Help Me Figure This Out, Please! (line in, pre-amp, etc.)

[Messiahtosh]

I have a new 15'' PowerBook (as im sure most of you know) and an electric guitar. I want to use Garageband to record my guitar playing, and I just bought a Lo Duca 12'' Cable that connects to the guitar and then to the computer through the headphone jack, will this work? I got it at Best Buy for $20.


LoDuca 12' Keyboard/Guitar Instrument Cable with Adapter Plug

Model: 47645

Whether you're pounding the keys or strumming the strings, get a high-quality connection between your instrument and your amp or sound system with this gold-plated cable.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1063670252431&skuId=5934983&type=product

[stoo]

Includes an adapter plug to convert from 6.5mm to 3.5mm, if needed

Looks like it should be OK.

[Xaqtly]

Your signal might be too low. What would be ideal is for you to put a pre-amp in between your guitar and the Mac. The cable really doesn't have much to do with it. Try getting a USB pre-amp like the MobilePre (http://m-audio.com/index.php?do=products.main&ID=2e809389ea3d9f4c29df7dee93074494) , or any kind of pre-amp.

I've also heard of some people getting acceptable levels from electric guitars even without a pre-amp, so give it a try first and see what you think.

[AirSluf]

XXXXX

[Mac+]

I have a new 15'' PowerBook (as im sure most of you know) and an electric guitar. I want to use Garageband to record my guitar playing, and I just bought a Lo Duca 12'' Cable that connects to the guitar and then to the computer through the headphone jack, will this work? I got it at Best Buy for $20. ...[snip]...
Headphone jack is for audio out not audio in.

Although, it is possible to get headphones to act as microphones in reverse sometimes by speaking into the earpieces and causing the membrane to oscillate, thus causing electrical signals to be generated.

[DMBand0026]

I'm pretty sure he meant the line in jack. Our boy aint stupid.

And that should work, I do recording with my PB and sawtooth, but I do use a pre-amp, I've never tried it without one because I've always had one available to me so it seemed stupid not to use it.

[Messiahtosh]

I'm pretty sure he meant the line in jack. Our boy aint stupid.

And that should work, I do recording with my PB and sawtooth, but I do use a pre-amp, I've never tried it without one because I've always had one available to me so it seemed stupid not to use it.What is a pre-amp?

[Brad]

Moving to the Genius Bar. :)

A pre-amp is a device that amplifies the signal from the input (your guitar) to make it strong enough to be usable be the output (your computer). A line-in microphone jack (what your computer has) is one that doesn't change the signal when it's received and assumes the signal's voltage will be fairly strong. If the signal is too weak, you need a pre-amp.

[Messiahtosh]

Moving to the Genius Bar. :)

A pre-amp is a device that amplifies the signal from the input (your guitar) to make it strong enough to be usable be the output (your computer). A line-in microphone jack (what your computer has) is one that doesn't change the signal when it's received and assumes the signal's voltage will be fairly strong. If the signal is too weak, you need a pre-amp. Not only is the signal too weak, there are no devices detected and not a bit of sound is played through the comp. Something doesnt seem to be working right. I'm not even sure where to buy a pre-amp either. :confused:

[Mac+]

Ahhh - the joys of purchasing a preamp... if you thought buying your computer was an expensive outlay, be prepared for an education in the joys and financial woes that accompany high end audio purchases.

Mind you, you can seek out budget preamps, but bear in mind you get what you pay for. ;)

... may I suggest www.audiomidi.com (http://www.audiomidi.com/) as a starting point for you shopping (I'm not affiliated - I just think that they have quite a comprehensive inventory and they ship worldwide.) Good luck with all this M'tosh - the world of music and computer technology is an immensely gratifying, albeit savings-account damaging, one! :)

[DMBand0026]

Oh geez...Mac+ is so right, I can't count the thousands of dollars I've dropped on audio equipment, guitars, bass guitars, cables, adapters, mics, ect. All in the name of a better recording, and I'm not done yet. I'm looking at a new electric now (even though I don't really have the money for one). It's an addiction.

Check out
Musician's Friend (http://www.Musiciansfriend.com)
and
Sam Ash (http://www.samash.com)

For pre-amps and stuff like that. Good luck :)

[Messiahtosh]

Would this work then?

Fender Pre-Amp (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=040531114214069162003194895315/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/480640/)

[Xaqtly]

I think you'd have to install that into or onto your guitar for that to work. What might serve you a lot better is the MobilePre (http://m-audio.com/index.php?do=products.main&ID=2e809389ea3d9f4c29df7dee93074494). You just plug it into a free USB port, plug your guitar into the front of it and you're good to go. You can also run a mic through it, something else that won't work without a preamp of some kind.

[Wrao]

wait wait wait...garageband has software amplification, you shouldn't NEED a preamp.

Both my active Bass and my passive bass, my friends passive guitar, and my brothers active guitar work fine just plugging direct with no preamp.

you shouldn't be getting a low signal at all, connect your guitar via the 1/4" -> 1/8" cable you got, put it in the audio Line in, input. Open up your sound preferences and where it says choose a device for sound input, select audio line in make sure the level is all the way up.

open garageband, create a new instrument, turn the stereo monitoring on(make sure you do this with headphones or you will create feedback between the powerbook speakers and the powerbook microphone)

you should be recording at full strength.

Yes, a pre-amp will probably yield better more flexible sound, but heck, I've been more than satisfied with what I've done playing bass direct into the computer

[Messiahtosh]

Thanks Wrao!

[dfiler]

You should be able to get that to work without any additional equipment.

Keep in mind though that line levels aren't perfectly standardized.
"Line-Level" generally refers to an "RCA-Level" or "unamplified" signal used for transmitting audio between components. This is typically around 4 volts.

To confuse matters, there is also a signal level called "Microphone Level" which differs ever so slightly from line-level. This is most commonly (but not always) found on concert gear such as live mixing boards and anything that plugs into them.

Frequently, you can take a guitar and plug it straight into a device expecting line-level input... but not always.

[thuh Freak]

many years ago, MacAddict had an issue where they described, in fair detail, how to convert the fat apple microphone into a preamp on the cheap (though i don't think they used the term preamp). from my understanding, pcs mics tend to not have an amp builtin, but mac mics do. so the idea was to make the mac mic into dealie wherein you could plug a pc mic into it. i remember reading it around the time i bought a mic (again several years ago) at a comp store, and the store dood insisted that the pc mic would work on my comp. when i brought it back b/c it hadn't worked, he was like "but the cable should fit into a mac." "duh, yea it does. but the comp doesn't pickup any sound from it." a week or so later i got the issue of macaddict which explained why it didn't work, but i'd already bought a mic from apple. the same principle is probably why your guit box is not picked up. you probably have some levels on the ol' gitter, b/c 'lectrix tend to have electronics inside (if its a 'lectric, that is).

[Dave]

many years ago, MacAddict had an issue where they described, in fair detail, how to convert the fat apple microphone into a preamp on the cheap (though i don't think they used the term preamp). from my understanding, pcs mics tend to not have an amp builtin, but mac mics do. so the idea was to make the mac mic into dealie wherein you could plug a pc mic into it. i remember reading it around the time i bought a mic (again several years ago) at a comp store, and the store dood insisted that the pc mic would work on my comp. when i brought it back b/c it hadn't worked, he was like "but the cable should fit into a mac." "duh, yea it does. but the comp doesn't pickup any sound from it." a week or so later i got the issue of macaddict which explained why it didn't work, but i'd already bought a mic from apple. the same principle is probably why your guit box is not picked up. you probably have some levels on the ol' gitter, b/c 'lectrix tend to have electronics inside (if its a 'lectric, that is).Yeah, but the passive electronics in the VAST majority of electric guitars can't boost an instrument-level signal to a line-level signal. Plugging a guitar into a line-level input may well work, but you'll be loosing a few bits of resolution in the process.