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GarageBand: iMac + Passive Bass Guitar — Do I Still Need a Pre-Amp?
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Rockville, MD
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Offline
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Even with an iMac and a cable to connect my bass guitar to it, my playing still sounds very weak and quiet on GarageBand. Does this mean I also need a preamp? My bass uses regular old magnetic pickups and is entirely passive.
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Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Michigan, USA
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A preamp would fix it for sure. I have the M-Audio Audio Buddy, which is bundled with a couple decent MXL mics for $100 at GuitarCenter.com. I think the Behringer pre's are great values for non-pros. They're about $40 or $50.
Buying one of those would preclude you from ever worrying about crappy signal going into your Mac, and they have good build quality with metal boxes and heavy jacks.
You might also look into a Behringer mixer around $75 to $150, something that would give you a bunch of inputs that you could then run down to stereo 1/8" jack into the iMac input. That would be a high-value tool to have sitting next to the Mac.
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24" iMac 2.4
G5 1.6 base
17" AlBook loaded
G3 B&W 300 geeked out
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Rockville, MD
Status:
Offline
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Originally Posted by MichiganRich 
You might also look into a Behringer mixer around $75 to $150, something that would give you a bunch of inputs that you could then run down to stereo 1/8" jack into the iMac input. That would be a high-value tool to have sitting next to the Mac.
Great advice! Thank you.
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: 888500128
Status:
Offline
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Originally Posted by MichiganRich
A preamp would fix it for sure. I have the M-Audio Audio Buddy, which is bundled with a couple decent MXL mics for $100 at GuitarCenter.com. I think the Behringer pre's are great values for non-pros. They're about $40 or $50.
Buying one of those would preclude you from ever worrying about crappy signal going into your Mac, and they have good build quality with metal boxes and heavy jacks.
You might also look into a Behringer mixer around $75 to $150, something that would give you a bunch of inputs that you could then run down to stereo 1/8" jack into the iMac input. That would be a high-value tool to have sitting next to the Mac.
UGH!
Buying one of those would absolutely ensure a crappy signal going into your Mac, and they have flimsy build quality with cheap metal boxes and heavy jacks that are mounted so as to make servicing absolutely impossible.
I'm sorry, but Behringer is complete ****. Seriously.
I know a lot of amateur buy the stuff because it's rip-off copies of other boxes that actually work, and it's cheap, but it really is ****.
After doing some research when my Behringer mixer completely crapped out on me during a demo production, I found that even their "studio" mixers suffer from under-specced power supplies, which can fry your mixer's rectifiers when they blow. THOSE are mounted on the same board as ALL i/o jacks on the board, so you HAVE TO send it in to Behringer unless you have the time to fix it yourself. I gave mine away to a friend that did, and was just glad to be rid of it.
The only person I know who uses and *trusts* Behringer equipment is an endorser for it.
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