# What mic options for MacBook Air with REW



## Chucka (Feb 17, 2014)

I am finding myself a bit confused as which mics will work best with a MacBook Air and REW without the need for an external sound card. I have two USB ports and a single headphone output on this computer. Can somone please advise me which USB microphones will work best with this computer without anything additional being needed externally (other than my HT system)?


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## JohnM (Apr 11, 2006)

If the Mac is running Mavericks it doesn't look like there is a working USB mic solution at the moment, given the experiences of those who have been trying.


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## Chucka (Feb 17, 2014)

JohnM said:


> If the Mac is running Mavericks it doesn't look like there is a working USB mic solution at the moment, given the experiences of those who have been trying.


Does this look like a problem that the UBS Mic Manufacturers will have to solve or is it something that has to be solved as part of the Maverick operating system? Is there any work around for this problem?


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## EarlK (Jan 1, 2010)

Chucka said:


> Does this look like a problem that the UBS Mic Manufacturers will have to solve or is it something that has to be solved as part of the Maverick operating system? Is there any work around for this problem?


The problem lies with Apple ( & their decision to officially stop supporting Java within their more modern OS's ) .

They (Apple ) won't fix the problem ( in fact , they are the prime disrupter / causing / inventing the problems ) .

It's very unlikely there's anything they ( the usb-mike makers ) can ( or want to do ) do to circumvent Apples official policy ( of JAVA deprecation ). 

The USB mics will most likely work ( as intended ) if an application program isn't JAVA based ( but unfortunately, REW is JAVA based ) .

If your MacAir is from a year that came with an older OS ( such as 10.7 or 10.8 ) you could always try partitioning the drive & then re-installing the older OS / just to run REW . You would most likely need to implement HiFiZines  *Java-Mac WorkAround* to get your USB mic to be seen by REW .

:sn:


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## Chucka (Feb 17, 2014)

EarlK said:


> The problem lies with Apple ( & their decision to officially stop supporting Java within their more modern OS's ) .
> 
> They (Apple ) won't fix the problem ( in fact , they are the prime disrupter / causing / inventing the problems ) .
> 
> ...


Thank You. I had figured that someone must have found a work around for what for REW/Mac users would be a real problem. I am new to REW and I will be ordering a USB mic now that there is some way to make it work properly with my MacBook Air.


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## EarlK (Jan 1, 2010)

To be clear ( not sure if you actually understood my post // since you haven't stated what flavor of the Mac OS you are using ) .

Anyways ;

( Currently ) REW won't see/work with any USB mic ( no matter the work-around implemented ) if your MacBook Air is running Mavericks .

That is because REW is written in JAVA .

:sn:


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## Chucka (Feb 17, 2014)

EarlK said:


> To be clear ( not sure if you actually understood my post // since you haven't stated what flavor of the Mac OS you are using ) .
> 
> Anyways ;
> 
> ...


Sorry. You are correct that I misunderstood your post. So I guess there is no current solution for Mac owners who want to use REW with the current Mac operating system... I guess we could always use something like Parallels and operate our Mac's as PC's.


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## EarlK (Jan 1, 2010)

Chucka said:


> Sorry. You are correct that I misunderstood your post. So I guess there is no current solution for Mac owners who want to use REW with the current Mac operating system...* I guess we could always use something like Parallels and operate our Mac's as PC's.*


That used to be a viable approach / but it appears that Apple broke that also ( if one is running Mavericks ) .

People need to understand / that Apple intends on burying JAVA ( as well as flash / & most other cross-platform plugins or languages ) .

:sn:


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## dougri (Apr 1, 2009)

EarlK said:


> That used to be a viable approach / but it appears that Apple broke that also ( if one is running Mavericks ) .
> 
> People need to understand / that Apple intends on burying JAVA ( as well as flash / & most other cross-platform plugins or languages ) .
> 
> :sn:


Is this also the case for running REW under Win 8.1 via bootcamp? I've been interested in REW to supplement ARC tinkering, but if I have to use my mothballed desktop, no thanks. I realize this is Apple's doing, not REW, but the end result is the same for me, nonetheless.


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## EarlK (Jan 1, 2010)

dougri said:


> Is this also the case for running REW under Win 8.1 via bootcamp? I've been interested in REW to supplement ARC tinkering, but if I have to use my mothballed desktop, no thanks. I realize this is Apple's doing, not REW, but the end result is the same for me, nonetheless.


*"I don't know"* , is the answer ( though I'm skeptical the result will be any more successful than running REW in Windows, on a virtual machine such as Parallels or VMWare, on a Mac running Mavericks ) .
- Hopefully I'm wrong & just overly pessimistic .

If you already have Win 8.1 installed ( on a partition with Bootcamp ) then simply install REW & answer this question for yourself .

I do know , that if I had to spend real money on buying a copy of Win 8.1 ( just to run on a Mac ) I would simply add a bit more $$ and buy a cheap PC dedicated to running REW .

If you have a basic 2-chnl USB type soundcard , try using it with REW ( on your Mac running Mavericks ) . 
- JohnM ( REW's author ) believes it should work with Mavericks ( if REW & the card are both run at 44.1K ) .

:sn:


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## Chucka (Feb 17, 2014)

Any update to any USB mic working with Mac Yosemite on a MacBook Air? Is there any solution to this Mac problem?


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## JohnM (Apr 11, 2006)

It was solved in June with V5.01 beta 21, the latest version is beta 23 available from the end of this thread.


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