USB Microphone not working

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Level 1

8 points

USB Microphone not working

I have a Samson gtrack pro USB mic connected to my macbook pro with Catalina OS 10.15.7. I am teaching online classes and I realized that my mic is not working properly. I open garageband to record audio and the sound is very low. I checked the audio settings in system preferences clicked on sound then clicked on input then clicked on the USB Mic and it says: "The selected device has no input controls" so I can't control the sensitivity of the mic in any app. I also checked on the security and privacy and all the apps I use the mic are checked... this happened from one day to another... one day was working fine... the next was not working at all... is there a fix to this problem?

MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

Posted on Oct 12, 2020 5:20 PM

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Answer 1

jdo_apple

Community Specialist

Oct 17, 2020 10:38 AM in response to tato_gt

Hello tato_gt,

Thanks for that info and for choosing the Apple Support Communities. If we understand correctly, you are unable to use an external USB microphone with your MacBook Pro. First, because the microphone has volume controls on it, that is why you are not able to adjust volume on your Mac so please make sure you have the proper settings on the microphone first and here is more info:

http://www.samsontech.com/site_media/support/manuals/G-Track_Pro_OM_5L_V3.pdf

Next, you can figure out if unexpected behavior is related to a user file or setting by trying to reproduce the issue from another user account. This process includes creating a new user account, logging in to it, and testing for the issue.

Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac

Cheers!

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Answer 2

jdo_apple

Community Specialist

Oct 20, 2020 1:46 PM in response to tato_gt

Thanks for replying, tato_gt, and that additional info, it really helps! Since this is only happening on this Mac, please see if we can isolate this by testing with another app like QuickTime and see if you get the same behavior with this microphone as you do in GarageBand:

Record audio in QuickTime Player on Mac

If you don't have the same issue in QuickTime, please see if the settings described in the section titled "Set the input source for a microphone" in this GarageBand resource helps get you the volume levels you are needed

Connect a microphone

Have a great day and thanks for using the Apple Support Communities!

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Answer 3

tato_gt Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 20, 2020 12:42 PM in response to jdo_apple

Thank you so much for the reply!

I checked all the settings on the microphone... everything seems to be working fine... I even plugged in the Mic to my Ipad and it worked perfectly! no problems at all. However, I created another user account on my computer I logged in... plugged the mic and I am having the same problems, when I go to GarageBand to record my voice the mic volume is extremely low. I have to manually on the mic turn the volume knob all the way up so my voice can be heard. The problem with this is that there is a white noise in the background because I have all the volume up on the mic and still the sound of my voice is low. Before upgrading to Catalina 10.15.7 there was absolutely no issues! I actually controlled the volume of the external mic from the computer and the mic and the sound was extremely good! very clear crisp voice.

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Answer 4

tato_gt Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 20, 2020 2:08 PM in response to jdo_apple

Hi! thank you again for the help!

Yes, I do have the same problem with QuickTime, I use both programs to record my classes I use QuickTime to record my screen when I'm teaching and I use GarageBand when I only record my voice. I do have the same problem using both programs... also when I a'm in a meeting (Zoom, Meets or Teams) using the USB Mic, I also have the same problem, my voice is extremely low. When I turn the knob on the sensitivity on the mic the volume comes up... but not too much and I can hear the white noise because of this.

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Answer 5

jdo_apple

Community Specialist

Oct 20, 2020 2:16 PM in response to tato_gt

Thanks for that additional info, tato_gt! Since this is still happening, your next step is to contact Apple directly for further assistance with your specific situation:

Get Support https://getsupport.apple.com

Cheers!

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Answer 6

tato_gt Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 20, 2020 12:45 PM in response to tato_gt

I also contacted Samson and they told me that since the mic was working fine when I plugged it in to a different computer, then I should contact Apple because it is probably a software issue...

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USB Microphone not working

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