MacBook Air 2020 (with USB-C ports only, no “older” USB, no sound-input possibility) running Catalina (10.15.7)
LMP TravelDock adapter with (along others) 2 “old” USB ports
Griffin iMic (old, I know) for recording sound from a line output
Apparently, either the iMic or the LMP adapter make some troubles. One channel is much louder than the other - see also the post of andrejfavia in another discussion. i tried with two different “iMic” devices - one looking like being made for an iMac, the other (smaller one) looks much like the old white plastic MacBooks. Both iMics delivered the same result.
So I dare to ask:
Does anyone know whether my LMP TravelDock adapter is the culprit, or is it the combination of iMic (old) / Catalina (new)?
If it is the TravelDock - which adapter does work with the iMic and delivers good results?
If it is the iMic - what other device can be recommended? I want to record (some of) my vinyl LPs via my stereo system.
If two or more adapters do it, then it might be a setting in the middle. The USB connection system itself should not be able to affect the actual volume.
Go > Utilities > Audio/MIDI Setup.
That’s one place in the Mac that can cause an unbalance between Left and Right. All of those sliders, as far as I know, should be all the way up.
The settings seem to be quite similar to yours - left and right channel have the same volume setting, so there is no obvious reason why one channel would be acting different than the other. See attached image,
@billw58: The iMic itself is just a device which “translates” the incoming sound signal from a line output to something that can be handled by USB. So it has to conform to certain USB standards. These standards should have remained unchanged from the original USB up to now. It is normally claimed by the manufacturers that USB is “downwards compatible” - whatever this means.
My original suspection is that the adapter I use to connect the iMic to the USB-C port of the MacBook Air does something weird on the signal. Therefore, I would really prefer a solution with a direct USB-C connection. after posting my question here, I found the "Creative Soundb Baster G3" device. However, they do not write that it works for recording to the Mac although they claim it works with Macs. They seem to be much more concerned about gaming equipment…
Does anyone here own this device (or a similar one) and can (s)he please post here whether it works for my setup?
