Tech Help

Help for Audacity on macOS.
Forum rules
ImageThis forum is for Audacity on macOS 10.4 and later.
Please state which version of macOS you are using,
and the exact three-section version number of Audacity from "Audacity menu > About Audacity".


Audacity 1.2.x and 1.3.x are obsolete and no longer supported. If you still have those versions, please upgrade at https://www.audacityteam.org/download/.
The old forums for those versions are now closed, but you can still read the archives of the 1.2.x and 1.3.x forums.
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[email protected]
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Feb 12, 2021 2:54 am
Operating System: macOS 10.11 El Capitan

Tech Help

Post by [email protected] » Fri Feb 12, 2021 3:00 am

Audacity won't give me the option in the drop down menu for a USB input for the mic. It lost that. I only get
Built-in Mic, Built-in input and ZoomAudioDevice. It had done this in the past, but quitting Audacity and reopening brought the selection back. I even restarted the computer. I need to do a revision for a client by tomorrow and I'm up a creek. HELP!!!

[email protected]
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Feb 12, 2021 2:54 am
Operating System: macOS 10.11 El Capitan

Tech Help

Post by [email protected] » Fri Feb 12, 2021 3:05 am

Addendum to previous tech help request - I'm using MacOS El Capitan 10.11.6 with Audacity 2.2.2
Lisa Korn

steve
Site Admin
Posts: 80677
Joined: Sat Dec 01, 2007 11:43 am
Operating System: Linux *buntu

Re: Tech Help

Post by steve » Fri Feb 12, 2021 8:17 am

[email protected] wrote:
Fri Feb 12, 2021 3:00 am
ZoomAudioDevice
What is that?
9/10 questions are answered in the FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

kozikowski
Forum Staff
Posts: 68901
Joined: Thu Aug 02, 2007 5:57 pm
Operating System: macOS 10.13 High Sierra

Re: Tech Help

Post by kozikowski » Fri Feb 12, 2021 9:15 am

Close Audacity.

Apple (upper left) > System Preferences > Sound > Input. You should be able to see your microphone listed there and you should be able to make the built-in sound meter jump. If it's not there, then the connection to your microphone is damaged or missing. A bad cable or ratty plug may be causing all your problems. It's also possible the microphone is broken.

If it is there, start Audacity and your microphone should be there. Audacity uses the microphone until it vanishes, then it forgets about it. The microphone won't come back by itself if you fix the connection or the connection comes back.

If it happens again, pull out and replug firmly all the microphone connections. Restart Audacity.

You can also Transport > Rescan Audio Devices instead of restarting Audacity.

Koz

kozikowski
Forum Staff
Posts: 68901
Joined: Thu Aug 02, 2007 5:57 pm
Operating System: macOS 10.13 High Sierra

Re: Tech Help

Post by kozikowski » Fri Feb 12, 2021 9:21 am

Do Not leave Zoom or other chat applications running while you're trying to record new work. Zoom takes over your sound services and you have nothing to say about it. Restart your Mac and don't let Zoom start when the machine wakes up.

Check System Preferences and then start Audacity.

Koz

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