Microphone

Windows

No mic support is currently built in to kJams for Windows.

If you're on Windows 7, this feature is built in.

Please vote on if you need this feature.

If you're not on Windows 7, try these, i do not know if they enable audio pass-thru:
http://cvibes.net/computers/EnableInputMonitor.html
http://www.totalrecorder.com/productfr_tr.htm
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/about/
http://software.muzychenko.net/eng/vac.htm

SoundFlower For Windows does not exist but you might try:
http://jackaudio.org/jack_on_windows
http://software.muzychenko.net/eng/vac.htm
http://vb-audio.pagesperso-orange.fr/Cable/index.htm
http://www.fx-max.com/fxt/
http://www.totalrecorder.com/
http://www.ntonyx.com/vac.htm
http://code.google.com/p/wormhole2/
http://www.debugmode.com/frameserver/

Mac

Professional KJ's will likely use a mixing board for all their microphone and audio sweetening needs. However if you just want to use the computer as your mixer and sweetener, you can! (make sure you have a fast computer, the more audio processing your computer does, the slower it goes)

I went ahead and got a dual head wireless mic system. Try this. Many of these are VHF systems, tho I hear tell that UHF gives more professional results (more expensive, less interference), I've had good success with mine.

Here's an awesome cable, it's got XLR on one side and USB on the other, and it's pre-amped!! Wow! And another!

If your microphone setup doesn't come with a pre-amp, you'll probably want a Griffin iMic, since it has a built-in pre-amp. You get much better sound and less hiss if you use a pre-amp. It is possible to use a microphone without a pre-amp, you can just plug the mic into your microphone port, but then you'll want to amp it in software, see below.

Depending on your microphone, you may need a special adapter.

Now inside kJams->Preferences->Audio, at the bottom, pick the "Audio Input" from the list. Note: don't pick "internal microphone" as the input and "internal speakers" as the output because currently there is no feedback protection. Press OK to get out of preferences.

Then use the volume sliders to adjust the levels, top is for speakers, bottom is for microphone.

Current Limitations:

• No chorus or reverb (or any other) effects
  
• No compressor or post-amp
  
• No facility for picking channels (eg: you may have mic 1 on left channel and mic 2 on right channel, and want them both mixed to center, or you may have your mics coming in from SoundFlower on some channel above 2)
• Only One Stereo Channel available. (you may want to have three or more mics)

For now, if you need these features, use GarageBand with this article as a guide to GarageBand 101. Or use Audio Hijack Pro, or use Audio Hijack (Lite) along with Line In (Direct Download), I like the extra features of the Pro version.

In Audio Hijack, hijack the microphone port or the "Line In" application, and you should start getting sound from the mic. If you do NOT have a pre-amp on your mic, you will need to add the "V4X Effect -> Double Gain" to amp up the microphone signal a bit, tho you wil get some hiss, which you can then try to minimize with a Graphic EQ effect. At that point some KJ's like to add a reverb or chorus effect, to make the vocals sound a bit more like you're in a large theater.

If you also want to sweeten the audio of the music itself, you can at the same time hijack kJams, and add whatever effects you wish.

Keep in mind that digital audio processing (as opposed to using a mixing board) will always introduce LATENCY in the audio.

• this just in: the USB mic that comes with the Wii game "American Idol" works with kJams and has built-in reverb! JOY!