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View Full Version : Newbie head is spinning! Can somebody cast me a line!



oregonk5
11-12-2013, 06:27 PM
First off, long time lurker and the posts on here are what inspired me to start a podcast when the opportunity came up.

My goal is a two-person podcast. My co-host and I will be recording in the same room. From my research on here I knew the best bet was a two mic system so each channel could be edited.

I downloaded Audacity and messed around with the recording and editing using an Olympus portable recorder. The other day I saw a Presonus AudioBox 2x2 USB on Craigslist for $50. I bought it and it was like new, still in the box. Bought an Audio Technica dynamic mic kit from Amazon.

Today I plugged in the mic with the supplied XLR cable to the AudioBox then ran the USB to the computer (downloaded the drivers also). The Audiobox lights up but nothing I do seems to get audio to the computer. I know the mic is working because I can hear it in the headphones which are hooked to the Audiobox. Messing with gain doesn't help.

I'm using Windows 7 and it recognizes the Audiobox as the recording input. I can plug the mic directly into the computer USB and it works fine.

I'm confused? Do I have a defection USB interface or am I doing something wrong? Does the USB cable not provide audio output to the computer? Is there a better way I could do this?

I've got to have this figured out by Thursday and I'm losing my mind here!:eek:

MovieBuff
11-12-2013, 07:48 PM
First off, welcome. I'm a newbie too.

Reboot your computer. Connect your AudioBox USB to the computer.
Open Audacity
Audacity > Edit > Preferences > Devices > Recording > Device. Make sure that setting is pointing to your USB device. If that USB port doesn't work, close Audacity. Connect to another USB port and re-open Audacity. Go to> Edit > Preferences > Devices > Recording > Device. Make sure that setting is pointing to your USB device.

Try that for now.

oregonk5
11-12-2013, 08:09 PM
Thanks Movie Buff, I've done the reboot thing. Audacity is recognizing the AudioBox as the input. It just seems as though no sound is getting through the AudioBox. Maybe I need to try another USB cable even though the box is lighting up. Oh yeah, I tried a different mic on it and that didn't work either.

Sean Callahan
11-12-2013, 09:00 PM
Have you by any chance installed the device drivers (http://www.presonus.com/uploads/products/1720/downloads/PreSonus_AudioBox_Installer_5376.exe)?

oregonk5
11-12-2013, 09:14 PM
Have you by any chance installed the device drivers (http://www.presonus.com/uploads/products/1720/downloads/PreSonus_AudioBox_Installer_5376.exe)?

Yes I did download the drivers. The computer and Audacity all seem to "see" and recognize the AudioBox.

I guess I will have to try calling them tomorrow. Anybody know of any easier way to accomplish this? Maybe an external USB sound card with two mic inputs?

oregonk5
11-12-2013, 09:22 PM
Am I over thinking this by wanting two separate mics? How do other folks doing a two person podcast on the cheap do it?

MovieBuff
11-12-2013, 09:55 PM
Thanks Movie Buff, I've done the reboot thing. Audacity is recognizing the AudioBox as the input. It just seems as though no sound is getting through the AudioBox. Maybe I need to try another USB cable even though the box is lighting up. Oh yeah, I tried a different mic on it and that didn't work either.

I am not sure if this is helpful or not. http://forums.presonus.com/posts/list/19718.page
2nd link
http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=53752

oregonk5
11-13-2013, 04:11 PM
So after much farting around (only got terminal hold on Presonus tech support). I have mic input now in Audacity...problem is the recording is very faint, even with sound turned up all the way. If I turn mic gain way up it's much louder but then a lot of background hum. I checked and all the drivers are up to date. Any ideas?