Listening to USB mic while recording

[Jan Deeben]

Dear all,

I'd like to use my Zoom H2n as (USB) microphone to record directly from Cakewalk (rather than using the H2n recording function). I've added an audio track and selected my Zoom H2n as input source.

When I arm the track for recording, I see the track's VU meter respond to the mic and I can make an actual recording. However, I can't hear the mic 'live' over the speakers, or any bus / send I add to the track. Is it possible to listen to my USB mic 'live', e.g. by means of some PFL function or so?

BTW I use ASIO4ALL as it plays my projects with the least problems / drop-outs when they get bigger or have more FX.

Kind regards,

Jan

[scook]

As a rule, USB microphones work like any other audio interface.

This means they provide a way to monitor the signal being recorded.

To hear both the signal being recorded and other data from the DAW at the same time, the track(s) being recorded must have input echo enabled. 

Input echo button is just right of the record button in the track header.

Working with a real ASIO driver usually means recording and monitoring happens on the same device because ASIO is limited to one driver at a time.

Since ASIO4All is not a real ASIO driver but wraps WDM drivers, it is possible to record using one driver and playback using a different one. Of course, this is only possible because WDM supports it. ASIO4All brings nothing to the party but another software layer. CbB supports WDM directly. Win10 and 11 are known to perform better using the WASAPI modes. 

Bottom line, ASIO4All is not recommended.

It appears Zoom provides an ASIO driver and if this is the case and not simply a rebadged generic driver, this is the best choice for the device. 

I see Zoom also bundles a copy of Cubase LE. This too may install a generic ASIO driver.

There should be at most one ASIO driver installed for any device.

There is a real possibility there are at least 3 ASIO drivers installed for the H2n, the factory driver, ASIO4ALL and the "Generic Low Latency" driver.

This can result in performance issues with the factory supplied driver just like this user was having

 

[Jan Deeben]

Thank you for the quick reply. Enabing Input Echo works fine.

Regarding the driver to use: I'll have to further look into this and maybe I should use the WASAPI driver in Exclusive mode.

[57Gregy]

I think the best way to use this device would be to use their ASIO driver and use the Zoom for both recording and playback, monitoring all audio through its line out/headphone out.

 

[Jim Fogle]

The Zoom H2N also has a headphone jack that will let you hear the microphone input as well as the computer output.