[macfly]

i was thinking about getting garageband so that eventually i can hook up my electric guitar to my dual. the g5 audio in port i think needs some kind of a mic with a built in amp since it wont work with a regular non amped mic. anyone know what i would need? the monster cable instrument adapter that is talked about on apples website might not do the trick....any help much appreciated

[BRussell]

It's designed to work without any kind of pre-amp. It has amp emulation in software. Give it a try before you buy anything else.

[macfly]

i thought the problem was with the line in though and not the software. to even get appreciable signal into the port i thought it needed a line-level mic or something like that. as u can tell i am new to all the electronics involved with instruments....

[PBG4 User]

I've tried a few times to record my bass. I've had the best results using a preamp into the line in port (or iMic on my earlier PB, anyone want this? don't need it anymore). When I tried hooking my bass directly to my PB the sound was very low.

If you have an effects box for your guitar that will probably hop up your signal to line level.

I scoured Apple's GB website and I see nothing saying you need to provide a pre-. In fact, if you look at the adspeak for the Monster cable thingy, it says "no other hardware required".

I'd pick up GB and try it out first. If you need a preamp, you can use an effects box, or use the output from the preamp on your head.

[macfly]

i have a tech21 trademark 10 amp which i think has a line out that i could plug into that monster adapter. do u think that would work or would it be too strong and screw up my g5s audio in port?

[BRussell]

Originally posted by macfly:
i thought the problem was with the line in though and not the software. to even get appreciable signal into the port i thought it needed a line-level mic or something like that. as u can tell i am new to all the electronics involved with instruments....

The reason I'm pretty confident you won't need any pre-amp is that:

1. It says on Apple's site that you don't need anything else - you can plug right into the mac.

2. There are other products that use Apple's Core Audio, like Amplitube Live, that don't require any kind of pre-amp, and they work wonderfully. You just plug the guitar into the line-in on your mac, and it sounds like you're playing through a Fender Twin Reverb or a Marshall Stack. The whole point of those products is that the amp is emulated in software, and that's exactly how garageband is being marketed.

[macfly]

ok thanks. the only reason i was going on about it was that specifically with the G5 the line in is noted to be different and even apples website talks about it in the g5 hardware specs section. guess i will buy the monster cable and see.

[BRussell]

It does have both optical and analog line in. But you'll just have to give it a try and let us know.

Also, you could probably buy a 1/4"->mini converter from Radio Shack for about $5.

[buddhabelly]

Originally posted by BRussell:
It does have both optical and analog line in. But you'll just have to give it a try and let us know.

Also, you could probably buy a 1/4"->mini converter from Radio Shack for about $5.

The problem isn't so much the line level, though it does need to be boosted somewhat to be useable, but the impedence won't match. Guitar signals are low-level, high impedence where as line in is the opposite.

You could look at a DI box or a tube preamp. I'm not sure why Apple's now saying you can go straight into the mac with just a jack converter, whereas before you were NEVER supposed to do that, as you might fry the input.

[zoid]

I agree, the problem is the impedance and the input level. Though it would work with the normal line-in of a mac, it does not sound good. (I've already tried it with the Amplitube Software)
What you need is some sort of a preamp with an Hi-Z input. For example, take a look at products like the Midiman/M-Audio MobilePre or the Edirol UA-3FX.
The line-out of your guitar amp might be worth a try too

Some Links:
Edirol
Midiman/M-Audio

Zoid

[spiky_dog]

what you need is a mic preamp. the cheapest one with acceptable quality (assuming you don't want distortion from the cheap tube amps) is the m-audio audio buddy. i have one, albeit hooked up to a roland ua-30 usb audio box, and it works just fine. just don't expect it to provide 48V of phantom power, it only does about 40V. if you don't run condensers this shouldn't be a problem, and even if you do it's so much cheaper than the alternatives that you might as well give it a try.

http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=...ca5c6497eb437b



the audio buddy, like most preamps, has XLR in (as well as 1/4"), and 1/4" line level out. just buy a cheap 1/4"->1/8" converter and you'd be set. my advice is to not mess with impedence matching converters -- either you use a preamp, which would handle it, or you'll have marginal sound anyway due to the lack of signal.

$80 at b&h: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...amp;sku=189927