Anyone on Jamkazam?

[DaveGinNJ]

What do you use to mic yourself? Do you use separate mics for voice and mando? What types of mics work best?

[Russ Donahue]

Gave up on it.
Our band used during the height of pandemic to very limited success. It seemed to get somewhat better as time went on - two of us could play together pretty much in sync. The frustration factor of a time lag couldn't be overcome.

[Beanzy]

Used it for rehearsing ok. We all have fibre to the house and are within a 10 mile radius. Using direct ethernet connection to the hub,
Focusrite Scarlett with C1000s mics & Sennheiser headphones.
We use the lowest grade video & sometimes do audio only if someone is away elsewhere (mitigating latency issues)
If Jamkazam acted up we'd swap to Sonobus & do audio only.
Have also had success setting up video calls in the usual Zoom/facetime etc on one device, then doing the Jamkazam audio only option in parallel on a PC for the rehearsal audio.

[DaveGinNJ]

Used it for rehearsing ok. We all have fibre to the house and are within a 10 mile radius. Using direct ethernet connection to the hub,
Focusrite Scarlett with C1000s mics & Sennheiser headphones.
We use the lowest grade video & sometimes do audio only if someone is away elsewhere (mitigating latency issues)
If Jamkazam acted up we'd swap to Sonobus & do audio only.
Have also had success setting up video calls in the usual Zoom/facetime etc on one device, then doing the Jamkazam audio only option in parallel on a PC for the rehearsal audio.

At this point I am committed to giving it a try since I bought an audio interface. The jam I joined only does audio. It seemed like it worked OK most if the time but others kept saying my sound was too low. I was using one mic so maybe I am not close enough or maybe I need to mic vocals and mando separately

[Russ Donahue]

Lucky Beanzy with Fiber connection. That likely would have helped our experience. Here in coastal Maine, we're not that fortunate - especially with several of us living outside town in the woods. Beautiful as it may be, the trade-off is access to technology that would be so much fun to use.

[Beanzy]

We we're very lucky to get the fibre installed at the start of January 2020, just a couple of months before everything went a bit bonkers.
Before that we were on a copper connection 8km from the exchange, with the speed measured in a few kbps.
As we're dotted around the various valleys in the countryside it has made a huge difference to what we can do.

[Bill McCall]

I tried it early in the pandemic. We were +/- 30 miles apart. Audio only, fiber connection, latency was too great. And cancelling the subscription was much more difficult than necessary.

Ymmv

[snakehead_a2z]

I’ve been using jk with some friends since Dec. 2020. We live 4-5 hours apart by car, in Florida. Within the last few months, we’ve added a couple more people, in different areas. The latency is usually workable, IF you don’t play things fast, IF all participants are on fast ethernet and have their audio setups identical. I use an AT large diaphragm condenser mic. The rest use SM 58s, I think.

[GTO]

A 58 for vocal and 57 for mando, with MOTU interface, work just fine. At least, band mates say they hear me well.

[dhergert]

What do you use to mic yourself? Do you use separate mics for voice and mando? What types of mics work best?

Sorry I missed this earlier...

I host a bluegrass-ish jam on JamKazam every day. (Wernick Method jam, 4pm PST daily.)

I'm using a ca. April 2020 HP Envy 17 CE1xxx laptop, Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-10510U CPU @ 1.80GHz 2.30 GHz, 64.0 GB (63.8 GB usable) RAM, 1T SSD, Win10 Pro. Fiber to the house, cable from the fiber to the router, Spectrum ISP.

The reason I provide these details is that this system came with a native installed stereo mic (and speaker) system. I simply use it, and have since I got the system. No external audio interface or mics. I use the standard Windows WDM driver (not ASIO).

Years ago JamKazam had a strong preference for audio interfaces and ASIO drivers, some of their older documentation still reflects that. But their relatively new Manage => Support => Audio Configuration Report (Alt-Shift-R) grades my audio system and WDM driver as excellent.

I usually play about 30 inches from the mics which are inside the top of the laptop display near the webcam. This is easily within reach of the keyboard, mouse and controls while I'm holding and playing an instrument.

I do of course use a headset for listening and I use a wired connection. Audio only, no video unless for a special occasion.

My latency details are equal to or better than just about everyone I meet who use external audio interfaces and mics. And people in my jam always report my sound is excellent.

What I do get with this setup is:

1) Excellent sound.
2) Low latency.
3) Ease of setup.
4) Simplicity and ease of use while trying to manage the jam.

What I don't get with this setup is:

1) Multiple input capability. I'm totally acoustic for both voice and instruments.
2) Multiple output capability. I use a TV-type wireless (RF) headset and have 2 headsets for it, so someone else can participate with me.
3) Electronic mic balancing between voice and instruments.

Since I'm used to playing acoustically and sensitively balancing volume anyway, these are not an issue for voice and mandolin. (In contrast, I've occasionally tried banjo, which is less convenient for hosting anyway because of size, weight and fingerpicks, and it is far too loud at 30 inches even with my most sensitive playing, so I would have to be at least about 5 feet away from my laptop, or dramatically turn down my session Audio Input, for that to work well.)

If you have any other questions about this, feel free to ask.

[DaveGinNJ]

Sorry I missed this earlier...

I host a bluegrass-ish jam on JamKazam every day. (Wernick Method jam, 4pm PST daily.)

I'm using a ca. April 2020 HP Envy 17 CE1xxx laptop, Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-10510U CPU @ 1.80GHz 2.30 GHz, 64.0 GB (63.8 GB usable) RAM, 1T SSD, Win10 Pro. Fiber to the house, cable from the fiber to the router, Spectrum ISP.

The reason I provide these details is that this system came with a native installed stereo mic (and speaker) system. I simply use it, and have since I got the system. No external audio interface or mics. I use the standard Windows WDM driver (not ASIO).

Years ago JamKazam had a strong preference for audio interfaces and ASIO drivers, some of their older documentation still reflects that. But their relatively new Manage => Support => Audio Configuration Report (Alt-Shift-R) grades my audio system and WDM driver as excellent.

I usually play about 30 inches from the mics which are inside the top of the laptop display near the webcam. This is easily within reach of the keyboard, mouse and controls while I'm holding and playing an instrument.

I do of course use a headset for listening and I use a wired connection. Audio only, no video unless for a special occasion.

My latency details are equal to or better than just about everyone I meet who use external audio interfaces and mics. And people in my jam always report my sound is excellent.

What I do get with this setup is:

1) Excellent sound.
2) Low latency.
3) Ease of setup.
4) Simplicity and ease of use while trying to manage the jam.

What I don't get with this setup is:

1) Multiple input capability. I'm totally acoustic for both voice and instruments.
2) Multiple output capability. I use a TV-type wireless (RF) headset and have 2 headsets for it, so someone else can participate with me.
3) Electronic mic balancing between voice and instruments.

Since I'm used to playing acoustically and sensitively balancing volume anyway, these are not an issue for voice and mandolin. (In contrast, I've occasionally tried banjo, which is less convenient for hosting anyway because of size, weight and fingerpicks, and it is far too loud at 30 inches even with my most sensitive playing, so I would have to be at least about 5 feet away from my laptop, or dramatically turn down my session Audio Input, for that to work well.)

If you have any other questions about this, feel free to ask.

Thanks Don. Your jam is the very one I starting joining. I ended up picking up an inexpensive Stagg small-diaphragm mic for mandolin and am using a Presonus large-diaphragm for voice. That seemed a bit better but I need the mics very close even though I have the gain on my audio interface set at max

[dhergert]

Thanks Don. Your jam is the very one I starting joining. I ended up picking up an inexpensive Stagg small-diaphragm mic for mandolin and am using a Presonus large-diaphragm for voice. That seemed a bit better but I need the mics very close even though I have the gain on my audio interface set at max

Hey Dave, as you've probably figured out, I'm not the expert where audio interfaces are concerned, mostly because I've been lucky enough not to need to use one.

Randy and Gary and George in the jam, the Strum Machine guys, are really the folks who have tried lots of things... And of course Larry also has audio interface experience and I think that he also has the Presonus so he could probably be helpful about that, but he is very often unavailable in the JamKazam session, busy playing gigs.

That said, it sounds like both of the mics you're talking about are condenser mics. Does your audio interface provide sufficient phantom power, or do you get phantom power with some other device? If some other device provides phantom power, is it providing enough power? The specs that came with your mics should detail what the optimal voltage is that they require -- if they are USB condenser mics, there might be some other way they are getting phantom power so we'd need to talk more with the other folks mentioned above.

Also, there are three areas for settings for volume in a session in JamKazam... As you look at the session window, the Audio Input column on the left individually governs how loud each of your channels into JamKazam sound to everyone else. The Personal Mix column to the right of that individually governs how loud you and everyone else in the session sounds to you. And lastly, in the session window, the top "button" menu has a Volume button which brings up settings that govern how loud the whole mix sounds to you (we do not use "Chat" so you can just leave that muted). From your description it sounds like the Audio Input column on the left might be where some adjustments need to be made, if you have remaining headroom there.

If you don't have remaining headroom for your channels in that column, there's probably a setup setting that needs to be revisited, perhaps in JamKazam, or perhaps in your workstation's audio settings.

I'd encourage you to try again in our session; I try to be in the session by 3:30pm to 3:45pm PST, and we can work on some settings then, or during a session we can try to get Gary or Randy or George scheduled to help you with some more audio-interface related settings. We can't take a lot of actual jam time, but we can schedule other times to work with you while in JamKazaom, or over the phone. Usually with this kind of tinkering we are able to get people sounding good.

I hope to see you there whenever you can make it.

[DaveGinNJ]

Hey Dave, as you've probably figured out, I'm not the expert where audio interfaces are concerned, mostly because I've been lucky enough not to need to use one.

Randy and Gary and George in the jam, the Strum Machine guys, are really the folks who have tried lots of things... And of course Larry also has audio interface experience and I think that he also has the Presonus so he could probably be helpful about that, but he is very often unavailable in the JamKazam session, busy playing gigs.

That said, it sounds like both of the mics you're talking about are condenser mics. Does your audio interface provide sufficient phantom power, or do you get phantom power with some other device? If some other device provides phantom power, is it providing enough power? The specs that came with your mics should detail what the optimal voltage is that they require -- if they are USB condenser mics, there might be some other way they are getting phantom power so we'd need to talk more with the other folks mentioned above.

Also, there are three areas for settings for volume in a session in JamKazam... As you look at the session window, the Audio Input column on the left individually governs how loud each of your channels into JamKazam sound to everyone else. The Personal Mix column to the right of that individually governs how loud you and everyone else in the session sounds to you. And lastly, in the session window, the top "button" menu has a Volume button which brings up settings that govern how loud the whole mix sounds to you (we do not use "Chat" so you can just leave that muted). From your description it sounds like the Audio Input column on the left might be where some adjustments need to be made, if you have remaining headroom there.

If you don't have remaining headroom for your channels in that column, there's probably a setup setting that needs to be revisited, perhaps in JamKazam, or perhaps in your workstation's audio settings.

I'd encourage you to try again in our session; I try to be in the session by 3:30pm to 3:45pm PST, and we can work on some settings then, or during a session we can try to get Gary or Randy or George scheduled to help you with some more audio-interface related settings. We can't take a lot of actual jam time, but we can schedule other times to work with you while in JamKazaom, or over the phone. Usually with this kind of tinkering we are able to get people sounding good.

I hope to see you there whenever you can make it.

Thanks Don. I am definitely not giving up and plan to keep joining. I have a few ideas to try. Yes, both mics require phantom power which they get from the Presonus audio interface. However the audio interface is USB powered so maybe it struggles with 2 mics

[stbarnett]

Hi Don and Dave. Great discussion. I just installed JK about a week ago using a Zoom U-24 audio interface. I have fibre optic to my router and ethernet to the computer. I tested it with a friend who lives about 100 miles away and we had minimal latency (12ms), so it worked fine.
I have a K&K pickup in my mando and a Zoom-1 mic for talking.
I saw the BG jam listed and was thinking of giving it a try, so now I'll definitely give it a try.
The interesting part is going to be so see if it will work for me given the physical distance. I'm located in Panama, in Central America.
But I'll definitely catch you on line to try it very soon.

[DaveGinNJ]

Hi Don and Dave. Great discussion. I just installed JK about a week ago using a Zoom U-24 audio interface. I have fibre optic to my router and ethernet to the computer. I tested it with a friend who lives about 100 miles away and we had minimal latency (12ms), so it worked fine.
I have a K&K pickup in my mando and a Zoom-1 mic for talking.
I saw the BG jam listed and was thinking of giving it a try, so now I'll definitely give it a try.
The interesting part is going to be so see if it will work for me given the physical distance. I'm located in Panama, in Central America.
But I'll definitely catch you on line to try it very soon.

My understanding is that the number of hops (internet devices) is a much bigger contributor to latency that physical distance. Data moves over fiber at near the speed of light. If you had a straight cable from Panama to New York City it would take 25 milliseconds to get there. Your internet provider and computer gear probably add more latency than that

[stbarnett]

Don, I tried getting onto the jam tonight but was not let in. I'll try again.

[stbarnett]

Don, I tried getting onto the jam tonight but was not let in. I'll try again.

[dhergert]

Don, I tried getting onto the jam tonight but was not let in. I'll try again.

Hi Steve, sorry to have missed you, I was out of town (Havasu, AZ for a festival), and I understand you're away for a couple weeks now. So let's try again as soon as you get back.

Regarding distance related latency, this is sort of an eye-opener for me. Your distance in Panama to me in Southern California is no further than from me to Vermont, and we do have people in the jam regularly who are that far away... Normally my rule of thumb had been not to bring someone in who wasn't in North America just to try to keep latency down for everyone else in the jam, and also because there might be some language problems. But I'd like to move forward with this for you, since there isn't a language problem and since your connection may actually be surprisingly good.

Just let me know either here in the Cafe' or in JK, and we can start getting you on board.