isight as an external mic w/garageband

BigBear

BigBear


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hoping this may be a simple fix.
i've been messing around with garageband and my friend playing his guitar. i've got a few recordings and they sound decent using the built in mic on the ibook. i was wondering if it's possible to use my isight as an external mic. it shows up under the preferences pane--->audio input but it is all greyed out. it shows up as 'isight (not 44.1)'. is there anyway to set the isight as an external mic? anyone know if there is any sound difference in using this as a mic as opposed to the internal one?

thanks
jason :mac:
 
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TheRover

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Don't you have to have a camera for iSight to work? I suspect that it works in conjunction with the built-in mic to provide sound with the video......and it's probably grayed out because you don't have the camera?

http://search.info.apple.com/?search=Go&lr=lang_en&kword=&type=ktech+OR+klearn&q=iSight

This is something that I'm looking at also.....from a little bit different angle though. I definitely think you will be better off pluging an external mic directly into your computer.....I have a powerbook and plug the guitar directly into the mic input The sound quality is a million times better.

I am actually thinking about buying a recording mic and using it to record my amp directly into garageband......I find that those amp simulations in it are really bad....my little 45 watt pignose is so much better.

http://www.harmony-central.com/Recording/Data/Sennheiser/e609-01.html
 
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BigBear

BigBear


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well the isight works as both an webcam and an external mic.

thank you very much for the link provided i was able to find my answer. :black:
this is why i can't use the isight as an external mic in garageband if anyone else was wondering..
GarageBand only supports audio interfaces that operate at 44.1 kHz. The iSight only operates at 48 kHz. On most Macintosh computers, you can't select iSight as an audio input source in GarageBand—the choice will appear dimmed with the words, "not 44.1."
Click to expand...
 
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TheRover

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Well, seems my advice about the mic may be a little suspect......I ran to guitar center and bought the Sennheiser 609......got the amp all set up, plugged up, wired up......plugged the mic into the PB......NOTHING! At first I thought it was a problem with the mic input but when I ran the guitar back into it it was fine. There is either something wrong with the mic i bought (which I plan to take back) or the PB doesn't get enough of a signal. Either way I think I'm gonna just use the amp simulations in GB for the time being until I can get a Line 6 Pod.

I'd be interested in hearing other people's experiences plugging mics into the mic input.....does it have to be a certain type of mic? The 609 doesn't have a battery or any other power supply that I can see.
 
Avalon

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TheRover said:
Well, seems my advice about the mic may be a little suspect......I ran to guitar center and bought the Sennheiser 609......got the amp all set up, plugged up, wired up......plugged the mic into the PB......NOTHING! At first I thought it was a problem with the mic input but when I ran the guitar back into it it was fine. There is either something wrong with the mic i bought (which I plan to take back) or the PB doesn't get enough of a signal. Either way I think I'm gonna just use the amp simulations in GB for the time being until I can get a Line 6 Pod.

I'd be interested in hearing other people's experiences plugging mics into the mic input.....does it have to be a certain type of mic? The 609 doesn't have a battery or any other power supply that I can see.
Click to expand...

The PowerBook (or any other Mac that's less than 10 years old) doesn't have a mic input, but a Line in. While a guitar gives enough signal to use the Line in as input, a microphone doesn't. What you need is an audio interface with mic in, such as the Griffin iMic.

Now to using the iSight's mic for GB, I can use mine without a problem...I don't know if it is due to my Mac (PM G5 Dual 2GHZ) or because I have GarageBand 3 (iLife '06)
 
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TheRover

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While a guitar gives enough signal to use the Line in as input, a microphone doesn't.

Actually the guitar doesn't sound all that hot through the line-in either. It's weak and just doesn't sound all that great. I got an M-Audio USB interface today which I expect to solve the problem....and has been mentioned in other areas of these forums. Can't wait to try it.
 
Avalon

Avalon


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TheRover said:
Actually the guitar doesn't sound all that hot through the line-in either. It's weak and just doesn't sound all that great. I got an M-Audio USB interface today which I expect to solve the problem....and has been mentioned in other areas of these forums. Can't wait to try it.
Click to expand...

Of course a dedicated audio interface is better, as it has a circuitry adapted to a guitar's sound level. :cool:
 

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