I have made a couple of recordings...but now mic wont work

[fredbear]

Ya made a couple of tracks drums then guitar sounds great......went to work came back ready to get at her again.....nothing.

the mic isnt picking up anything...leval is set...everything is as it was when recording sucsefully.

cept now I have been messing around trying to get back what ever happened so its possibal my controls are messed up now.

I did end up uninstalling.....cleaned out computer then re-installing.....nope no mic.

checked the mic and it works.

it is a rockband from x box mic...I read somewhere that they dont work...but it did before

[fredbear]

I just did a test thru the control panel and everything should be working fine.....went back happy to record.......zipola. nuthing notta.

I am so sad like a kid who recieved such a geat gift only to have it break.

[steve]

Is that a USB microphone?
If so, try rebooting the computer with the microphone connected,
then open Audacity and look in "Edit > Preferences > Audio I/O" and check that the USB microphone is selected as the recording device.

[fredbear]

yeah its usb......tryed it nuthing yet and yeah I have checked Edit > Preferences > Audio I/O" and check that the USB microphone is selected as the recording device.....many many times.

the sound card is alright as well thanks for your help any more ideas...iam hoping that theres like a little box somewhere that i have to check and everything will be alright.

[steve]

I just did a test thru the control panel and everything should be working fine.

Exactly what did you test and how?
Can you record with Windows Sound Recorder?

[fredbear]

first i went into my control panel...then clicked sounds and devices...then to voice and then clicked test hardware....just to see if the sound card was working...everything was fine

after i did that however the mic started reading and recording.....at max.....records fine but when i go to adjust the leval it flat lines and doesnt read anymore iy still records but the mic leval is at 0

i go to do the test agian...works untill i try to adjust the leval.

at least im into someother problem now that seems easier to fix

any ideas??????

[steve]

USB microphones are completely independent of your sound card - it is a different device.

The recording level that you can set in the Windows Mixer, or in the Windows Control Panel is specifically for conventional sound cards and not for USB devices. Attempting to adjust the recording levels with these controls will either do nothing, or as in your case, stop the device from working. Some USB microphones are supplied with special software (sometimes called a "widget") that will allow you to adjust the recording level for the USB microphone (but only for some microphones). I have doubts as to how useful such a widget really is, as in most cases it simply "scales" the digital data (exactly the same as using "Amplify" in Audacity). However, I believe that there are a few USB microphones where the the "widget" actually changes the gain of the pre-amp that is built into the microphone (on some microphones there is a physical switch on the microphone body for changing the amount of gain).

The up-shot of all this is - don't try to use the Windows Recording Volume for a USB microphone - it will probably not work (not been designed to work) with it. In most cases, the gain (internal amplification) of the microphone will be "factory set" to an optimal value for the microphone. If the recording level is too high, look to see if there is a switch (sometimes called a "pad" switch) on the microphone to reduce the level. If there is no physical switch, was the microphone supplied with special software for adjusting the recording level (check the manufacturers web-site). If there is no switch, and no special software, then you must just use a combination of careful microphone positioning, and the "Amplify" effect in Audacity.