Razer Audio Mixer: ...it doesn't support USB microphones? | Razer Insider
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So, this is a fresh article from Australia regarding the new audio mixer. One thing came up with me, that he sort of addresses, and I'm hoping someone in the community is able to answer.



The article link: https://www.well-played.com.au/razer-audio-mixer-review/



The author mentions:



"Admittedly it did take me a while to get it all going with my microphone, an Elgato Wave:3 that interfaces via USB rather than either of the analog audio inputs available on the Audio Mixer. Most of the blame for that goes to Windows itself though, which can be incredibly unclear about what sounds are playing where, but after a bit of fiddling and trial and error I managed to convince the mixer to take control of my mic input despite it not being directly attached which is pretty exciting."



Does anyone have any clue how he managed to get the USB mic to be recognized by the mixer? I couldn't figure out after days of trying, and support has gone silent on me regarding it. I'm utterly baffled why it would be incapable of using USB microphones such as the Seiren Pro, Mini, X, or even headset mics if that what the user is using. The detailed instructions PDF mentions "USB-powered microphones," which support is citing as how they support it: Take a USB mic and plug it into the PC for power, then route a 3.5mm audio lead to the front port of the mixer.



The only way that mic exists AFAIK is where there's an on-mic 3.5mm port for zero latency monitoring. Not optimal.



You'd think you could map Channel 1 (or whatever) to "System Mic", so it looks at the default input of the PC, whatever that audio stream would happen to be. But that doesn't exist in the dropdowns of the mixer configuration.



I reached out to the author of the article, and they were kind enough to reply. He said he wasn't able to reproduce what he did as it stopped working, so he's having to juryrig this USB mic thru a 3.5mm adapter and using the front port for now (original article is quoted above, so he amended it necessarily).



Any thoughts? This would be a staggeringly huge oversight on Razer's side for lack of support of the next wave of broadcast-capable microphones (USB has proliferated greatly over the last five years as noise isolation and signal interference reduction has improved). While I have an XLR mic (and a good one), I'd be remiss to not use my Razer mics... on a Razer mixer.



Someone throw me a bone here. Any ideas on how this could be made to work?
Yeah this one can be a frustrating topic. It's one of those things, if you know, you know, but if you don't it sucks.



The mixer is an analog audio mixer. A USB mic is a digital source. You would need to connect analog mics in order to mix the audio. Windows itself without the aid of special software is unable to have more than one USB mic at a time. It's a limitation of Windows and not of the mixer. I hope this helps.
Dekades
Yeah this one can be a frustrating topic. It's one of those things, if you know, you know, but if you don't it sucks.



The mixer is an analog audio mixer. A USB mic is a digital source. You would need to connect analog mics in order to mix the audio. Windows itself without the aid of special software is unable to have more than one USB mic at a time. It's a limitation of Windows and not of the mixer. I hope this helps.




I hear you. Please help me understand this conundrum though. If the mixer:



A. Can process multiple digital channels from a PC source, like Chat, Music, System, etc;

B. Has the ability to soft-map those channels to whichever source you want;

C. And if the PC already has a Mic channel that, in my example, is active via a USB mic;



Why can't the mixer threat the existing mic signal second and discrete "digital mic" channel that, when utilized, cuts the analog mic signal that's native on board, and replaces it with the digital mic channel, since it's a channel like any other signal sourced from the PC? The mixer channels are soft-selected, so it's not a hard lock against the channel being utilized, right? You're just treating the USB Mic channel like any other signal they can be software mapped to a fader. In this case scenario, there would only be a new channel for the mixer that, when selected, ignores or disengages the on board XLR/Line mic signal.



In this way, the limitations of Windows are minimized, and you can still relegate all audio mixing to the board, vs my current setup, where I can mix everything BUT the mic on the mixer, and I use my streaming software to pull that USB mic audio directly.



This would seem to me to be a software solution, no? IS there something inherently impassible with the mic channel on Windows where this design could not be accommodated?



I really hope this is something that, if there are no external impediments to a solution, can be taken as an opportunity to not just copy, but improve upon the design example of the GoXLR Mini, which has an identical inability to recognize a PC's mic channel.



Does that make sense? If I'm missing something obvious about that Windows mic channel, please tell me.
Ok, I'll do my best!



Turgenev
A. Can process multiple digital channels from a PC source, like Chat, Music, System, etc;




The mixer does not process multiple digital channels from a PC source. It's channeling all the analog sources together into one stream to be processed as a single digital channel per se into your PC. This stream is interpreted by Windows as an input. Windows under normal circumstances only allows one input and one output at a time.



Turgenev
B. Has the ability to soft-map those channels to whichever source you want;




It soft-maps the analog channels. Not digital.



Turgenev
C. And if the PC already has a Mic channel that, in my example, is active via a USB mic;




Activating the mic as an input takes up the input slot. Remember, under normal conditions, Windows only allows one input. You would not be able to use the mixer. You would have to choose. Mixer or Mic.



Turgenev
IS there something inherently impassible with the mic channel on Windows where this design could not be accommodated?




Yes. It is Windows' limitation of only being able to have one input.



Look into ASIO4ALL, you might be able to find a solution/workaround.
Dekades
Ok, I'll do my best!




You did, and I'm very grateful for the clarifications. I mean you're leaving me with no hope here, but yeah, I'm grateful. XD



I have one major question, and a couple minor ones. I'll DM you directly if that's all right? If not I can ask here, I just didn't want to spam the forum with a Q&A.
No problem! Full disclosure, I'm not at all speaking from a support perspective, I, personally have experienced this very challenge and I'm sharing what I can ☺



You can respond here, that way if others face similar issues/questions they can see our conversation and maybe help them out.
Thank you both for posting this topic, I have been considering the mixer, but was unsure how it work with my Siren Pro since it is a usb mic. But this has answered a few of my questions