Audacity Forum

Hi, I bought a Samson Q1U usb-microphone yesterday, just to get a simple but good mic to record vocals. Now I've run into some trouble, even though its said to be a very easy mic.

When I record in audacity (or any other recording program) the volume is very low from the mic, even though I got maximal input on the mic. I literally scream into the mic from 2 centimeters and yet I have to raise the accapella to about +20 for it to sound okay, but that totally wrecks the sound quality.

I have downloaded the softpre, but I'm afraid it doesn't work, since I dont see any volume meter when I use the mic on the softpre. What am I doing wrong? Is it maybe my soundcard, or is it settings? Please help!

/ Vic

Vic wrote:Is it maybe my soundcard

USB microphones bypass the computer sound card - they do not use it at all.


Connect the USB microphone to your computer BEFORE you open Audacity. It is important that Windows has recognised and connected the microphone before Audacity is started.

Make sure that you have the USB device selected in Audacity preferences as the recording device (Edit > Preferences > Audio I/O). You will still need the normal sound card selected as the playback device.

Once this is set up correctly, you may find that all is well (fingers crossed).

Audacity can not usually control the input level of USB devices. The level is usually controlled either by the audio hardware, or by the USB audio device driver. Some microphones install a control panel (icon near the system clock) for adjusting the record level sensitivity. (I don't know if this is true of the Samson mic or not, you will need to check the microphone documentation).