I've tried everything but my microphone won't work!

[Raven Zaphara]

I've been struggling for months to figure out what's going on with my microphone. I bought it new, it's a Shure, and it works in any other program other than cakewalk, without a hitch. When using cakewalk, i choose my input and when I talk/sing into the mic, there are green bars showing that the mic is actually picking things up, the track is armed, but NOTHING gets recorded.

I'm sure this is something stupid that I've yet missed but I've been through youtube tutorials, forums, and everything and I just want to record some quality audio.

If anyone can help me, please do!

[chuckebaby]

Is input echo on ?

What kind of Mic is it, USB or XLR-1/4 inch jack ?

And are you running it into an Audio interface or your onboard soundcard ?

Edited November 25, 2019 by chuckebaby

[Raven Zaphara]

... no it wasn't. I enabled it just now and still nothing.

It's a USB mic.

[chuckebaby]

 

To connect a USB microphone to Cakewalk by BandLab:

1- Connect your device to your machine prior to starting Cakewalk by BandLab

2- Launch Cakewalk by Bandlab

3- Go to Edit > Preferences, or press P when the Start Screen is closed to open the Preferences menu

4- Under Audio > Playback and Recording, set your Driver Mode to ASIO. If your device does not utilize a driver from the manufacturer, try WASAPI Shared (Windows 10), or WDM/KS (Windows 7 or 8)

5- Under Audio > Devices, make sure your device is selected as an Input device. If you’re using the headphone output, also check the Output category

Click Apply and OK to save your changes!

[chuckebaby]

Some USB mic's are plug and play, others need drivers. Did you install and drivers for the Mic ?

EDIT- the reason I asked about the Audio interface is because you cant use both at the same time under ASIO mode.

Edited November 25, 2019 by chuckebaby

[martsave martin s]

you make shure you have the (record)track-button enable and also hit the (record)button on the transport-module..

[Lord Tim]

The other thing I'd check is if you're in punch recording mode: https://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=SONAR X3&language=3&help=Recording.26.html

If that's enabled, recording won't actually happen until you get to the part that's selected for the punch. Disable that and you should be in business.

[Noel Borthwick]

USB mics do not work in ASIO mode because on l they are single endpoint devices. Ie there is no output just an input. since ASIO only supports a single device you must use WASAPI mode to select both an input and output device. Choose WASAPI shared mode and pick both an input and output and it should work. Endure that you pick a sample rate that is supported by both the input and output devices.

[Jim Roseberry]

@OP:

If you're going to be recording long-term, I'd suggest getting a dedicated audio interface... and using normal (not USB) microphones.

• A quality audio interface with proper ASIO drivers makes the whole process more rock-solid
• You can achieve far lower round-trip latency

Using separate audio interfaces (each on separate digital clocks) can cause timing differences.

 

USB mics are fine for PodCasts... or communication; they're not particularly good for traditional recording.

[chuckebaby]

3 hours ago, Noel Borthwick said:

USB mics do not work in ASIO mode because on l they are single endpoint devices.

I was going by what I read here

https://help.cakewalk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360034700933-Connect-a-USB-Microphone

Quote

Under Audio > Playback and Recording, set your Driver Mode to ASIO. If your device does not utilize a driver from the manufacturer, try WASAPI Shared (Windows 10), or WDM/KS (Windows 7 or 8)

 

Edited November 25, 2019 by chuckebaby

[Noel Borthwick]

That article is incorrect. I'll get it changed.

[Saneesh]

Hi Noel, I have a Rode NT USB Mic and have set the Driver Mode to WASAPI shared mode and picked both the input and output devices as Rode NT. However, when I am trying to record/play, it gives an error saying "Unable to open audio record driver. Device may not support the current project's audio format or may be in use."

Can you help?

This is the first time I am using CakeWalk.

[OutrageProductions]

@Saneesh

This is a four year old dead thread.

You might want to move your query to a NEW posting in this category.

[John Vere]

Personal experience with USB mikes. Friend of mine bought a ? Sampson? I think it was and couldn’t get it working. So he brought it over and I gave it a go. 

First on the website I determined it didn’t have a driver. This seems true of 90 % of these things. 
 

So you plug it in and it seemed to show up in Windows sound settings as a device . 

So I turned off my interface and Windows switched to my Speakers on board audio. 
The mike showed it was creating audio. Great. 
Open Cakewalk and change to WASAPI shared mode. 
 
Hmm no mike in devices list. 
Tried WASAPI exclusive mode and it said my device doesn’t support it? 
Tried WDM and the mike was now available. 
So my conclusion was the mike doesn’t support the modern Windows drivers. 
So open a project with a few tracks to play a song and set a new track to record and kinda works but playback was obviously a half a measure late= WDM driver. 
 

My personal opinion is they are just fine for anything but recording music. 
No ASIO driver = Not suitable for serious music production. 

[mettelus]

18 hours ago, Saneesh said:

"Unable to open audio record driver. Device may not support the current project's audio format or may be in use."

Check Windows Sound Settings first and be sure that the device is set to the proper bit-depth and sample rate for the project. Unless there is a hosting program specific to that mic to override Windows settings, Windows takes control of USB devices as soon as they are plugged in, so you will only be able to change the microphone properties in Windows Sound Settings.