Question: Why is my AT2020USB-XP LED blinking?

Answer: The AT2020USB-XP microphone is a professional upgrade of the popular AT2020USB-X, retaining many features from that mic while adding an improved high-resolution analog-to-digital converter and onboard digital signal processing. The advanced converter supports multiple sample rates, with recording resolution up to 24-bit/192 kHz for extremely clear, natural sound capture. The microphone’s headphone jack with volume control allows you to monitor audio directly from the microphone with zero latency. The mix control allows you to blend the live microphone signal with computer audio.

When using the AT2020USB-XP it is important that the sample rates for the microphone (input device) and the headphones (output device) be set to the same rate in the sound preferences section of your computer, otherwise, even though you’ll hear mic audio in the headphones connected to the mic’s headphone jack, no audio will be output from the microphone’s analog-to-digital converter and the microphone’s LED will continue blinking to indicate there is a problem. Note that if you are recording, you may receive an error message from your recording program and/or the microphone will not be recorded. Although recording at 24-bit (up to 192 kHz) is supported, playback is limited to 16-bit.

Follow the instructions below to set the sample rate on a Windows or Mac computer.

For Windows

Open Sound settings, select the Recording tab, select Microphone AT2020USB-XP as the default recording device, then click on the Properties button.

Select the Advanced tab and set your preferences for the default recording format. This microphone’s converter supports a recording resolution up to 24-bit/192 kHz. Click OK.

Select the Playback tab in Sound settings, select Headphones AT2020USB-XP as the default playback device, then click on the Properties button.

Click on the Advanced tab in the Headphones Properties window and set the Default Format to 2 channel, 16-bit (up to 192 kHz). Click OK.

Click OK to close the Sound window.

For Mac

Open Audio MIDI Setup, select AT2020USB-XP as the Input device. Set your preferences for the default recording format. This microphone’s converter supports a recording resolution up to 24-bit/192 kHz.

Select AT2020USB-XP as the Output device. Set the Default Format to 2 channel 16-bit (up to 192 kHz).

If you have any questions regarding the AT2020USB-XP microphone, please contact the Audio Solutions Team for further information.