Aud won't recognize USB mike

[jatarb]

I am using Audacity on a iMac G5 with OS X 10.5.6

The computer will recognize my USB connected mike/headphone set up, but Audacity won't recognize it. Audacity preferences only gives me the option of "Default Input Source" which is the computer's internal mike (with lousy sound quality).

What do I have to do to get Audacity to recognize my USB mike?

[kozikowski]

There are a series of panels that all have to line up. Here's how I got mine to work.

USB Microphone
http://kozco.com/tech/audacity/USB_Microphone.html

Koz

[jatarb]

Thanks to your post, I now see the problem. I was plugging the USB mike into a USB Daisy wheel. Now I tried plugging it directly into the computer. And it worked!

Now there's a new problem. Audacity is crashing a lot, which it didn't do before. Any idea how hooking up the USB mike might be causing that?

[kozikowski]

OS-X is a UNIX based operating system and they don't much like having their drives and connected devices come and go. It's one of the few ways to make a Mac crazy.

Dirty USB sockets are very common and they cause interruptions in the data stream. That's not welcome in programs that run in real time. Try another USB connection or disconnect and reconnect the existing one several times.

I've seen people recommending cleaning the connectors with alcohol and Q-Tips, but my Q-Tips don't fit in the connector. Anything I do past that is going to be too exotic for most people.

I have had Audacity crash like that once. I never figured out why.

Which Audacity and which Mac? You may easily have the wrong Audacity because on Macs that's really common.

koz

[kozikowski]

Oh, wait. You said so earlier. Now, which Audacity?

Koz