Input works for recording in DAW (pro tools) but nothing else

[Kevtar]

I'm having trouble using my microphone on my audio interface (Avid Mbox 3) for anything such as (zoom calls/discord etc.) except for recording on pro tools which completly works fine so i know its somewhat setup correctly but I've tried so many different things and i cant seem to get any feedback or even get it to register the interface at all as a microphone on anything other than my DAW. Any Suggestions? I'm using Windows 10

not sure if this is the right forum for this question and if theres a place im supposed to be posting please point me in the right direction

[sw rec]

Trying to get Windows and ProTools to share your interface is just asking for trouble. Pro Tools doesn’t play well with others. As an example, I use a Focusrite Scarlett for Windows sounds and Source Connect, and a UA Apollo strictly for Pro Tools. Your PT interface should NOT be your default Windows playback/record device.

[EGS]

You can't share it with Pro Tools, but you should be able to use your audio interface for Zoom only, or, for Pro Tools only. For Zoom use, quit Pro Tools and try this: Control Panels ---> Sound ---> Recording ---> set to you audio interface. To switch back to Pro Tools, quit Zoom & make sure the Windows Playback & Recording tabs are NOT set to your audio interface. Then launch PT. Either/or but NOT both at once.

[sw rec]

^^^This. Nicely stated.^^^

[The Weed]

It is possible to "share" your interface to combine the output of Pro Tools with a browser app like Zoom and get the audio from Zoom into Pro Tools. It can be done a few ways:

1) Old school with cables. If your interface has enough I/O, bring the audio from your onboard soundcard into your interface via cable and set that Input as a source on a Track in Pro Tools. Using Pre-Fader Sends, route all audio you want to go back to the browser app to an Output on your interface. Cable that back to the Line In on your onboard soundcard. The settings in Control Panel>Sound would be Speakers in the Playback Tab and Line In on the Recording Tab. This means your interface is used solely by Pro Tools. The settings in the browser app would be Line In for Microphone and Speakers for Speakers.

2) Use a physical mixer to route the audio as necessary or a software mixer like Voicemeeter.

3) Use an interface with Loopback and preferably multi-client drivers. I have an RME UFX, which does have multi-client drivers and comes with a virtual mixer, TotalMix, which not only has Loopback, but allows the use of virtual I/O as well. For example, in Control Panel>Sound, the Playback Tab is set to ADAT 1/2 and the Recording Tab is set to Analog 5/6. I have nothing attached to my ADAT ports. The signal from my onboard soundcard comes in on ADAT 1/2 virtually, is routed to virtual Output ADAT 3/4 and looped back to virtual Input ADAT 3/4. A Track in Pro Tools has ADAT 3/4 as its Input. I have Pre-Fader Sends for my Booth mic and Talkback mic and any other Audio I want to go to the browser app set to Analog 5/6. Output 5/6 is Lopped Back to Analog 5/6 Input and goes out to the browser app. While I do have a cable on both Analog 5 and Analog 6, using Loopback bypasses them. The settings in the browser app are Analog 5/6 for Microphone and ADAT 1/2 for Speakers. I used to cable the audio as in example 1, but now I use this method. My onboard soundcard is set to 24/48 on both the Playback and Recording Tabs and the audio coming in is crystal clear. I have no issue with Pro Tools this way either.

However you route the audio, once done, it's set it and forget it as it will be the same for any browser-based two-way audio/video app. Just make a Pro Tools Template with all the Tracks and their routing and start collaborating. And the routing you use will also allow you to bring in any audio through your browser, for example YouTube.

HTH