A huge feature missing from GarageBand is the ability to record with multiple USB mics on different tracks at the same time. If you're recording a duet, or a podcast with more than one person, it's a pain.

If you're planning on singing Islands in the Stream or podcasting with a few friends, there is a way to get GarageBand to recognize all of your USB mics. All it takes is a quick trip to the Utilities folder to visit the Audio MIDI Setup app.

Difficulty level:
Medium

What you need:
> GarageBand '08 or later
> Mac OS 10.4 or later
> Multiple USB mics
> 30 minutes to spare

1. Mic Check

We grabbed three random mics. A Sennheiser Headset, Blue Eyeball and Rock Band mic.

Plug in all of your USB mics. We plugged ours into a powered USB, so you're not hindered by the available ports on your machine. Remember though, the more mics you plug in, the harder GarageBand has to work to record.

2. Audio Input Setup

Audio MIDI Setup is a great utility that no one knows about.

Go to Applications>Utilities>Audio MIDI Setup. Go to Audio in the menu bar and select Open Aggregate Device Editor.

You'll create one device for all of your mics.

Click on the plus button under the Aggregate Devices window.

Naming your new Aggregate Device now will help you later.

Click on the new Aggregate Device and rename it. We choose, Podcast Mics since we'll use this setup for podcasting.

This window will show you all of your audio in and out devices.

In the structure window you should see the USB mics you have plugged in. We have two mics and one mic/headset combo plugged in. Check the Use box beside the mics you want to use. For a headset, be sure to choose to Use the choice with the In option not the Out. In signifies audio in and Out signifies audio out.

Your Aggregate device should only have Audio In devices.

The choices you made will move to the top of the Structure list. We check the Resample option for our setup. Test your audio setup for best results. Click done and quit Audio MIDI Setup.