Icicle driver download

Resolved my issue. Clear instructions. Easy to follow. No jargon. Pictures helped. Didn't match my screen. Incorrect instructions. Too technical. Not enough information. Not enough pictures. All other methods are not part of the public API. Skip to content. Star Deprecated View license. Branches Tags. Could not load branches. Could not load tags. Latest commit. Git stats 32 commits. Following are four VO samples recorded with the Karma K The Mic Mate signal was about 20dB lower than the rest.

I think the other three samples sound great. The MicPort Pro has the least noise, but the difference is subtle. My results using an SM57 were very similar to the above — the signal of the Mic Mate was lower, and after normalization the noise level in that clip was audibly higher, to the point where the audio would not be usable for any sort of recording.

The sound of this interface seems thin. The other three are similar, but after repeated listens I developed a slight preference for the Shure X2U.

The noise level is a bit higher than on the MicPort Pro, but the vocal sound is richer. The MicPort Pro sounds great, though. It has the lowest noise of the lot, and the audio quality is excellent. The Icicle takes 3rd place in this test. The esses sound a little bit like eshes to me.

I first recorded the hammer dulcimer with an Avenson STO But I matched all the gain levels to the Mic Mate, ending up with levels that were far too low for a bit recording. Compounding the low signal level problem was the self-noise of the STO-2, which is relatively high at 28 dBA. These are beautiful microphones, and in fact are my favorites for recording the hammer dulcimer.

But the resulting tracks all sounded pretty poor. Note: if you want to listen to these blind, close your eyes before the player widget fully expands, as the interface in each clip is named in the title.

The Mic Mate stands out as the noisiest again — listen to the last few notes fade away, and the hash is apparent. Also, I hear less of the impact of the hammers on the strings, as if the transient response is somehow a little bit off. I think the X2U track might have a tiny bit more noise, but in the context of a mix it would be negligible.

In fact, within a mix I doubt anyone could distinguish among these three tracks. If you want to hear the original bit WAVs, download them here: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5. The Shure X2U wins the prize for best interface design.

They thought through the details: the controls are all front and center while the interface is laying on a table. Good interfaces give feedback. Kudos to Shure for implementing this feedback mechanism into the X2U. None of the other interfaces had any sort of level or clip indicator. For my purposes, this seems like a good thing. CEntrance has a nifty driver that aggregates multiple MicPort Pro devices into a single stereo input.

This is a clever solution. But GarageBand worked fine. Presumably it generates a full 48V when the switch is triggered. I have no affiliation with MXL, Shure, Blue, or CEntrance, and received no compensation from any of these companies for including their products in the review. I acquired the four devices reviewed here via retail channels. Read below for the original, state-of-the-art conclusions, or click through to our updated USB audio interface shootout , in which the Micport Pro makes a second appearance.

If you are shopping for the most compact interface available, stay on this page. The other devices will only produce, at best, bit audio at 48 kHz. There are a few bit USB microphones but the format is not ubiquitous as I expected.

It wins the usability analysis by a large margin. It has a mix-ratio control, useful for blending prerecorded with live tracks while recording. It costs less than the MicPort Pro.

And it creates pristine tracks. For bit audio, the X2U is a winner. And its lightweight build could be an advantage in some situations. In my experience, hearing differences in preamps and converters is a lot harder than hearing differences in microphones.

That said, having the X2U and MicPort Pro capture a mono track of the hammer dulcimer that is virtually indistinguishable from my upgraded R is pretty amazing. This test took over my living room — mics, stands, and cables everywhere. Check out the wreckage.

Now I just need to find a good portable mic… Definitely veered away now from the usb mics…. A very interesting and detailed report. I have been looking for a device to replace the Griffin Imic I presently use to interfacet a dynamic microphone with some spectrum analyser software. I guess the imic may also use the same ICs as the above but would your gut feeling be that any of the above tested have less noise than the Imic. When handled I also notice static clicks and pops from the Imic device.

Kim, I did not specifically test susceptibility to handling noise, but I did not notice any during the tests. The X2U is for certain not going to click or pop — I know this because I bought one. Very technical unlike other people who unprofessionally review on such, misleading noobs like me huhu. I was trying to decide between the Mic Mate and the Micport Pro and you made the decision easy to justify the extra cost of the Micport. Very disappointed with the Icicle, poor sound quality, after 20 seconds noise interference and a 1 second delay….

Regret purchase. You might have a driver conflict. So much for my prediction! My friend bought a Blue Icicle. Then all the sudden started getting the crackles and Pops.