[ale] Blue Snowball USB mic

[Drew Brown]

I've spent the last few hours trying to get a Blue Snowball Microphone to
work with Lenny.
    . It works great in Microsoft XP & Audacity 1.3.7.
    . With some simple tweaks, it worked in Ubuntu & Audacity.
    . I have Debian Lenny with Audacity 1.3.5 (latest).
    . The mic's website said set it to 44100 and 16bit ("CD quality").
    . I changed the Audacity Preferences to 44100 & 16bit.
    . The lower lefthand setting was 44100.
    . I'm not interested in switching to Windows XP, Mac or Ubuntu.
    . I'm not interested in building a mini sound studio (non-USB).
    . I think I read that optimizing the kernel for audio won't help.
    . Having seen the reviews and such, I really like the Snowball mic.
    . Installing the new "high gain / low gain" firmware for this mic won't
help.
    . I believe I have a 'late model' Snowball that does not need the
update.

Technically the mic "works" but there are TWO PROBLEMS:
    . The input is extremely soft even on playback in Audacious.
    . It records at half speed despite changing the sample rate.

QUESTIONS:
. How do I increase the (USB) mic gain in Debian Lenny?
. Can someone locate a "how to get the Snowball mic working on non-Ubuntu
Linux?"
. Does anyone know of a good *USB Mic* for podcasting that works well with
Lenny?
. Can someone point me to a Linux hardware compatibility site that covers
USB mics?
. How do I figure out what audio configuration Ubuntu has that Lenny doesn't
have?
--
Wishing you Happiness, Joy, and Laughter,
Drew Brown

P.S.
It's been a looong time since I've been on this list. Glancing at the
archives,
I'm glad to be back. I see ya'll are even discussing quant stuff on here. :)
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