Problem With Mac/Garageband

thereturn

I recently bought a macbook to record on garageband. Unfortunately when I am recording on garageband now there is no input. I have connected my guitar into an amp and a mic into an audiofille (m-audio). I am not sure if the mic is a preamp mic (it is a sennheiser e835) though I would have thought that even if it wasn't an amplified mic the mac would pick up something. The internal mic has been working but its not up to the quality I need obviously. Anybody have any idea what I'm doing wrong?

PaulBrewer

Which Audiophile?

thereturn

PaulBrewer wrote: »

Which Audiophile?

M Audio Audophhile. http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep03/articles/maudioaphile.htm?print=yes
It wasn't running on my mac until I downloaded a link and installed it. Hope this info helps.

PaulBrewer

No ! Which model M-Audio Audiophile? There are quite a few!!

thereturn

PaulBrewer wrote: »

No ! Which model M-Audio Audiophile? There are quite a few!!

The same model as the one in my link above. Appreciate your help. I'm a complete beginner at all this.

PaulBrewer

Ok . got you now!

There are 2 likely issues.

Will any sound play OUT of the unit? If not , the unit is probably not selected in your System Preferences.

(The blue apple top left of screen, System Preferences, Sound, Output)

if that's working go to system preferences again but 'Input' this time and select Audiophile.


Your next issue is that a mic can't drive your line level only inputs on the Audiophile.

You need a mic pre amp of some sort ( maybe you have a mixer you can use?) to raise the very low mic output to a level that suits the input of AudioPhile.

thereturn

PaulBrewer wrote: »

Ok . got you now!

There are 2 likely issues.

Will any sound play OUT of the unit? If not , the unit is probably not selected in your System Preferences.

(The blue apple top left of screen, System Preferences, Sound, Output)

if that's working go to system preferences again but 'Input' this time and select Audiophile.


Your next issue is that a mic can't drive your line level only inputs on the Audiophile.

You need a mic pre amp of some sort ( maybe you have a mixer you can use?) to raise the very low mic output to a level that suits the input of AudioPhile.

Thanks for the reply. When I checked my output there and selected the audiophile usb ut said that the selected ouptut has no audio controls. Is that my problem and if so how do I rectify it? Thanks again for your reply and I appreciate your patience.

PaulBrewer

No, that just means there are no parameters that the computer can control on the APhile.

thereturn

PaulBrewer wrote: »

No, that just means there are no parameters that the computer can control on the APhile.

Okay right. When I selected imput it also told me that "the device has no input controls". I'm at a loss to know what the problem is. If it was simply a matter of getting a mic with a preamp that would be fine but surely there should be some sound out of the aphile...

PaulBrewer

same thing as output, doesn't matter. open a demo song on g band and see do you get output.

if not go to preferences in g band and select the audiophile as in and out (this is what I should have suggested first really)

thereturn

PaulBrewer wrote: »

same thing as output, doesn't matter. open a demo song on g band and see do you get output.

if not go to preferences in g band and select the audiophile as in and out (this is what I should have suggested first really)

I don't get output even when I went into preferences in g band and did the above.

PaulBrewer

thereturn wrote: »

I don't get output even when I went into preferences in g band and did the above.

Hmmm, and if you play itunes?

thereturn

I don't have any songs in itunes unfortunately as mac was only purchased in last day or two. don't even have the internet set up on it yet and am using a laptop to communicate with you which is great fun!

I have no earphones that fit into the Audiophile so at the moment I am listening to what I have played just using the in built speakers. This works fine when my input is also the in built mic but when I try to record using audiophile there is no visual recognition of what I am playing on the screen in garageband as there would be if I was recording just simply using in built mic. Even when I simply try and record my voice using audiophile as the input it doesn't work. any help would be greatly appreciated.

PaulBrewer

thereturn wrote: »

I don't have any songs in itunes unfortunately as mac was only purchased in last day or two. don't even have the internet set up on it yet and am using a laptop to communicate with you which is great fun!

I have no earphones that fit into the Audiophile so at the moment I am listening to what I have played just using the in built speakers. This works fine when my input is also the in built mic but when I try to record using audiophile there is no visual recognition of what I am playing on the screen in garageband as there would be if I was recording just simply using in built mic. Even when I simply try and record my voice using audiophile as the input it doesn't work. any help would be greatly appreciated.

As a rule, the mac can only 'listen' to one input so if it's listening to your in built mic it can't simultaneously 'listen' to your APhile. (except you make an aggregate but lets not for the moment)

The same is true for the output. i.e. if you can hear your mac speakers you aren't outputting through the APhile.

So first step is get an adaptor or borrow headphones with a 1/4 inch plug and get that going first.....

Similarly

thereturn

PaulBrewer wrote: »

As a rule, the mac can only 'listen' to one input so if it's listening to your in built mic it can't simultaneously 'listen' to your APhile. (except you make an aggregate but lets not for the moment)

The same is true for the output. i.e. if you can hear your mac speakers you aren't outputting through the APhile.

So first step is get an adaptor or borrow headphones with a 1/4 inch plug and get that going first.....

Similarly

Yeah but I had borrowed headphones earlier today and had the aphile as my input and output but again it wasn't reading what I was playing on the screen on garageband or likewise there was nothing coming out of the 1/4 inch headphones. If I just record using in built mic as my input then i could visually see garageband picking up my voice for instance. This isn't the case when I have aphile as my input.

PaulBrewer

thereturn wrote: »

Yeah but I had borrowed headphones earlier today and had the aphile as my input and output but again it wasn't reading what I was playing on the screen on garageband or likewise there was nothing coming out of the 1/4 inch headphones. If I just record using in built mic as my input then i could visually see garageband picking up my voice for instance. This isn't the case when I have aphile as my input.

and when you had the headphones you played a demo song and had selected the ap as the output in g band preferences?

thereturn

PaulBrewer wrote: »

and when you had the headphones you played a demo song and had selected the ap as the output in g band preferences?

When I had the headphones I then played what I had recorded previoulsy using in built mic and nothing come out. When I then changed the output in gband back to in built what i had recored came out. I didn't play demo song in gband with ap as output i only played some of my own recording that had previoulsy worked for me. would there be any signifance in this?

PaulBrewer

No, it's just to test the output.... so your track will be fine.

Have you downloaded the latest driver?

http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=support&tab=driver

another thing I should have suggested.

thereturn

PaulBrewer wrote: »

No, it's just to test the output.... so your track will be fine.

Have you downloaded the latest driver?

http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=support&tab=driver

another thing I should have suggested.

Yeah I did. Can you draw any conclusions from info I have given? I take it the problem has nothing to do with having a preamp mic and is a basic problem with the aphile or something?

PaulBrewer

thereturn wrote: »

Yeah I did. Can you draw any conclusions from info I have given? I take it the problem has nothing to do with having a preamp mic and is a basic problem with the aphile or something?

The unit will not amplify a mic with out a pre so that's why I concentrated on getting an output.

If your settings are correct and your driver is up to date then there are 2 possible scenarios.

1. there's something bust in the audiophile

2. there's some ongoing software bug

After that it will take a more techy guy than I to help.

Where did you buy it?

If noone else chimes in give M-audio a yell on their support line tomorrow.

thereturn

PaulBrewer wrote: »

The unit will not amplify a mic with out a pre so that's why I concentrated on getting an output.

If your settings are correct and your driver is up to date then there are 2 possible scenarios.

1. there's something bust in the audiophile

2. there's some ongoing software bug

After that it will take a more techy guy than I to help.

Where did you buy it?

If noone else chimes in give M-audio a yell on their support line tomorrow.

Paul am I correct in saying though that I should still be getting some output even with no pre amp mic? I bought the mac off apple on their site two weeks ago and got the M-Audio off a friend of a friend. Appreciate all the time you've given to assist me in my endeavours.

PaulBrewer

thereturn wrote: »

Paul am I correct in saying though that I should still be getting some output even with no pre amp mic?

Exactly!

trackmixstudio

First of all, in system preferences where the headers are Personal, Hardware etc, the m-audio should have its own preference pane to adjust settings. There are leopard drivers available now and you need these for your macbook.
Select audio in system preferences and select the m-audio as your sound device. In spotlight (the magnifying glass at the top right of the screen) type "audio midi". this will find the audio midi setup program. Open it and make sure the m-audio is selected here for input and output.
Make sure your volume is up. press f12 on the keyboard to make sure. A bit obvious but this IS trouble shooting.
Secondly, the audiophile usb is not much use to you since it has no mic pre. You should get the fast track usb. It should cost about €120 and has a mic pre and guitar input.
If you still can't get it going PM for my number and I will run through it with you if you want.
Michael

thereturn

trackmixstudio wrote: »

First of all, in system preferences where the headers are Personal, Hardware etc, the m-audio should have its own preference pane to adjust settings. There are leopard drivers available now and you need these for your macbook.
Select audio in system preferences and select the m-audio as your sound device. In spotlight (the magnifying glass at the top right of the screen) type "audio midi". this will find the audio midi setup program. Open it and make sure the m-audio is selected here for input and output.
Make sure your volume is up. press f12 on the keyboard to make sure. A bit obvious but this IS trouble shooting.
Secondly, the audiophile usb is not much use to you since it has no mic pre. You should get the fast track usb. It should cost about €120 and has a mic pre and guitar input.
If you still can't get it going PM for my number and I will run through it with you if you want.
Michael

Thanks for the reply. Will try all that when I get home today.

thereturn

trackmixstudio wrote: »

First of all, in system preferences where the headers are Personal, Hardware etc, the m-audio should have its own preference pane to adjust settings. There are leopard drivers available now and you need these for your macbook.
Select audio in system preferences and select the m-audio as your sound device. In spotlight (the magnifying glass at the top right of the screen) type "audio midi". this will find the audio midi setup program. Open it and make sure the m-audio is selected here for input and output.
Make sure your volume is up. press f12 on the keyboard to make sure. A bit obvious but this IS trouble shooting.
Secondly, the audiophile usb is not much use to you since it has no mic pre. You should get the fast track usb. It should cost about €120 and has a mic pre and guitar input.
If you still can't get it going PM for my number and I will run through it with you if you want.
Michael

ss

I have pm'd you. Unfortunately still no change

PaulBrewer

This may indicate a hardware issue. It really shouldn't be this complicated ...

thereturn

After hooking new monitors up I can now hear recordings that I did previoulsy using in built mic on mac as recorder. I can't get input for some reason though. When I try and record anything using audiophile nothing is registered on the mac. Anyone any ideas? I know quality won't be the best without pre amp mic but surely I should hear something?

fitz

The audiophile you have is not designed to take input from mics. The only way you'll get input via your audiophile is if you have an external mic preamp that you run a line-out to the audiophile from. Otherwise you're going to get nothing. The audiophile is a usb midi interface.

It's not a matter of the quality not being the best. Your audiophile simply will not do what you need. As Michael suggested, the fast track usb interface is the product you need in that price range by m-audio.

thereturn

fitz wrote: »

The audiophile you have is not designed to take input from mics. The only way you'll get input via your audiophile is if you have an external mic preamp that you run a line-out to the audiophile from. Otherwise you're going to get nothing. The audiophile is a usb midi interface.

It's not a matter of the quality not being the best. Your audiophile simply will not do what you need. As Michael suggested, the fast track usb interface is the product you need in that price range by m-audio.

Very good thanks. Is fas track usb definetly the best option out there for recording electric guitar, bass, acoustic guitar and vocals in and around the 180 mark? Looking for something to use in conjunction with garageband. If I am using fast track usb interface how important is it that I buy specialised mic's for using guitar, bass and vocals or will the mic Sennheiser e835 which is a vocal mic be decent enough? Also what is the best way of recording? Should the instruments be connected to the fast track or should we record playing music together and attaching the mic only to the fast track? Sorry for all the questions. Appreciate any advice for this begginer.

fitz

You can pick up a Mackie Onyx Sattelite for about €160 from Thomann. That will give you two reasonably good clean Onyx pre's. It's a firewire device, as opposed to usb. Firewire can be flakey on Windows, depending on your system, but you won't have any problems with it on Mac.

Experiment with the instruments plugged in or recorded with the mic, see what gives you results you prefer. You can definitely get more suited mics for recording instruments, but see how you get on with what you have before spending more on something you might not need for what you want to get out of your recording.

thereturn

fitz wrote: »

You can pick up a Mackie Onyx Sattelite for about €160 from Thomann. That will give you two reasonably good clean Onyx pre's. It's a firewire device, as opposed to usb. Firewire can be flakey on Windows, depending on your system, but you won't have any problems with it on Mac.

Experiment with the instruments plugged in or recorded with the mic, see what gives you results you prefer. You can definitely get more suited mics for recording instruments, but see how you get on with what you have before spending more on something you might not need for what you want to get out of your recording.

What are the basic differences between a Mackie Onyx Satellite and fast track usb other than the fact that Mackie is a firewire device? Appreciate your help.

fitz

Have a look on the Mackie website and on the M-Audio website for the details on each.
The Mackie comes with a docking station that allows you to hook up monitors/inserts, at home, but pull the core module out and bring it with you without unplugging all your other equipment.

I'd be pretty confident that the preamps and convertors in the Mackie are better, but in terms of the differences between the two, check out their spec sheets.

Search some forums and wikipedia, see if you can find any beginners guides to recording and music technology. It'll serve you well to educate yourself a bit more about the terms you're comparing and what they mean. You'll need to do this if you want to get good results from your recording anyway.

thereturn

fitz wrote: »

Have a look on the Mackie website and on the M-Audio website for the details on each.
The Mackie comes with a docking station that allows you to hook up monitors/inserts, at home, but pull the core module out and bring it with you without unplugging all your other equipment.

I'd be pretty confident that the preamps and convertors in the Mackie are better, but in terms of the differences between the two, check out their spec sheets.

Search some forums and wikipedia, see if you can find any beginners guides to recording and music technology. It'll serve you well to educate yourself a bit more about the terms you're comparing and what they mean. You'll need to do this if you want to get good results from your recording anyway.

I have read some reviews that preamps and converters in m-audio fast track aren't the best so perhaps you are right that they are better on the Mackie. Apparently the gain has to be turned up full blast for it to be properly audible. There doesn't appear to be as much info on the Mackie. Thanks for the advice anyway.