# How can I use my audio interface and mic in MS Teams and Zoom?



## MusiquedeReve (Jul 21, 2021)

I have years of experience recording music with my computer, however, I am at a complete loss as to how to use my audio interface for MS Teams or Zoom meetings.

I have a Mac Pro and Apogee Symphony Desktop
Blue Spark XLR microphone

Is it possible to use the audio interface and XLR microphone with MS teams or Zoom?

If so, does anyone know how I would be able to do this or can point me in the right direction?

Thank you and be well.


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## thomasjdev (Jul 22, 2021)

The easiest way I found was using Loopback - https://rogueamoeba.com/loopback/
I have a UAD Apollo Twin and my mic is on Channel 2 of the device. Teams and Zoom don't like that as I think they are expecting only a single input channel (like a webcam would have) so they don't know what to do. With Loopback I make a Video Conferencing device and bring the mic input into Channel 1 and everything works.

The other cool thing with Loopback is you can capture audio from other devices or applications as well so if you want to pipe Spotify playback into your video call you could. The more practical use tho is it makes easy to capture computer audio along with Voice in a program like Screenflow if you were doing a screen recording / tutorial video


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## MusiquedeReve (Jul 22, 2021)

thomasjdev said:


> The easiest way I found was using Loopback - https://rogueamoeba.com/loopback/
> I have a UAD Apollo Twin and my mic is on Channel 2 of the device. Teams and Zoom don't like that as I think they are expecting only a single input channel (like a webcam would have) so they don't know what to do. With Loopback I make a Video Conferencing device and bring the mic input into Channel 1 and everything works.
> 
> The other cool thing with Loopback is you can capture audio from other devices or applications as well so if you want to pipe Spotify playback into your video call you could. The more practical use tho is it makes easy to capture computer audio along with Voice in a program like Screenflow if you were doing a screen recording / tutorial video


Ahhh will have to check out Loopback - is it a complex program to run?


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## thomasjdev (Jul 22, 2021)

They have a nice KB article that gives you all the details. The only downside really is it's a paid app but they have a demo period and I found enough uses of it for me that I was okay spending the money.

https://rogueamoeba.com/support/knowledgebase/?showArticle=LB-VoIP


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## Soundbed (Jul 22, 2021)

I also use Loopback. It’s pretty simple once you get used to it I guess. Create one or many setups (I really only use one) add as many sound sources as you want. Turn them on or off (like turn off system alerts and browser sounds if you’ve added them but turn on your audio interface and mic. Mix into the “loopback” section with as many stereo pairs as you want. Them monitor with as many sound Out monitoring options as you want (can also turn on or off). Highlight something and click delete including the “cable” connections. You can even drag a mono “cable” to both L and R in the Loopback source feeding Zoom / Teams.


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## cet34f (Jul 22, 2021)

I agree that professionals should use audio routing tools such as Loopback, but I don't understand why OP can't use his audio interface natively. Are Teams and Zoom so bad that they can't even identify an aggregate device?


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## brek (Jul 22, 2021)

Yes, if you want to use your mic with an audio interface, it is as simple as selecting your interface as the input in the audio settings (and presumably do the same for the output). That's it.

If you are also looking to play sound from your computer into the Zoom meeting there are some things to consider, otherwise you can stop reading!

As has been mentioned, Loopback is a great option, but also not a requirement. Zoom gives you the option of playing sound from your computer while sharing your screen. It will install its own audio driver to do so, and switch your audio application to that driver (_most _of the time). It's pretty clunky, and I never heard anyone get great sound quality with Zoom's driver.

In addition to Loopback, you can use also use Soundflower with Ladiocast to get similar results. These are free options, though I would say you give up some flexibility and reliability compared to Loopback.

Now that you can play sound from your computer, there are a couple things to configure:

1) Zoom has an option to "Turn On Original Sound." Zoom does a lot of audio processing to optimize the sound for speech (auto-volume, noise reduction, echo cancellation) and Original Sound disables all of these.

2) Zoom audio is also mono. There may be a setting for your account on the Zoom _website _to enable stereo sound (depending on your plan), which you have to enable before the setting shows up in the app.

Zoom quickly made a lot of improvements over quarantine, so it's possible some of those things have changed recently.

Finally, when you are sharing computer sound - remember to mute your mic if there is background noise in your environment.


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