Blue Yeti USB microphone not working in ALSA/PulseAudio

Question

Hi all,
I recently bought a Blue Yeti USB microphone. It is supposed to require no drivers for Windows and OS X, and so far, it works well under Windows, but I cannot seem to get it to function on Arch Linux.  As fair warning, although I am relatively experienced with Linux, I don't know much about the internals of ALSA/PA --- up until now, it has just "always worked", so this is my first real foray into the area. I've tried for many days, with no success, to get this thing working.
So, let's start off first with my configuration.
I have a few audio devices:
An on-board audio solution that I don't typically use. For testing, I have connected an old, crappy pair of headphones, but normally I keep this disabled. It has one capture device. (Analog stereo [or 5.1/7.1/etc]  duplex)
An external DAC that is connected via USB and is output-only. So, no capture devices on that. (Digital/IEC958 output)
The Blue Yeti itself, which is connected via USB and supports output (it has an internal DAC) as well as input. So, one capture device here. (Digital stereo output and analog stereo input???)
The HDMI-out stuff for nvidia, which I never use
Here is the output of "arecord -l":
**** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices ****
card 1: Microphone [Yeti Stereo Microphone], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
Subdevices: 0/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 2: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC892 Analog [ALC892 Analog]
Subdevices: 0/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 2: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 2: ALC892 Alt Analog [ALC892 Alt Analog]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
Here is the the output of "arecord -L":
null
Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
pulse
PulseAudio Sound Server
default
Default ALSA Output (currently PulseAudio Sound Server)
sysdefault:CARD=Microphone
Yeti Stereo Microphone, USB Audio
Default Audio Device
front:CARD=Microphone,DEV=0
Yeti Stereo Microphone, USB Audio
Front speakers
surround40:CARD=Microphone,DEV=0
Yeti Stereo Microphone, USB Audio
4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=Microphone,DEV=0
Yeti Stereo Microphone, USB Audio
4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=Microphone,DEV=0
Yeti Stereo Microphone, USB Audio
5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=Microphone,DEV=0
Yeti Stereo Microphone, USB Audio
5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=Microphone,DEV=0
Yeti Stereo Microphone, USB Audio
7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
iec958:CARD=Microphone,DEV=0
Yeti Stereo Microphone, USB Audio
IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output
sysdefault:CARD=PCH
HDA Intel PCH, ALC892 Analog
Default Audio Device
front:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
HDA Intel PCH, ALC892 Analog
Front speakers
surround40:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
HDA Intel PCH, ALC892 Analog
4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
HDA Intel PCH, ALC892 Analog
4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
HDA Intel PCH, ALC892 Analog
5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
HDA Intel PCH, ALC892 Analog
5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
HDA Intel PCH, ALC892 Analog
7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
Here is the output of "aplay -l" (for completeness):
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Audio [USB2.0 High-Speed True HD Audio], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
Subdevices: 0/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: Microphone [Yeti Stereo Microphone], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
Subdevices: 0/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 2: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC892 Analog [ALC892 Analog]
Subdevices: 0/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 2: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 1: ALC892 Digital [ALC892 Digital]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 3: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 3: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 7: HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 3: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 8: HDMI 2 [HDMI 2]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 3: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 9: HDMI 3 [HDMI 3]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
If the output of "aplay -L" is needed, let me know, but it's not all that different from arecord -L.
Here is my /etc/asound.conf:
defaults.pcm.rate_converter "samplerate_best"
pcm.!default {
type pulse
fallback "sysdefault"
hint {
show on
description "Default ALSA Output (currently PulseAudio Sound Server)"
ctl.!default {
type pulse
fallback "sysdefault"
# vim:set ft=alsaconf:
I don't remember where the bulk of that came from; maybe it was installed like that or maybe I put it in there. Here is another useful command showing non-commented-out/non-blank lines in the pulseaudio conf:
$ egrep -v '^;|^#|^$' /etc/pulse/*.conf
/etc/pulse/client.conf:autospawn=no
/etc/pulse/daemon.conf:exit-idle-time=0
/etc/pulse/daemon.conf:default-sample-rate = 192000
So, there's not much I've done there. Here's the contents of /proc/asound/cards:
0 [Audio ]: USB-Audio - USB2.0 High-Speed True HD Audio
CMEDIA USB2.0 High-Speed True HD Audio at usb-0000:00:1d.0-1.7, high speed
1 [Microphone ]: USB-Audio - Yeti Stereo Microphone
Blue Microphones Yeti Stereo Microphone at usb-0000:00:1d.0-1.8, full speed
2 [PCH ]: HDA-Intel - HDA Intel PCH
HDA Intel PCH at 0xf7530000 irq 52
3 [NVidia ]: HDA-Intel - HDA NVidia
HDA NVidia at 0xf7080000 irq 17
And here's the contents of /proc/asound/modules:
0 snd_usb_audio
1 snd_usb_audio
2 snd_hda_intel
3 snd_hda_intel
Now, here is the output of "pactl list sources" (the Blue Yeti is last in the list):
Source #3
State: RUNNING
Name: alsa_input.pci-0000_00_1b.0.analog-stereo
Description: Built-in Audio Analog Stereo
Driver: module-alsa-card.c
Sample Specification: s16le 2ch 192000Hz
Channel Map: front-left,front-right
Owner Module: 7
Mute: yes
Volume: front-left: 17972 / 27% / -33.71 dB, front-right: 17972 / 27% / -33.71 dB
balance 0.00
Base Volume: 6554 / 10% / -60.00 dB
Monitor of Sink: n/a
Latency: 610 usec, configured 100000 usec
Flags: HARDWARE HW_MUTE_CTRL HW_VOLUME_CTRL DECIBEL_VOLUME LATENCY
Properties:
alsa.resolution_bits = "16"
device.api = "alsa"
device.class = "sound"
alsa.class = "generic"
alsa.subclass = "generic-mix"
alsa.name = "ALC892 Analog"
alsa.id = "ALC892 Analog"
alsa.subdevice = "0"
alsa.subdevice_name = "subdevice #0"
alsa.device = "0"
alsa.card = "2"
alsa.card_name = "HDA Intel PCH"
alsa.long_card_name = "HDA Intel PCH at 0xf7530000 irq 52"
alsa.driver_name = "snd_hda_intel"
device.bus_path = "pci-0000:00:1b.0"
sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1b.0/sound/card2"
device.bus = "pci"
device.vendor.id = "8086"
device.vendor.name = "Intel Corporation"
device.product.id = "1e20"
device.product.name = "7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller"
device.form_factor = "internal"
device.string = "front:2"
device.buffering.buffer_size = "76800"
device.buffering.fragment_size = "19200"
device.access_mode = "mmap"
device.profile.name = "analog-stereo"
device.profile.description = "Analog Stereo"
device.description = "Built-in Audio Analog Stereo"
alsa.mixer_name = "Realtek ALC892"
alsa.components = "HDA:10ec0892,10438436,00100302"
module-udev-detect.discovered = "1"
device.icon_name = "audio-card-pci"
Ports:
analog-input-front-mic: Front Microphone (priority: 8500, not available)
analog-input-rear-mic: Rear Microphone (priority: 8200, available)
analog-input-linein: Line In (priority: 8100, not available)
Active Port: analog-input-rear-mic
Formats:
pcm
Source #11
State: RUNNING
Name: alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1b.0.analog-stereo.monitor
Description: Monitor of Built-in Audio Analog Stereo
Driver: module-alsa-card.c
Sample Specification: s16le 2ch 192000Hz
Channel Map: front-left,front-right
Owner Module: 7
Mute: no
Volume: front-left: 65536 / 100% / 0.00 dB, front-right: 65536 / 100% / 0.00 dB
balance 0.00
Base Volume: 65536 / 100% / 0.00 dB
Monitor of Sink: alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1b.0.analog-stereo
Latency: 0 usec, configured 100000 usec
Flags: DECIBEL_VOLUME LATENCY
Properties:
device.description = "Monitor of Built-in Audio Analog Stereo"
device.class = "monitor"
alsa.card = "2"
alsa.card_name = "HDA Intel PCH"
alsa.long_card_name = "HDA Intel PCH at 0xf7530000 irq 52"
alsa.driver_name = "snd_hda_intel"
device.bus_path = "pci-0000:00:1b.0"
sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1b.0/sound/card2"
device.bus = "pci"
device.vendor.id = "8086"
device.vendor.name = "Intel Corporation"
device.product.id = "1e20"
device.product.name = "7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller"
device.form_factor = "internal"
device.string = "2"
module-udev-detect.discovered = "1"
device.icon_name = "audio-card-pci"
Formats:
pcm
Source #15
State: RUNNING
Name: alsa_output.usb-CMEDIA_USB2.0_High-Speed_True_HD_Audio-00-Audio.iec958-stereo.monitor
Description: Monitor of USB2.0 High-Speed True HD Audio Digital Stereo (IEC958)
Driver: module-alsa-card.c
Sample Specification: s16le 2ch 192000Hz
Channel Map: front-left,front-right
Owner Module: 8
Mute: no
Volume: front-left: 65536 / 100% / 0.00 dB, front-right: 65536 / 100% / 0.00 dB
balance 0.00
Base Volume: 65536 / 100% / 0.00 dB
Monitor of Sink: alsa_output.usb-CMEDIA_USB2.0_High-Speed_True_HD_Audio-00-Audio.iec958-stereo
Latency: 0 usec, configured 100000 usec
Flags: DECIBEL_VOLUME LATENCY
Properties:
device.description = "Monitor of USB2.0 High-Speed True HD Audio Digital Stereo (IEC958)"
device.class = "monitor"
alsa.card = "0"
alsa.card_name = "USB2.0 High-Speed True HD Audio"
alsa.long_card_name = "CMEDIA USB2.0 High-Speed True HD Audio at usb-0000:00:1d.0-1.7, high speed"
alsa.driver_name = "snd_usb_audio"
device.bus_path = "pci-0000:00:1d.0-usb-0:1.7:1.0"
sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.0/usb6/6-1/6-1.7/6-1.7:1.0/sound/card0"
udev.id = "usb-CMEDIA_USB2.0_High-Speed_True_HD_Audio-00-Audio"
device.bus = "usb"
device.vendor.id = "0d8c"
device.vendor.name = "C-Media Electronics, Inc."
device.product.id = "0319"
device.product.name = "USB2.0 High-Speed True HD Audio"
device.serial = "CMEDIA_USB2.0_High-Speed_True_HD_Audio"
device.string = "0"
module-udev-detect.discovered = "1"
device.icon_name = "audio-card-usb"
Formats:
pcm
Source #19
State: RUNNING
Name: alsa_output.usb-Blue_Microphones_Yeti_Stereo_Microphone_REV8-00-Microphone.iec958-stereo.monitor
Description: Monitor of Integrated Rate Matching Hub Digital Stereo (IEC958)
Driver: module-alsa-card.c
Sample Specification: s16le 2ch 48000Hz
Channel Map: front-left,front-right
Owner Module: 9
Mute: no
Volume: front-left: 65536 / 100% / 0.00 dB, front-right: 65536 / 100% / 0.00 dB
balance 0.00
Base Volume: 65536 / 100% / 0.00 dB
Monitor of Sink: alsa_output.usb-Blue_Microphones_Yeti_Stereo_Microphone_REV8-00-Microphone.iec958-stereo
Latency: 0 usec, configured 100000 usec
Flags: DECIBEL_VOLUME LATENCY
Properties:
device.description = "Monitor of Integrated Rate Matching Hub Digital Stereo (IEC958)"
device.class = "monitor"
alsa.card = "1"
alsa.card_name = "Yeti Stereo Microphone"
alsa.long_card_name = "Blue Microphones Yeti Stereo Microphone at usb-0000:00:1d.0-1.8, full speed"
alsa.driver_name = "snd_usb_audio"
device.bus_path = "pci-0000:00:1d.0-usb-0:1.8:1.0"
sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.0/usb6/6-1/6-1.8/6-1.8:1.0/sound/card1"
udev.id = "usb-Blue_Microphones_Yeti_Stereo_Microphone_REV8-00-Microphone"
device.bus = "usb"
device.vendor.id = "b58e"
device.vendor.name = "Intel Corp."
device.product.id = "9e84"
device.product.name = "Integrated Rate Matching Hub"
device.serial = "Blue_Microphones_Yeti_Stereo_Microphone_REV8"
device.form_factor = "microphone"
device.string = "1"
module-udev-detect.discovered = "1"
device.icon_name = "audio-input-microphone-usb"
Formats:
pcm
Source #23
State: RUNNING
Name: alsa_input.usb-Blue_Microphones_Yeti_Stereo_Microphone_REV8-00-Microphone.analog-stereo
Description: Integrated Rate Matching Hub Analog Stereo
Driver: module-alsa-card.c
Sample Specification: s16le 2ch 48000Hz
Channel Map: front-left,front-right
Owner Module: 9
Mute: no
Volume: front-left: 65536 / 100% / 0.00 dB, front-right: 65536 / 100% / 0.00 dB
balance 0.00
Base Volume: 17775 / 27% / -34.00 dB
Monitor of Sink: n/a
Latency: 949811526 usec, configured 100000 usec
Flags: HARDWARE HW_MUTE_CTRL HW_VOLUME_CTRL DECIBEL_VOLUME LATENCY
Properties:
alsa.resolution_bits = "16"
device.api = "alsa"
device.class = "sound"
alsa.class = "generic"
alsa.subclass = "generic-mix"
alsa.name = "USB Audio"
alsa.id = "USB Audio"
alsa.subdevice = "0"
alsa.subdevice_name = "subdevice #0"
alsa.device = "0"
alsa.card = "1"
alsa.card_name = "Yeti Stereo Microphone"
alsa.long_card_name = "Blue Microphones Yeti Stereo Microphone at usb-0000:00:1d.0-1.8, full speed"
alsa.driver_name = "snd_usb_audio"
device.bus_path = "pci-0000:00:1d.0-usb-0:1.8:1.0"
sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.0/usb6/6-1/6-1.8/6-1.8:1.0/sound/card1"
udev.id = "usb-Blue_Microphones_Yeti_Stereo_Microphone_REV8-00-Microphone"
device.bus = "usb"
device.vendor.id = "b58e"
device.vendor.name = "Intel Corp."
device.product.id = "9e84"
device.product.name = "Integrated Rate Matching Hub"
device.serial = "Blue_Microphones_Yeti_Stereo_Microphone_REV8"
device.form_factor = "microphone"
device.string = "front:1"
device.buffering.buffer_size = "19200"
device.buffering.fragment_size = "4800"
device.access_mode = "mmap"
device.profile.name = "analog-stereo"
device.profile.description = "Analog Stereo"
device.description = "Integrated Rate Matching Hub Analog Stereo"
alsa.mixer_name = "USB Mixer"
alsa.components = "USBb58e:9e84"
module-udev-detect.discovered = "1"
device.icon_name = "audio-input-microphone-usb"
Ports:
analog-input-mic: Microphone (priority: 8700)
Active Port: analog-input-mic
Formats:
pcm
Honestly, I think that's about all of the configuration info I can give. Here are some screenshots of pavucontrol, though, in case you are not yet sated: http://imgur.com/a/ngyLl
Now, on to the debugging stuff. First: everything except Blue Yeti recording works. The external DAC works, the on-board audio (both input and output) work, using the DAC in the Blue Yeti to play music/monitor the microphone works (so it works as an output). The only thing that doesn't work is actual recording from the Blue Yeti itself.
When I try to record from the Blue Yeti with parecord -v, I get very strange behavior. Essentially, the "latency" of the microphone measured is exactly the same as the time it has been recording. That is, if it has been recording for 5 sec, then the latency is 5000000 usec. Also, if I try to record something in Audacity, I get no result except for a message box that says "Latency Correction has caused the recorded audio to be hidden before zero. Audacity has brought it back to start at zero." Also, pavucontrol doesn't show an input volume bar for the Blue Yeti, as in the above screenshots, whereas it normally will for microphones that are getting input. The Yeti is not muted, either, so it should be picking up ambient fan noise and such.
Does anyone have any ideas? Is there some configuration error I've made? Typically, this sort of stuff simply works out of the box for me, so I am somewhat stuck on what to do. Could it be a driver-level bug?

Answer 1

I'm not sure what you mean by "mixed with audio in Alsamixer". Can you clarify?
With that said, my problem did mysteriously fix itself after some update (presumably to alsa). Unfortunately, I noticed it in passing one day while I was changing the volume of something in pavucontrol, so I don't remember the exact update that caused it to work. But yes, my current setup does work now: I can listen to audio through my DAC and use the Yeti for recording. However, I have found that use of the Yeti crashes Google Hangouts, although it works perfectly in every other program I've tried.
As documentation, here is my current working setup (it is very similar to the above): in PulseAudio, the DAC is set to be a Digital Stereo (IEC958) output. The Yeti (called an 'Integrated Rate Matching Hub' in pavucontrol) is set to be an Analog Stereo Input. In the input devices section, I have the Yeti's volume set to around 58% (-14.31 dB), which is past the base volume a fair ways but produces decent levels for recording. The DAC's volume is set to 100% (0dB gain, the DAC takes care of the level). In alsamixer, I have the mic level for the Yeti set to 40.
Edit: This is a long-time-later edit, but let me say that when you have multiple USB audio devices, what USB hub and in what order they are connected seems to matter a great deal. If you can't get your Blue Yeti to work, try moving it to a different set of USB ports (controlled by a different controller) on your motherboard. This magically fixes the issue for me.
Last edited by rwiggins (2014-12-14 00:26:39)