Skype and Firewire Don’t Mix
I received an e-mail from Doug this weekend with a problem with Skype and the Behringer FCA202 Audio Interface:
I have absolutely no idea why, but Skype will not record my microphone, even when settings are set to: MICROPHONE: FCA-202 AUDIO and the speakers are set to FCA-202 AUDIO.
I’m guessing it doesn’t understand that the mic and speakers are “the same” but I have no clue. With as many people using this rig for podcasting, I’m surprised I can’t find JACK out there on this combo/problem. Behringer tech support said, “What’s Skype?” so their out. Skype has nothing for me.
Any suggestions?
A quick Google search later and I found what I expected. Skype does not currently support firewire audio devices. I also found a post and response over at Podcast Academy. Paul Figgiani mentions a work around which is basically using the built-in audio card or additional external USB audio device with Skype as the primary source and then routing the signal through one of the channels on the mixer. This would be what’s called a mix-minus. Since the mixer is firewire, you can record each track separately and do what’s needed to clean it up later. This is exactly how I recorded the first 14 episodes of Fat 2 Fit Radio. We only just recently started using Callburner. Though I use a USB interface for Skype, so I don’t have the same problem. This not a new solution to recording computer audio. In 2005, Doug Kaye made this post where he had the diagram below as part of the solution to recording Skype audio.
If this diagram looks familiar to you, it’s very much like the one that I posted recently Mystery of Mix Minus. Unfortunately, a setup like this is probably Doug’s best chance to record Skype phone calls through his firewire audio interface. Hopefully Skype adds firewire audio support to their software. I won’t hold my breath on that.
If you have another solution for Doug, leave a comment here on the blog or send me an e-mail at podcaststudio@gmail.com.
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Comments
[...] 2, the price of the Podcast Studio Bundle with Firewire is now $180. One caveat, as mentioned in a recent post, if you are planning on using Skype as part of your podcast, get either an auxiliary USB audio [...]
Does this FCA-202 problem apply only with podcast-recording or are you also having trouble using it simply to call?
I have the FCA-202 and it used to work just fine with skype. Since downloading the latest version of Skype (vers. 3.8) it no longer picks up a signal from my mic. I checked the settings, everything’s the way it supposed to be. Just no sound getting in there.
Anyone have any idea why I could use my firewire soundcard all year until now with vers. 3.8 ?
Thanks.
Thanks for the post and follow up Russ. Props to you and the crew for making it easier for me to look (OK sound) great! I’ve posted a follow up on my experiences with various recording mediums over at my blog.
I’m wondering now if I can just replace the firewire box from Behringer with their $30 USB version? I don’t see why not (yet). I’ll buy one and play.