Ableton Forum

I got a Blue Snowball USB microphone for free, so I figured I'd put it to use. I have an EMU 1212m sound card installed on the PC connected to a nice preamp for when I want to use my better microphones. But I was hoping to use the Snowball for scratch and guide tracks. I like the simplicity of just plugging in a USB cable.

But Live isn't seeing the mic. The Snowball is listed under Windows XP's sound devices, but Live still only gives me the options from the soundcard for external inputs.
Is there an incompatibility here?

Thanks,
Jeff

i know the problem.

i use a zoom h2 wich also is usable as an usb mic.
i couldn't use it sperately as input, when using my emu card for the rest.
now the question is, does your mic also have a line out?
i use the line out of my mic and the input of my emu card instead of using the mic as an audio interface. this way is works smoothly. and im shure the audio processing of my emu card is even better than the on my mic provides.

i hope the could be a help.

I'm a fan of the H2. I have one also. Great little unit.
Sadly the Blue Snowball doesn't have a line out, and for convenience and quickness, I was hoping to avoid going through the E-mu signal chain.

So you're saying it's an E-mu issue or an issue Live has with alternate inputs?
The computer is recognizing the Blue mic under audio devices in XP's control panel, so I assume it can't be an issue with the E-mu card, but I may be wrong.
It would be a bummer if I couldn't use this. This is a perfect use for this mic for me.
Thanks for the reply,
Jeff

hmmm, i dunno.
i was only able to browse the emu dsp or the onboard soundcard in live, no usb mic whatsoever...
i guess it's an life issue, but i can't double check it right now, i'm at work.
when i'm home i will check if it works with wavelab for example...

Thanks. I'd appreciate that.
Jeff

no, i wasn't right.
the problem (with my setup) isn't ableton, it's that the usb mic doesn't support asio.
if i switch to the windows sounddriver, i CAN select the usb mic as input and the emu dsp as output.
but i have a latency way beyond aceptable...

Aaaah. That makes sense. Thanks for trying it.
Jeff