Members facefirst Posted May 10, 2011 Members Share Posted May 10, 2011 So I decided to try out Garageband after having it on my Macs for a while. I have an old Tascam US-122. Not the nicest interface but it is useable. At any rate, I plugged into my MacBook Pro, changed the system prefs so they us the interface, changed Garageband prefs to use the interface, plugged my headphones into the interface and grab one of their stock settings and start to play. It sounded absolutely horrid. I can't even explain the amount of suck. It was super compressed and sounded almost like an input had been overloaded. I checked my interface, I'm plugged into the guitar in and the signal isn't overloading. In Garageband the signal is strong but not overloading. I've been fooling with it for a bit and it just sounds awful. Normally I might think maybe it's the headphones but I plug into my BOSS GT-8 and use the headphones and it sounds pretty nice. Does anyone have an idea of where I might be going wrong? I don't expect studio quality out of this setup, but it should sound better than this I would think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members facefirst Posted May 10, 2011 Author Members Share Posted May 10, 2011 Anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members diocide Posted May 10, 2011 Members Share Posted May 10, 2011 I love garageband and my macs, but the built in amp models suck. I've found a way around it that actually works out really well... let me find the thread... Thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members facefirst Posted May 11, 2011 Author Members Share Posted May 11, 2011 Thanks for the link. Might give that stuff a download and check it out. Are the Garageband amps as bad as I'm describing, though, or does it sound like I'm doing something wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ZombieCat Posted May 11, 2011 Members Share Posted May 11, 2011 I have not played with the Garageband amps but they might just be that bad. Have you tried any of the other virtual instruments in GB to see how they sound? If they all sound as bad as you describe it might be that your interface is just not Mac friendly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PaoloJM Posted May 11, 2011 Members Share Posted May 11, 2011 The Garageband amps are pretty bad.Throw up a clip and we'll see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members diocide Posted May 11, 2011 Members Share Posted May 11, 2011 I'm thinking they nay have upgraded them in iLife '11 but I still have '10. So all I can say is the '10 amp sims sound booty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members atrox Posted May 11, 2011 Members Share Posted May 11, 2011 amazingly, the amps on the iPad version sound so much better. On the Mac, they sound awful, but when i bring a recording from the iPad into the Mac, it still sounds good. No idea what is going on there. One thing I did notice is that the recording always sounds better than playing live monitored. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members facefirst Posted May 11, 2011 Author Members Share Posted May 11, 2011 I'll have to fool with it some more and see. Haven't even recorded yet because it was so bad sounding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bee_Gee Posted May 11, 2011 Members Share Posted May 11, 2011 maybe your buffer size in garageband isnt working well with the interface? if i mess with the buffer in logic too much it starts causing the nappy sounds of which you speak, idk if its the same in garageband but its worth a try to mess with those settings if you can Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members atrox Posted May 11, 2011 Members Share Posted May 11, 2011 Also, the very early versions of GarageBand's amps were really good, then they went to {censored}. The newest version.. they got better again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members facefirst Posted May 11, 2011 Author Members Share Posted May 11, 2011 maybe your buffer size in garageband isnt working well with the interface? if i mess with the buffer in logic too much it starts causing the nappy sounds of which you speak, idk if its the same in garageband but its worth a try to mess with those settings if you can Where is that setting? I checked prefs but didn't see it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LoopQuantum Posted May 11, 2011 Members Share Posted May 11, 2011 Buffer setting will cause latency or digital distortion, but not EQ or dynamics differences. Are you just plugging the guitar right into the US122? Those are low impedance line inputs. Of course they sound like balls with a high impedance source like a guitar. Use a direct box, or, at the very least, this, between the guitar and the 122: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ZBox/ Trust me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members facefirst Posted May 11, 2011 Author Members Share Posted May 11, 2011 Buffer setting will cause latency or digital distortion, but not EQ or dynamics differences.Are you just plugging the guitar right into the US122? Those are low impedance line inputs. Of course they sound like balls with a high impedance source like a guitar. Use a direct box, or, at the very least, this, between the guitar and the 122:http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ZBox/Trust me. I'll try my DI box but the 122 has a line or guitar input Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LoopQuantum Posted May 11, 2011 Members Share Posted May 11, 2011 I'll try my DI box but the 122 has a line or guitar input I'm aware, but the impedance on the US122's instrument input is 2.2k ohms. The impedance of a guitar pickup is typically 20K to 40K ohms (20,000 to 40,000) ohms. So the ideal input impedance of a guitar amp (or direct box input, or instrument input) is at least 7 to 10 times higher, or at least 280K to 400K ohms. This is why it sounds like balls. Use a DI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members facefirst Posted May 11, 2011 Author Members Share Posted May 11, 2011 plugged in with DI, still sounds like poo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LoopQuantum Posted May 11, 2011 Members Share Posted May 11, 2011 Ok... then it's an issue with the buffer settings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members facefirst Posted May 11, 2011 Author Members Share Posted May 11, 2011 Ok... then it's an issue with the buffer settings. Which are located where? I checked the GB prefs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bee_Gee Posted May 11, 2011 Members Share Posted May 11, 2011 im not exactly sure where it is in garageband. in logic its pref>audio>devices > core audio > I/O buffer size Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LoopQuantum Posted May 11, 2011 Members Share Posted May 11, 2011 Not sure without being in front of... but if there isn't a buffer control in Garageband, you may be able to access buffer settings for the US122 from the OSX AudioMIDI setup utility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PaoloJM Posted May 12, 2011 Members Share Posted May 12, 2011 Garageband offers two buffer settings, IIRC. One low for low latency recording and a higher one for mixing with loads of plug-ins.It's in the preferences menu under audio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members facefirst Posted May 12, 2011 Author Members Share Posted May 12, 2011 All I have in GB's audio prefs are input/output selection and Keyboard sensitivity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PaoloJM Posted May 12, 2011 Members Share Posted May 12, 2011 All I have in GB's audio prefs are input/output selection and Keyboard sensitivity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members facefirst Posted May 12, 2011 Author Members Share Posted May 12, 2011 That's not on my GB, which is '11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jimSG Posted May 12, 2011 Members Share Posted May 12, 2011 Yeah I didn't see it when I looked on GB '11 last night when I first saw this thread. I couldn't find anything regarding buffer size. Now at work and my Mac here has GB '09 and the buffer prefs look just like the image PaoloJM's posting. It looks like it has been removed from GB '11 or is really well hidden. I pretty much stick to Logic so I'm not that familiar with GB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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