USB Devices FAQ

USB Devices FAQ

My Win 10 PC is only getting the left channel over USB. What's the issue?
You must use Windows 10, release 1803 or later for the USB audio to work properly. At this point in the Windows 10 lifecycle, all PCs should be on a build that supports stereo USB.

Click on the search bar and start to type Control Panel, then open up Control Panel. Go to Sound, and locate the USB device in both the record and playback tabs, double click it, and go to the Advanced tab. If Windows decided to detect the Wheatstone/Audioarts USB device as a mono microphone instead of a stereo device, you'll be able to set it to stereo and your desired sample rate. Note: If using a Wheatstone M4IPUSB, set both record and playback of your USB device to the same sample rate as your WheatNet-IP system, 16 bit for best results.

Always use the Windows Control Panel to do this and not the Win 10 sound control from Settings. The Windows Control Panel will save your changes and make them default. Win 10 settings won't.
Is this Mac compatible? What are some troubleshooting steps for Macs?

Many Wheatstone/Audioarts users connect their consoles to Apple products. There was an issue in OS Sierra where the driver used by the USB chipset in our products wasn’t in the OS. Here are some USB troubleshooting tips for Macs:

1. Verify the USB cable is securely plugged into the USB port at each end of the cable. 

Unplug the console cable from the Mac’s USB port, wait about ten seconds, then securely plug it back in.

2. If following #1 makes no difference, unplug all other devices plugged into the USB ports, then plug in the USB cable from the console or M4IP-USB Blade to see if the Mac then detects the device. Sometimes other devices will have a conflict and don’t “play nice” with the console/M4IP-USB connection. If you find this to be the case, you may need to manual connect the other devices after plugging in the console, or there may be a driver update or other information available from the other device manufacturer.

3. Was USB working from the console and then just stopped working?  

If it used to work, what changed prior to norticing it no longer is working? A new device added by chance? A new program installed? Could try reverting the computer to the way it was before the device stopped working. If it works again, there’s an incompatibility with the console/M4IP-USB and whatever new device or program was added.

4. Check the System Profiler 

Open System Profiler from the Utilities folder in the Applications folder. From the Contents column on the left, under the Hardware header, select USB; the panel to the right will show all the USB devices that the computer recognizes. It may not identify them correctly by name, but it should have the right number of devices listed.

If the console/M4IP-USB device shows up in System Profiler–even if it doesn’t work, then it’s usually a software issue. Your best solution is to try updating the drivers, creating a new user, or reinstalling the system software.

If the console/M4IP-USB device doesn’t appear in System Profiler, the issue is more likely to be hardware either the device or the USB port isn’t working properly. In this event, continue on to the next item on this list. With each of the following items, go back and check the System Profiler window (press Command+R to refresh the list) to see if the device appears.

5. USB port lacks power 

If you have the device plugged into a USB hub or into your keyboard, plug it directly into one of the USB ports on the computer. If it works there, the issue is with the device to which it had been previously connected. The device may need more power than the port provides.

6. Not all USB ports in the computer are working 

Check the device in all the USB ports on the computer. Also test each port using a good, working USB device. Sometimes one port on the computer will stop functioning, but others will still work. If this is the case, the computer may need to be serviced.

7. Check if the device is properly mounted:

a. Open Hard Disk > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility.

b. Highlight the name of your device, if it shows Mount on top, click Mount so that it changes to Unmount.

 
 Q: Is there any way to increase the record volume from the USB input on our console? We're
able to increase the volume in post, but that seems to add more noise?

A: There are no USB level adjustments within our consoles to trim or boost the USB levels either
coming into or going out of the console. All level adjustments must be made in the Windows
Sound Control Panel or in your audio recording app. Note: Many times the level controls in the
recording apps are actually controlling the input or output level controls in the Windows Sound
Control Panel.

For example, using the freeware audio editor Audacity (see the attached USB recording levels
PDF file), when USB is the record source and you adjust that app’s input level control (the slider
with a mic icon), you’re actually adjusting the input level in the USB line input in the Windows
Sound Control Panel. Likewise, when you adjust the output level (the slider with the speaker
icon) you’re adjusting the Sound Panel’s output level control.

If your recording levels are consistently low that can allow the "normal" PC clocking noises to be
more readily apparent. If you have this issue it indicates you need to get your levels between
the console and the PC to be set correctly so you aren't having to raise the playback level to
compensate for a low record level since doing this increases the noise floor of the audio and
hence means you’ll hear more clocking noise in quieter audio passages.
To align the console and PC levels, connect a test tone (ideally a +4 dBu signal) to one of your
channels and assign it to the bus going to the USB record output. With all other channels turned
off, turn on the channel with the test tone and adjust the fader to unity gain (align the fader
knob’s line with the two arrows or heavy line silkscreened on the input panel at -12 dB). The
meters should have all green LEDs lit along with one yellow LED to indicate 0 VU. You can then
adjust your recording app so that its meters read 0 VU, or -20 dBFS as shown on page 1 of the
attached PDF file.

Record this test tone for a couple minutes. When you play it back, turn off the channel with the
test tone and turn on the USB audio playback channel and set its fader to unity gain. If all the
green LEDs are not lit, or if several yellow LEDs are also lit, adjust the playback level in the audio
app so the console meter matches your test tone (all green LEDs and one yellow LED lit). This
aligns the record and playback levels between that PC (or at least that particular audio app) and
the USB in/out on the console.

Turn off all channels on the console and set your record app to monitor the input signal, or to
begin recording if needed, to see your meter indication with no signal. You should see the
meters show noise down around -57 dB (see page 2 of the attached PDF file). That is the noise
floor for the USB audio interface ICs that we use in our consoles. If the level is higher than that,
try connecting the USB cable to another USB port to see if that makes any difference. If it's a
laptop PC, unplug its power supply (assuming its battery is charged) to see if that changes the
noise floor. On a desktop PC, see if plugging that PC into the same AC circuit as the console, so
they have a common ground, helps minimize noise pickup. Observe the meters while physically
moving the USB cable and/or the PC to see if the noise is being picked up from a switching
power supply in a power speaker and other product since that will also increase the noise floor.



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