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Garageband w/ USB interface help


facefirst

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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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:





Trust me.

 

 

I'll try my DI box but the 122 has a line or guitar input

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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. :cop:

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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.

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