sensitive microphone electronics is in the same metal box with the heavy, noisy computer power and video systems.
There’s billions of Yetis out there. It’s a popular microphone.
There’s a short list of possible problems.
– If you have a noisy computer, you’re stuck because you can’t ever get further away from it than about 6 feet (2M) or one USB cable. If you try to go further, you could run into data problems, ticking, popping, and background noises.
– Some computers don’t get along with the Yeti. If you have one of those, you can get “mosquito whine” sound in the background.
https://www.kozco.com/tech/audacity/clips/USBMicrophoneWhineClip.mp3
We publish a whine killer effect.
– There is no “Two Yetis.” If you need two Yetis, get two computers. Some Macs can deal with two Yetis, but you could have drift and sync problems between the two shows.
Some Yeti instructions didn’t tell you where the front is. The Yeti is a side-fire microphone. You speak into the side grill just up from the company name.
I think that’s it. Koz
In Audacity, just start recording using the internal microphone. An alert should pop up asking if you want to give permission for Audacity to use the microphone. Say Yes.
– Bill
YEESSSSS!!!
Thank you Bill!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
Toni