Using a Snowball USB mic?

I have been told that the Macbook does not have a mic input.
How well will the macbook work with a USB mic such as the Snowball mic, for
recording spoken word? Has anyone done it?
Thanks.

These are the ports on a macbook. Be sure to read the part about audio in.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303722
The microphone cannot be self-powered. It has to be a line-level Microphone. Unless you have one your best bet might be something like this.
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/imic/
or the microphone you mentioned.

Similar Messages

Can i use my snowball usb mic with Logic or Pro Tools???

Can i use my snowball usb mic with Logic or Pro Tools???

Hi there,
Did you find out anything more in regard to this?
I have been using Pro Tools 8 with the MBox 2 connected to my iMac operating Leopard. It worked a treat for nearly four years.
However the hardrive has just been replaced on the iMac which now has Snowleopard. I don't want to have to update to Lion and then fork out £500 for Pro Tools 10.
I would be content to get Logic Pro 9 if I can attach the MBox 2 to it.
Your advice would be appreciated
PXC

Kernel Panic when using Garageband with Blue Snowball USB mic

*HI ALL,*
*I purchased Mac Pro recently about 3 weeks ago. I am on the latest updates including the recent firmware update. However whenever I use garageband with external USB mic(Blue Snowball) my Kernel Panics and OS freezes and forces me to Power On again. It happened 20 times so far in few hours.*
*I opened garageband first time today after bought this external mic from apple store. I did not use garageband without this mic plugged into USB, I only used garageband with MIC plugged in and in couple of minutes to 5 minutes of using garageband the Kernel Panic occurs. Need your help please. Here is the message I get after login again which I reported consistently to Apple. Any immediate help is appreciated. I use iMove, iPhoto and other apps without any problem. Harddisk verification went o.k.*
Sun Apr 6 22:13:35 2008
panic(cpu 7 caller 0x001A8C8A): Kernel trap at 0x004209d5, type 14=page fault, registers:
CR0: 0x8001003b, CR2: 0x0000000c, CR3: 0x013fe000, CR4: 0x00000660
EAX: 0x00000000, EBX: 0x0ea7c3c0, ECX: 0x1059f4f0, EDX: 0x85ccfb8c
CR2: 0x0000000c, EBP: 0x85ccfb08, ESI: 0x0ea7c3c8, EDI: 0x0ea7c3d0
EFL: 0x00010202, EIP: 0x004209d5, CS: 0x00000008, DS: 0x11ac0010
Error code: 0x00000002
Backtrace, Format - Frame : Return Address (4 potential args on stack)
0x85ccf8f8 : 0x12b0f7 (0x4581f4 0x85ccf92c 0x133230 0x0)
0x85ccf948 : 0x1a8c8a (0x461720 0x4209d5 0xe 0x460ed0)
0x85ccfa28 : 0x19ece5 (0x85ccfa40 0x4256f6 0x85ccfb08 0x4209d5)
0x85ccfa38 : 0x4209d5 (0xe 0x85cc0048 0x10 0xe920010)
0x85ccfb08 : 0x42028d (0xea7c3c0 0x85ccfb8c 0x0 0x0)
0x85ccfb58 : 0x420c0e (0xea8b700 0x420978 0x85ccfb8c 0x0)
0x85ccfba8 : 0x6055d9 (0xea7c3c0 0x0 0x85ccfc08 0x615b08)
0x85ccfc08 : 0x609a11 (0xe92a000 0xeed0240 0xf56bff 0x0)
0x85ccfc68 : 0x86334bde (0x13c56800 0xeed0240 0xf56bff 0x0)
0x85ccfcd8 : 0x86334ddd (0xfbe4400 0x2 0x1 0x14)
0x85ccfcf8 : 0x86335056 (0xfbe4400 0x14 0xf7f4a80 0x7c79d6)
0x85ccfd38 : 0x86335156 (0xfbe4400 0x54 0x0 0xf7f4a80)
0x85ccfd88 : 0x9f2e64 (0xfbe4400 0x8634d000 0x862c1010 0x110a)
0x85ccfdf8 : 0x9eec9f (0xfd03600 0x10506588 0x110a 0x3ea740)
0x85ccfe68 : 0x9ee169 (0x13d7d000 0x110a 0x13c4c940 0x13dbab7c)
0x85ccfea8 : 0x43c47e (0x13d7d000 0x110a 0x55f 0x1)
Backtrace continues...
Kernel loadable modules in backtrace (with dependencies):
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBAudio(2.5.4b4)@0x86326000->0x8634cfff
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOAudioFamily(1.6.4b7)@0x9e4000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily(3.0.8)@0x5ff000
com.apple.iokit.IOAudioFamily(1.6.4b7)@0x9e4000->0x9fafff
dependency: com.apple.kext.OSvKernDSPLib(1.1)@0x9e1000
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily(3.0.8)@0x5ff000->0x626fff
BSD process name corresponding to current thread: GarageBand
Mac OS version:
9C7010
Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 9.2.2: Tue Mar 4 21:17:34 PST 2008; root:xnu-1228.4.31~1/RELEASE_I386
System model name: MacPro3,1 (Mac-F42C88C8)

I've been getting a number of kernel panics when using USB Mics with Skype, though I have not experienced any crashes when using Garageband.
The crash report cited the AppleUSBAudio driver as the culprit. Here's the set up:
MacBookPro Core2 2.66 15"
Mac OS X 10.5.2
Blue Snowflake USB Mic, Blue Snowball USB Mic
Skype (latest rev - 2.7.0.257)
AppleUSBAudio.kext version 2.5.6b3
Seems to be a lot of crashiness with USB Audio in 10.5.2 - let's hope we see a patch soon

Snowball USB Mic in Logic Express?

Hi everyone.
I just got a Snowball USB mic, as I thought it would be a cheap, simple way to just record my rehearsals with just a laptop and one device.
However, Logic Express isn't recognizing it. And the nice folks at Blue Mic are telling me to speak to the fine folks at Mac about it.
Apparently, the Snowball is supposed to work in Logic Pro, but not necessarily Logic Express. This makes no sense to me though, because if you're using Logic Pro, aren't you less likely to be using a cheap USB mic? I don't get it.
Anyway, if anyone knows how to use this white, round wonder in Logic Express, you and I will be BFF for life...
Many thanks,
Mortimer Jones

It should work fine in Express - it's set up in the Audio/MIDI Setup in your utilities folder.
From the audio menu, open the Aggregate Device Editor.
Add your options by pressing the '+' sign. For example, add your Snowball, then add built-in audio.
Once you've completed this, close Audio/MIDI setup, and open Logic.
In Logic preferences go to Audio -> Drivers. In the driver popup menu, select the new Aggregate Device you just created.
I haven't used this mic, but I remember answering this before in this forum, and I believe this should work.

Snowball USB Mic not recording

Hey Guys,
I have a Mac 0S X 10.6.8.
I just boght a Blue Snowball mic-
I'm using Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 and I can't record with my usb Mic: When Im doing overvoice, it is recording with my internal Mic-
I already:
-check the cable
-Connect diconet my computer
-Check the USB port
-create a new aggregate device
-Check out the input and output
-In CS6,Change the audioharware to the new device(256-521) input-output
- recording in mono....
and still I can't figure this thing out-
Can somebody help?
thanks guys appreciated

Hi D.A.,
Sorry you couldn't find the doc easily, but happy you are set up now.
I did place it in our FAQ here: http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1417831?tstart=0
I will let the tech writer know about the need for having this info in the documentation. Good idea, thanks.
In the mean time, you can file a feature request to make USB mic setup a lot easier here: http://adobe.ly/feature_request
Thanks,
Kevin

Importing to iMovie: How do I use an external usb mic when recording with the built-in FaceTime HD Camera?

Hello all
I'm scheduled to work with a friend this week; I'm going to help him make a simple audition DVD. I promised him I had the necessary equipment and such.
I was importing from the webcam using iMovie. If I can't use my external mic to record for the video, there is more involved in the editing process. I was hoping to record the video and audio into one package. I'm using the built-in FaceTime webcam on my macbook pro and a ZoomH1 on usb.
I've tried changing the audio in system preferences: input to H1. This works when recording with audacity or anything else. I even changed the input on FaceTime to H1. There aren't any preferences I can find in iMovie to change the input for importing video directly from the webcam.
How do I change the audio input for direct import on iMovie?
OR
Is there something else I can do to have HD video and HQ audio captured in one video file on my macbook pro?
I suppose I can record the video and audio separately but that is usually much more involved. This is why I got this usb microphone lol.
Thanks in advance,
-Seth

I just found using QuickTime Player to record a movie works great. I can easily change the audio input. iMovie is silly. lol
If I missed anything let me know.
Thanks
-Seth

IMovie 10.0.5 crashes into millions of colored pixels when I add v/o narrative using Pages to read script from and using a USB mic attached to my iMac. I am running Mavericks OS X10.9.4

Hi, I have been editing a project for a week and over the past 2 days iMovie 10.0.5 has crashed into millions of colored pixels about 6 times. I am working on a 27" iMac running OS X 10.9.4 with 6GB of Ram, plenty of space on start up disc (217 GB's) The crash seems to coincide with any effort to use an external USB mic plugged in to record a narrative. I can record the voice over but a few minutes later I get some awful audio scrubbing sounds and then it pixelates. Why is this happening and how can I work around this to record a voiceover please? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm nervous to continue if my work is going to ultimately be lost. My project is currently about seventeen mins and includes, video clips from 2 different cameras (both Canon) a music track from iTunes and some still images (jpegs.)

Thanks Erik,
If nothing else, this huge list of updates and fixes, shows clearly that the Logic Dev team is working hard on fixing and improving LPX to a major degree.... and from the list of fixes done.. show they do read the bug reports submitted!
As an aside....
I recall how all the 'naysayers' prior to LPX (and in some cases, since...) were proclaiming how Logic was dead, the team was being disbanded, we won't see any further development, the Dev team doesn't listen or care... and so on....... I wonder where those people are now?

Trying to use Zoom Q2HD in USB MIC mode and it crashes GarageBand and the whole Ipad?

I bought the Zoom Q2HD video recorder to use for video and because it can be used at a USB Mic for iPad. I recently bought a camera connection kit and last night tried to get the Zoom to work as a mic but it would either not work at all or it would crash GarageBand and the ipad and take me to the Apple logo as it restarted the iPad.
Any ideas?

From the podcast link on the Garageband help page:
"Attach your preferred audio interface and a microphone to your Mac, or use your computer's built-in microphone. (Note: The iSight camera is not supported as a microphone input in GarageBand.)"
http://www.apple.com/support/garageband/podcasts/

Blue Snowball USB microphone will not connect to audio hardware

My new Blue Snowball USB mic will not connect to the audio hardware in Premiere Pro. It connects well to my Mac but I cannot select it in Premiere Pro. Anyone know of a workaround or some help?

I was able to solve the problem by adding a Mono track first, then recording to that track. It's strange I have to do this, I have a Windows laptop at home that I use with CC 2014 and a Blue Yeti and Premiere just "knows" that I'm trying to record and makes the change.

USB Mic = No Output

I'm using a USB MXL .007 mic with Logic 8.0.2, and I can't get any sound output when my USB mic is selected as my Core Audio Device (I'm using it as an aggregate device I created per the instructions I've found on numerous posts).
I can only get sound output with the Built-In input setting, but then obviously I can't use my USB mic for input. So it's either one or the other but neither the twain shall meet. I'm sure there's got to be a simple explanation for this but I have no idea what I'm missing!

I am trying to use my brand new Blue Microphone Snowball USB mics, one on each USB port of my MacBook Pro. When I plug them in, the respective LED's light up indicating they are properly powered up. The Snowball shows up by name as an input device in Sys Pref>Sound>Input and it is selected. I followed the Logic Pro User Manual for setting up tracks, record and input are selected in the tracks, but I hear nothing through my Apogee Duet, which is selected as the Output device in Audio Preferences. My Duet is set to headphone monitoring, I hear nothing, I record nothing. There is something very basic I am missing here. Any ideas?

USB Mic Distortion

I recently bought a Samson G-Track USB microphone, to go with my new Macbook (running Leopard), but seem to get intermittent audio distortion when I record. I have been checking the record levels on the mic and garageband and it's not clipping. If anything the signal strength on the Garageband monitor seems low. I can sometimes record a signal ok and then with exactly the same setup next time it distorts. I have tried turning off all effects in case they are causing it. Looking at online discussion forums there seems to be a problem with the Apple USB driver (Audio Codec?).
Anyone else had this problem?

I've had a Snowball USB mic for about a year and it sometimes has problems like you describe (basically signal breakup that sounds like clipping, even though the input level is not too high).
I first used it with a G4 Powerbook, and found that the perfomance depended on which port I used. The differences were dramatic.
I'm now using a MacBook, and there is variability when I record my band from session to session. I'm getting the feeling it might have to do with how well the power is sent from the USB port to the mic. But I don't have a good diagnostic.
I plan to sit down and run some trials, and would suggest you do the same. Plug in the mic, do a quick test and listen, then disconnect/reconnect the mic and repeat the test (changing ports or not).
I read recently that USB power is "dirty" and maybe these mics are very sensitive. If anyone has more info, I'd like to hear it.

Samson Q1U USB Mic won't work in Logic

Hey there,
My Samson Q1U Mic (USB) will not show as an available I/O in Logic.
It is selected in my Audio/Midi Preferences under Utilities, as well as under System Preferences in Sound Input, as well - it works in Garage Band - however, it does not show as an available device in Logic??
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

I was able to enable my snowball usb mic using the following procedure. I had logic studio open at the time, but I don't think it is necessary. In fact, you should probably do these steps (including above) before opening logic. By the way, I had never heard the term "aggregate device" before yesterday!
1. Mic was plugged in, powered up, and was working in SYSTEM PREFERENCES/ SOUND/ Input. I highlighted the mic and it was registering sound.
2. Go to UTILITIES/ audio midi setup. After window opens, go to the very top of the screen (menu options for audio midi setup) and click AUDIO which allows you to then open AGGREGATE DEVICE EDITOR.
3.Hit + to add new aggregate device. Select a check by built-in input, built in output, and your mic. Set the clock for built in output, not the mic. Save changes and exit/ close audio midi setup.
4.*Restart the computer.*
5.I left the mic plugged in I think during the restart, but I may have plugged it back in after restart. I again made sure it was working in apple system preferences.
6.Open logic. Select preferences/audio. The AGGREGATE DEVICE should now be available as an input option. Select and save changes.
7.Go back to your project. Your mic should work on an audio track. I didn't have to do anything to the track input selector- it just worked and it has worked consistently even though I have disconnected and reconnected several times!
SUCCESS!!
if ?s [email protected]
Not sure why such a great program would not have a simpler option for using a usb mic.

Output sound distortion when USB Mic Connected

Hi everyone,
Really appreciate anyone’s help on this sound distortion problem.
I have been using the new 2014 iMac 27' for last 8 Months, bought Brand New, and recently updated to Yosemite. Everything worked fine including recording, until this update.
I'm using Blue Yeti USB Mic for recording, and few days after the update I was trying to record in GarageBand and the output sound (via headphone connected to USB MIc) started to distort and then suddenly dropped the bitrate/ sound and I could only hear some clicks. I reinstalled the GargeBand, still its the same distortion happens. The sound gets back to normal, only for few seconds, after I unplug the USB cable from the Mic device. And I tried changing the bit rate and again sounds starts to drop after few sec. This happens only when I connect the Blue Yeti USB Mic and sound output from the Mic itself. Same thing happens with iTunes as well. Output sound from Internal mic and speakers are working fine as normal.
I tried connecting the USB Mic to my Windows laptop and its working fine with the Cubase 5 without any problem. So the problem is with the output sound, when external Mic connected.
I don’t know the solution for this. Have checked on every single blog/ thread, sill couldn’t find the answer I’m looking for, to fix this.
It would be great if you have any kind of a solution for the same.
Info : FYI
Mac
OS X Yosemite: Version 10.10.2
iMac (27-inch, Late 2013)
Processor : 3.2 GHz Intel Core i5
Hard-drive : 1 TB SATA Disk
Ram: 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M 1024 MB
Built-in Output:
Default System Output Device:       Yes
Manufacturer:                                  Apple Inc.
Output Channels:                             2
Current SampleRate:                      48000
Transport:                                        Built-in
Yeti Stereo Microphone:
Default Input Device:                      Yes
Default Output Device:                    Yes
Input Channels:                               2
Manufacturer:                                 Blue Microphones
Output Channels:                            2
Current SampleRate:                      48000
Transport:

Nope. The larger buffer didn't work. What did work was running a cord out of the 1/4-inch jack from the direct box to a 1/4-to-1/8-inch adapter and then into the mic/line-in jack on my computer. I set GarageBand to use the built-in line-in and had no static problems. It's a stopgap until this gets fixed.
A post by LinuxMercedes on Oct. 3 at http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=8158914 may provide a solution.

Can one use a samson USB condensor in a 1/4" plug in?

can i use my samson usb mic with some kind of USB to 1/4" connector so that i can use the mic as if it were a shure with 1/4
or is it just for computer use with usb in?

Probably not, since a condenser needs power to work, and a 1/4 inch plug is for a dynamic mic which does not.

Still Can't USB mic to work in Logic 8

Tried just about everything to get a Blue Snowball USB mic to work. Set up the Audio Preferences--which recognizes the mic and shows levels--but in Logic 8, the Core Audio setting never recognizes it, and just stays with Built-in audio. Someone said something about an aggregate device but the manual is very unclear on this. Help, please.
Thanks.

Not sure the answer to your question specifically, as I've never seen a device that shows up in Sound in System Preferences but does NOT show up in Logic's audio preferences. However, if you're looking for more info on Aggregate Devices, check this out:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1215

Using a Snowball USB mic?

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