Can the MOTU M2 record your microphone and computer audio together?

A cue before the chorus

At six on Thursday, Jules was trying to explain where the harmony came in. The explanation had acquired an introduction of its own. Across the table, Lena stopped reading and kept a finger on the same line.

Jules lowered the sheet. “I can do the singing after.”

The instrumental recording was already on Lena’s laptop. Jules wanted to play it and add a spoken cue, then sing the harmony so someone learning by ear could follow. A single recording would suit that little guide.

The familiar Shure SM58-CN microphone could stay. Jules had its XLR cable and headphones, but no interface to connect the microphone to the computer. Before choosing one, there was another question: how would the music playing on the laptop get into the recording too?

The word after Loopback

The MOTU M2 had a useful answer in its driver. Loopback sends computer playback back into the recording software. On this model, the plain Loopback 1-2 pair carries playback from outputs 1-2. The pair called Loopback 1-2 Mix also includes the live interface inputs, such as Jules’s microphone.

Jules had written the shorter name on the sheet. The extra word earned a circle. For this recording, Mix was the part that mattered.

That made the M2 a suitable first interface for the plan: the microphone and live laptop playback could arrive together at one stereo recording track. Jules would not need to cable the computer’s playback into another pair of analog inputs.

The choice still depended on software. Lena’s Windows 11 laptop had an Intel x64 processor, met the recording software and interface requirements, and had a spare USB-A port. Lena agreed to the driver and recording software being installed, with study time left alone.

One setting before Record

The M2 package includes a USB-C to USB-A cable and takes power over USB. Jules’s plan used that cable, the existing SM58-CN and its XLR lead, and wired headphones with a quarter-inch stereo plug. The dynamic microphone would go into input 1 with 48V switched off.

On Windows, the M Series driver needs installing before the interface is connected. Registering the M2 also gives its owner access to the included Performer Lite recording software. Jules would use Performer Lite 11 with the MOTU M Series ASIO driver and a stereo track assigned to the combined Loopback Mix pair.

Lena read a little farther. Arming a track in Performer Lite can enable monitoring even when its monitor button is off. Monitoring the loopback track would send its incoming mix back toward the playback being captured, risking feedback.

The setting to use in Performer Lite 11 is Studio > Audio Patch Thru > Off, before arming the track. For the microphone in the headphones, a short press of input 1’s MON button provides centered hardware monitoring. Computer playback must be sent to the M2’s outputs 1-2.

Jules added the setting under the circled Mix. Lena returned the sheet. The headphones would keep the backing track private. Jules’s singing still needed to wait.

Leave room for the song

Jules chose the M2 for that combined input and kept the old microphone in the plan. The linked listing is the standalone M2, manufacturer part 3120, rather than a microphone bundle. The complete checkout total, including any tax and shipping, would have to fit Jules’s $230 budget.

There was a trade-off worth accepting deliberately. Recording the combined mix would leave the voice and backing together, without separate tracks for adjusting each later. Someone who wanted that flexibility could import the backing file and record the microphone separately. And someone whose existing setup already captured both sources would have little reason to buy an M2 for this feature alone.

A live guide over the music suited Jules. A short trial would check the routing and levels before a full take.

Lena opened the book again. Jules drew a line through half the introduction, leaving one cue and a blank space before the chorus. The singing could wait until the studying was done. The song did not need another paragraph.

When this does not matter

Your existing equipment and software already capture both sources as you want.

Importing the backing file and recording the microphone separately suits the way you work.