FM3 Aggregate Device for Zoom calls?

Kamil Kisiel

Kamil Kisiel

Power User
Has anyone successfully used the FM3 with their computer or monitor's internal mic for zoom calls? I'm taking some online classes where I will need to play guitar as well as speak so I'm trying to get this set up. It seems when I use the aggregate device as my microphone in Zoom I can only hear the FM3 output, nothing is picked up from the mic during the audio test. If I switch the audio input to the mic alone it works fine.
 
I'd run a mic into a preamp and then input 2 and set your preset to eventually put input 2's signal into the flow to output 1.
 
AFAIK, Zoom doesn't support multichannel devices. It's just grabbing audio from the first channel (pair).
 
GlennO said:
AFAIK, Zoom doesn't support multichannel devices. It's just grabbing audio from the first channel (pair).
Click to expand...
ah damn, that's annoying. There was another post on this forum where people were talking about using Axe-FX III + internal mic as an aggregate device for Zoom, but I guess nobody actually tried it since it would be pretty obvious that it doesn't work.
 
Welcome to the internet :). That doesn't mean you can't do what you want though. If Zoom doesn't allow you to choose 2 input devices simultaneously, then what you want to do is combine the two devices into a single device with a single input (pair). Something like Loopback ought to be able to do that.
 
Ok I figured out how to do this with Reaper + Soundflower. I set the input to the aggregate device, and the output as soundflower. Then I created two tracks: one reads from Inputs 1&2 (FM3), the other from Input 5 (Mic) of the aggregate. Then I set both tracks to record + monitor. In Zoom I set the speaker output to FM3, and the input to Soundflower. Then I just use my headphones plugged into the FM3 to monitor the incoming audio as well as my guitar tone, without getting my voice in the mix. Works great.
 
Or spend the $99 on Loopback and avoid the need to construct a Rube Goldberg contraption :). Seriously though, I've never found Soundflower to be reliable. AFAIK, it doesn't even work on recent versions of MacOS. If you don't want to buy Loopback, I'd suggest Blackhole.
 
If I was using this regularly I probably would, but this is just for 1 hour a week for the next 8 weeks. So far so good with Soundflower, at least in tests...
Once I'm back home in a few months I'll have access to my RME interface at my studio where I can just do all the mixing there.
 
I have a mic and the L/R of my FM3 going to a small 4-channel mixer. The L/R out of that goes into inputs 1&2 of my Focusrite interface. Zoom, Skype, etc, only use the first two channels of whatever interface you have connected.

With my setup, I'm running separate outs from the mixer to my monitors and to my interface, so I can send the FM3 to both my monitors and interface but send the mic only to my interface.
 
Yeah, all the external hardware stuff is possible and things I know about, I just don't have access to it right now since I'm away from home and my studio... so just trying to make do with the FM3 and my laptop :)
 
There’s a thread I started here asking about using a mic into the FM3. You can use the compressor to auto duck the voice mic so you don’t get string noise while playing. I haven’t tried it yet.
 
I just ordered the new Presonus Revelator mic to do exactly this kind of thing ... also blending music from a DAW, or any source on the computer through a very cool virtual mixer designed for loopback and use with apps like Zoom, OBS, or other streaming and recording options. It's a USB mic with some great Fat Channel presets, lots of customization of effects, and an interface in one. Excited to try it out.
 
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