Jamulus client not receiving sound input - MacOS Sequoia 15.3, Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th gen

[patricmc]

Thanks in advance for any help/guidance as to what to try next.

Running Jamulus v3.11.0 on MacOS with Focusrite 2i2 input device as noted in the title. I can hear/record input from the 2i2 in my DAW (Reaper) fine but when I run Jamulus client and after connecting to a server the Input VU meter on the Jamulus client gives no indication of any input. (And, I can't hear anything either, of course). Note: no indication of Jamulus picking up the input even after connecting to a server.

I believe I have the Jamulus client configured correctly. Audio Device setting in Jamulus client is the 2i2 and I have L and R input channels mapped to Input 1 and Input 2. (This is the same config that works in my DAW, just not in Jamulus client).

Have every indication that 2i2, etc are all configured correctly. In addition to being able to hear/record in Reaper, I can see an indication of input sound in the Sound system setting of the Mac. The 'Input Level' indicator lights up as expected when I play my guitar through the 2i2.

So, everything works as I think it should - just not with Jamulus client. I'm guessing it is something easy/obvious that I have overlooked but I'm out of ideas of what to test/poke at next. I've deleted Jamulus client (moved to Trash) and reinstalled it and still no joy. Oh, and it has worked in the past although I haven't used it for a number of months.

Again - thanks in advance for any thoughts/ideas to get this working again!

[chrisrimple]

When running Jamulus with an audio interface, you need Local Audio to be directed to the Jamulus server, and the Jamulus server's returning audio to be directed to your Headphones on the audio interface.

In Jamulus, you should set IN:2i2/OUT:2i2 and the appropriate Input and Output channels. Keep in mind that Headphone Out on your audio interface may not be channels 1 and 2.

Using the Focusrite software, you also need to disable Local Return (or some name like that) - when that's enabled, your Input to the audio interface is immediately echoed back to Headphones, and you don't want to hear yourself playing, instead needing to hear the sound from the Jamulus server.

[patricmc]

Thanks again!

Here is a screenshot of the Audio MIDI Setup screen for the 2i2. You may be on to something - it seems a bit weird (to me anyway) that the Input stream values for everything is essentially zero. But they are also all greyed out and I can't change them so I was assuming the input gain is left to the dedicated knob on the 2i2.

Here's the Focusrite Control 2 screen:

You can even see the ambient noise level (from my guitar) coming through at the current gain level. When I strum it I can get it into clipping range so it should be plenty loud enough. And, frustratingly, this setup works fine with my DAW so not obvious what's not right for Jamulus client.

Any other thoughts on things to try?

[patricmc]

Oh - and one more bit of data in case it is helpful. Here is a screenshot of the Device window in the system settings. The Input Level graphic at the bottom indicates that the OS is getting input (I took the screen shot as I was strumming the guitar).

[patricmc]

(Since this is a log of this issue for me)

I do now get a 'click-knock-knock' sound through the appropriate output channel immediately after I connect the Jamulus client to a server. I didn't hear that yesterday.

Another thing: I recently installed the USB driver for the Boss Katana Gen3 amp I recently got. So I uninstalled the Boss Katana USB driver, rebooted, and tried again - still no joy. Jamulus client doesn't 'hear' any input as indicated by the Input VU in the Jamulus client). So I went back and re-installed the Boss Katana driver as I need that for the amp.

[chrisrimple]

Let's eliminate the 2i2 and see if Jamulus works:

• Plug a wired headset into the headphone jack of your Mac (not wireless)
• Run Audio MIDI Setup, then ensure that the headphone jack is set to 48KHz Input and Output
• Run Sys Prefs > Sound and ensure that the headphone jack is the chosen Input and Output device
• Run Jamulus and select IN:System/OUT:System as the device
• Connect to a server
• Start talking

You should see the VU in Jamulus on the left light up if Jamulus is hearing sound from you. You'll see the VU over your night on the right light up if you're getting your own sound back from the Jamulus server.

If that works, then the issue isn't Jamulus, it's the routing of sound from your 2i2 to Jamulus. What you can try then is configure the 2i2 to output to System Audio, so that the Jamulus setting IN:System should be receiving the 2i2 input.

[patricmc]

Hi Chris:
Thanks again - great idea to isolate (wish I would have thought to do it before!). Unfortunately, no joy. Set things up as you suggest but still no sound being received by Jamulus client (and, of course, no sound of mine coming back from the server; I can still hear others connected to the server as before).

Here are some screen shots of my config (note - I umplugged the 2i2 completely for this experiment):

As a comparison, with the above set up I also recorded via Reaper and it all worked as expected. As noted in a previous post I still get a couple of 'knocking' sounds from Jamulus client when I'm trying to connect to a server - whether with this setup or via the 2i2.

Do you happen to know if there is a debug build of Jamulus client or some way to enable diagnostics to try and identify what I have wrong on my system?

Again, thanks for your help!

[rdica]

@chrisrimple @patricmc I've seen mention in the past where Mac users had to allow access to devices for specific apps, could this be a security setting that needs to be made for the app?

[chrisrimple]

Possibly a permissions issue. Sys Prefs > Privacy > Microphone and ensure that Jamulus is enabled in the list.

[patricmc]

@rdica @chrisrimple That was it! Jamulus was not allowed access to the system microphone! I gave it access (I seemed to have to reboot for that to take effect but maybe I just was confused) and it worked!!

Now both the Chris' system microphone/wired headphones test and the 2i2 work as expected!

Sorry for this being such a 'user error' - I'm still a bit of a newbie on the Mac and seems like I blew past a dialog box or something on install? A bit unexpected that access permissions to the system mic would impact the 2i2 but I guess it makes sense if you think of the 2i2 being the 'system mic' when it is identified as such. I certainly didn't think to check something like that.

Again, I really appreciate the help from both of you, esp Chris for the multiple back-and-forth. Thanks again!

[chrisrimple]

No worries, glad it worked out. And thanks to @rdica for reminding me about the permissions issue. :)