Using USB Audio Devices with AudioTools
AudioTools running on hardware that supports USB audio, such as most new iPads and soon iPhones, natively supports all USB audio devices that the Apple device supports. This page has notes on working with these devices.
Apple devices currently only have USB C inputs. If your audio interface has only USB A, you can use any typical USB A->USB C adapter, or in some cases a different cable, to get the USB plug that you need.
iAudioInterface2
If you are using our iAudioInterface2, check this support page for more information. With the right cable, it is supported directly. You can order the USB C cable if your device came with a USB A cable.
iTestMic2 USB C
See our iTestMic2 support page for more information. If you have an iTestMic2 with a Lightning connector, you can send it in to convert it to USB C. This is also covered on the support page.
iPrecisionMic / uPrecisionMic
iPrecisionMic can be modified with a USB C cable, and uPrecisionMic works natively with all USB C Apple devices. See this page for more information.
Third-Party 2-Channel USB Audio Interfaces
Any device support on the Apple device will work. Here are some notes.
Swapped Channels – We have seen some units where the Left input shows up in our system as the Right input. In this case, just select the Right input for each function.
Sample Rate Problems – AudioTools attempts to run at 48kHz sample rate. We have seen some units that only work properly at 441.kHz. To handle this case, go to the Settings->General->Global Audio settings page in AudioTools, and turn on “Limit sample rate to 44100”
Note that AudioTools does not run at higher sample rates.
Third-Party Multichannel USB Devices
Multichannel devices are supported in two ways by AudioTools.
Channel Mapping – AudioTools is designed to work with 2 inputs, nominally Left (microphone) and Right (line). Using the Channel Mapper, which is on the Settings Menu, you can select any channel for the Mic and Line inputs.
Multiplexing – If you have more than 2 input channels you can also set up automatic microphone multiplexing, for functions that are appropriate for this. To do this, with your multichannel interface connected, go to the Mic Mux module on the Settings menu. From here, you can select any of your input channels for the mux, select a cycle time, as well as trim values and globally enable or disable this function.
When set up, functions like FFT and RTA will automatically change the input as they run. When used with Average mode on these functions, this will give you time-averaged results.
Power Issues
iPad will not supply power to a USB interface. If your interface came with a power adapter, plug it into the interface. If it can only be powered over USB, you will need to use a powered USB hub to run it.
iPad will also not receive power from a USB audio device, so if you need to run for a long period of time you will need a powered USB C hub. Plug the audio interface into the USB hub, plug in the USB hub power adapter, and plug the output of the hub into the iPad
You can also use one of the keyboards that can supply power to iPad, for example iPad Pro works with the Apple Magic Keyboard, which has another USB C port to plug a charger into while your audio interface is plugged into the main USB C port.
Running AudioTools on Mac
AudioTools runs on all Macs that are equipped with M1 or M2 chips. It does not run on Intel Macs.
On compatible computers, just plug in your USB interface in and go to the Mac System Settings app, go to the Sound section, and select your device. You can split the input and output between different devices, if needed.
