Does USB-adapter affect audio recording volume?

[Natalia_i]

Hi!

Working on my first course, and could really use your expert advice!

I am using MacBook which doesn't have USB-ports, but only a USB-C port. Therefore, to connect my Blue Yeti microphone to record screen-casting session, I am using a multi-port adapter (USB-C Multiport Adapter to USB, HDMI and USB-C). The recorded audio is quite low in volume, even though I did set the input audio to max and tried the full scale of the gain on the microphone. Used cardioid pattern.

Can the adapter be the problem? And if yes, how can I go around it?  Or are thin MacBooks just not the right machines for recording?

Getting another adapter, can it help, or it doesn't matter if it is a one- or multi-port adapter?

[MariaG]

Hey @Natalia_i , this issue could be faced by someone else as well. We'd love to hear what might be causing this. Have you tried reaching out to the maker's support team here? They might also be able to help you troubleshoot.

[Natalia_i · Accepted solution]

Thank you @MariaG for the idea of asking the maker's support team! After several trials with different ports and laptops I found out what the problem was.

Instead of going directly to 'New screen recording' in QuickTime Player I needed to first start 'new audio recording' and this opened up for a dialog with the audio settings. Even though all my mic settings on my Mac were on the max, this dialog box showed very low mic input volume. 

After I adjusted these, I closed this function and opened the 'New screen recording' again, and the sound was louder.

[LiamDavin1]

Hi @Natalia_i 

Are you speaking in to right part of the microphone? The Yeti is  what is known as a side address microphone. So in cardioid mode you speak into the side where the "Blue" logo is. I'm sure you are using it correctly but you'd be surprised how many people get this wrong. 

If that's not the problem, then can you plug it into another computer that has the appropriate USB connection and so avoiding the adapter. This will show you if the microphone is the problem. 

[Natalia_i]

Thank you @LiamDavin1 for your support! I did indeed tried it with another laptop and it worked fine, it turned out that the problem was in the software settings (details in my reply to the comment of MariaG above).