Ukeke3000 Posted March 25, 2007 Share Posted March 25, 2007 So I've been looking for a microphone that is compatible with Garageband on a Mac mini for the purpose of recording some guitar. i've bought four different kinds, all of them I have been told to work... but none of them do. are there any Garageband users that could help me fix this problem? I am getting sort of irritated at this point because I have a Roland Fantom X8 keyboard with acoustic sounds on it, but they aren't exactly the way I would like. Plus I would much rather say that I actually played them on real guitar =). The Fantom connects to the mac just fine, it's just getting recordings on there that is a problem. Any help would be great. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OverCoat Posted March 25, 2007 Share Posted March 25, 2007 i've bought four different kinds, all of them I have been told to work... Then I suspect you're doing something wrong. It's not like microphones have firmware in them that refuse certain apps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ukeke3000 Posted March 25, 2007 Author Share Posted March 25, 2007 that's not what i meant. i mean like there's something with garageband that's preventing it. any knowledge on what mics DO work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerrax Posted March 25, 2007 Share Posted March 25, 2007 Macintosh computers do not have Mic-level input. If you are plugging it into the line-in input of your Mac-mini, the signal will be too weak for the computer to hear. You need to get a pre-amp. Not sure what you know about microphones and guitars, but they do not output sound at the same level as say, a CD player. They have a much weaker signal (about one hundreth the strength of a line-in device like a CD player). Since Macs do not have a Mic-level input, they cannot hear a signal as weak as that. Hence the need for a pre-amplifier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Instrumental Light Posted March 25, 2007 Share Posted March 25, 2007 yeah, im a Garageband user, im not an expert though. there is a mic built in to the Mac you can use, and if your wondering "how" you go under real instrument and you choose guitar(or whatever you want to do). then you click on the instrument, make whatever adjustments you need to make(for example, more or less reverb or bass and treble,etc.) then you get ready and press record, then you play the instrument(in your case, a guitar). once you record it, you can revise notes or redo it several times to improve it. i dont know too much about professional mics in that sense, but a Mac has one already. as for keyboard, did you install the driver for it? i have an Edirol PCR-M80 and it works smoothly, in fact, just as soon as i play the notes on record, they're recorded. glad to be of any help. EDIT: a mac mini, ok, i was thinking of a normal iMac or iBook/MacBook. alright, in that case, im not quite sure about a mic.hope you find a good one though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justus Posted March 25, 2007 Share Posted March 25, 2007 You need to get a pre-amp. This. Or you could get a USB microphone. That would be a bit of a shame since you already have real mics and you just need a pre. Besides, I haven't really been all that stoked about any USB mic I've played with yet, but I will admit to being very curious about this: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Snowball/ As has been said, there is no particularly "incompatible" mic. You just need to get the right signal in is all. Pre's CAN be expensive, but they don't have to be. They range anywhere from $30 to MANY THOUSANDS. Mind telling us what mics you've bought? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerrax Posted March 25, 2007 Share Posted March 25, 2007 i dont know too much about professional mics in that sense, but a Mac has one already. I have an iMac G5. The microphone it is is an extremely small membrane and it captures so much noise from the computer fan, its not even worth it. Never, EVER use the built-in microphone for recording music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fray Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 They range anywhere from $30 to MANY THOUSANDS. Hey, this preamp costs over nine thousand! (OVER NINE THOUSAAAAAND! OVER NINE THOUSAAAAAND!) Yeah, you can get a decent preamp for like $70. PreSonus makes good ones around this range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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