USB Audio Input

[Guest]

This seems to be a recurring theme in these forums, but I can't get Captivate 2 to recognize the input from an M-Audio Fast-Track PRO pre-amp. I'm running an IBM T60 with Win XP SP2; when I go into Control Panel and "test hardware" I see the meter move when I speak, but I get no response when trying to record in C2. Not when I set recording from Mic, not when I set to record from Line. It just sits there checking audio levels, and even if I crank up the pre-amp to where it clips, I never see movement in the meter within C2.

Any ideas (besides chucking C2, which is what I'm considering except I'm under deadline.)

Thanks.

[Captiv8r]

Hi kevinsharp and welcome to our community

This is just a stab in the dark, but have you tried visiting the Windows Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Audio tab and seeing what shows up for the Default device?

I ask because I recently was playing around with connecting a Bluetooth headset I normally use with my cel phone. Got it connected but couldn't use it with my PC and Captivate. That is, UNTIL I visited this area and told Windows what to look for.

Might be tilting at windmills here, but maybe it's worth a shot.

Cheers... Rick

[Guest]

Hi Rick,
Thanks for the thought, but that checks out. The default device in the control panel is set to the M-Audio mixer, and to the proper input from the M-Audio mixer. Do you know if there is a config somewhere in C2 that would set it to look for a non-default input device?

[Captiv8r]

Hi kevinsharp

The only config I'm aware of is found by clicking Audio > Settings... and you normally have a choice between Micropone and Line in.

But I'm guessing you have already tried that.

Cheers... Rick

[rbLearning · Accepted solution]

I hate to suggest changing your workflow considering all you asked was how to get your mic working, but...

I also have the same M-Audio Fast-Track box, and get awesome results by recording to the open source sound editor 'Audacity.'

Actually, I prefer recording -outside- Captivate because I find it's editing tools a bit limited.

The one or two times I recorded into Captivate (using another mic), I ended up with a messed up (echos, drop-outs) audio track after I did just a few minor edits.

My point is, rather than bang your head trying to get Captivate to record, you might actually like things even better if you record to another application and then import the sound clips.

FYI -- I haven't tried recording to Captivate via Fast-Track, but I'll give that a whirl for you just to see what happens and report back later.

[Guest]

rb -- tks -- that's the path I wound up taking. I quit hoping to do something "easy" like recording directly into Captivate, and decided to learn the recording software that came with the M-Audio hardware. The Live Lite studio has tons of features I don't need, but it turned out they did a decent job of making what I wanted to do easy. So I just got done recording 23 tracks of audio for the 23-slide captivate presentation, and I'm quite pleased with the result.

[rbLearning]

Well, it took me a couple of days, but I finally got around to trying to record directly into Captivate via the M-Audio box. As you found, "no dice" for me either.

Too bad Captivate doesn't recognize it, but I'm glad you're thrilled with your hardware, too. It's a great performer for not much money. Has been a good investment.

[Ralph Wilson]

A newbie here...asking experienced folks whether Adobe is likely to look at this issue with the M-Audio device (i.e, is noting the problem here equivalent to a bug report). I just recommended my company buy one of these devices for recording Captivate demos. I'd be willing to substitute Audacity, which I've been learning, but it would be convenient to be able to record directly into Captivate sometimes, especially since we want less technical people to learn how to create demos here.

[helporbehelped]

I had the same issue, using a HP machine on XP SP2. Couldn't record, sound card works perfectly, used Audacity which is freeware thanks to soundforage and imported and it works fine. Exported in WAV format, suppose MP3 works too, or the freebie OGG should work... nice to see that's it's being supported by other programs.

So does this program require a specific mic? Is that what I'm getting from the FORO?

[Captiv8r]

Hi helporbehelped and welcome to our community

No, no specific mic is needed. However, I've seen many posts here with issues regarding microphones and hardware. Basically, I notice that seldom (if ever) does anyone report issues with Microphones that connect via little plug jacks. The issues we see most often deal with Microphones that connect via USB. Of those, some report no issues ever. Some report that it worked for an hour, a day, a week, whatever and suddenly stopped. Even others report that USB *NEVER* worked for them.

As you can see, it's quite a mixed bag of reports.

Bottom line is the microphones that connect with the jacks that just plug into the sound card seem to be the most reliable. Not sure why though.

Cheers... Rick