Sound input and recording

Hello chaps,
I'm considering buying a Macbook at the weekend, and have been conducting a large amount of research. But I've not been able to find out too much about the sound on the unit. As sound recording would be a primary function of the unit, it would be most appreciated if somebody with a helpful bone or two could answer me a couple of questions!
Firstly, I understand the Macbook to have optical digital input and output.
What sample rates and bit-depths will the digital input lock to (and output at)?
Is it possible to have two separate audio applications recording from the optical input at the same time? What about the line input?
With regards to the line input, am I correct in assuming this is solely a line-level input, and a standard dynamic microphone cannot be connected (i.e. it must be an amplified microphone)?
And what about AirTunes? I quite fancy an Airport Express -- but understand this can only be used to stream music from iTumes. Is there really no way to have it receive and reproduce the actual "system" sound output?
Finally, I use Adobe Audition to do my recording under Windows. Without splashing out on ProTools LE or BIAS Peak, is there a suitable piece of software I might be able to obtain for less money? I am aware of Audacity, but was looking for something perhaps a little more professional with a good multi-track editor. (I'm aware this might be outside the scope of this forum area!)
If I do need to use Adobe Audition itself for some reason (perhaps dealing with a client's Audition Session file) I would be looking at dual-booting with Windows and transfering my licences for both Windows and AA to the Macbook; can anybody confirm that the audio I/O, both analogue and digital, works properly under Windows?
Many thanks for your time.

The digital noise is a factor of the number of bits. It is actually 6 * n, where n is the number of bits.
So for an 8 bit signal, the noise is 48 dB down, about par for a cassette tape.
16 bit is 96 dB down.
24 bit is 144 dB down, which for all practical purposes, means that everything else (pre-amps, et al) are what affects the signal fidelity.

Similar Messages

Sound Input and Output Disappeared

I am considering a purchase of a used Macbook Pro (4,1) from early 2008 with Snow Leopard 10.6.8 installed. When I first tried the machine, the sound input and output were absent. After removing preference files, resetting NVRAM, etc., I finally got them to work. They worked for a few weeks, but recently they disappeared again. This time, my efforts to ressurrect them have been fruitless.
Here is what I have done in an attempt to remedy the situation:
•Delete com.apple.audio.DeviceSettings.plist and com.apple.audio.SystemSettings.plist
•Jiggle a digital headphone jack in the headphone port
•Verifiy Disk and Repair Permissions
•Reset NVRAM
•Reset SMC
I have read online that some people have replaced the AppleHDA.kext file with the one from 10.6.7 - however, every effort I have made to find this file has resulted in failure. I am not able to locate MacOSXupdCombo 10.6.7.pkg anywhere on the web
Any recommendations? I was able to fix this once before - why not now? Thanks for any and all constructive input...

Did you recieve the install disk(s) when you purchase the machine? I would try doing a back up of your data then a fresh install of the OS. Insert the disk into the mac then click restart and hold the c key, ten follow the prompts.
If you wish to take this route, I would try the 10.6.8 combo update first (it should be fine to run it again), then if you wish you may try the 10.6.7 update. Altough I would just do a OS X reinstall and then run software update till you bring it up to date. On disk 2 there should be the AHT (Apple Hardware Test) that you can run by booting the disk holding the D key to check for a hardware fault.
You may also make a Genius bar appointment for a free evaluation, they have more extensive diagnosis tools and would then tell you what your otions would be. (hey it's free)
Genius Bar appointment http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1361
10.6.8 Combo update
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1399
10.6.7 Combo Update:
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1361
All the Best

Sound input and output gone

After i updated to 10.5.4, my sound input and output disappeared. I've tried to update my quicktime once and i've also reinstalled the 10.5.4 update without any luck. I have a Leopard dvd, but i'm not sure whether i'm able to only install the sound drivers once again? Any other suggenstions?
thanks in advance

Thanks.
I did reinstall the combo, if you mean this one; http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macosx1054comboupdate.html. And it didn't help, there isn't anything in input or output in the sound preferences panel.
Isn't it possible to perform an install of the sound drivers without having to do a total format? I've looked through my leopard disk content and checked all the optional installs and haven't been able to find them.. Can i download them seperately somewhere?

What if Input and Record Ready buttons both enabled?

If I enable the Input button on a track, I can hear the output. If I disable the Input button but then enable the Record Ready button, I can also hear the output.
Is there ever a purpose for having them both enabled at the same time? I'm just trying to understand them better.
Thanks.

I try to clarify in a simple way:
The Input button is important during recording.
It is similar to analog tape recording process - you can listen to "signal coming to the Tape Head but before is recorded" and "just recorded and playing from the Tape" - so in first case you hear only the Input and in second you hear the Output. You can choose listening Pre Tape Head and Post Tape Head.
If you enable Input button the you can hear signal coming to the Input only and of you disable one you hear the sound read from disk.
First function is called: Input Only. Second one: Auto Input.
Why Auto ? Because your DAW system is automatically switching between :
1) INPUT - during recording and 2) OUTPUT - during playback.
For example: if you have just recorded the guitar part on Track no.5 and you want to correct some and record again but not whole part but only one region then select the recording-start position and to be accurate with rec-start point you need to pre-listen to a few seconds before start recording.
In 1) case you will hear only your guitar ready to record and in 2) case you hear what you've recorded before and in the moment when recording starts you immediately hear your ready to record guitar - DAW automatically switches to Input signal - so just play and record again selected region.
After pressing stop - listen to corrected region - in Play mode DAW always switches to playback mode and you hear only the Output. In Record mode you can choose between Input Only and Auto Input.
Hope be helpfull

Sound input and output not working

Last night my audio was working fine. I was going to record some stuff in garage band and had a microphone plugged into the input line-in on my macbook. everything was working fine still, turned on the "auto leveling" and then put in my headphones. i then turned on the "monitor" to get the sound to actually come to my headphones. I didnt realize until after it was done but you cant have the auto level and monitor on at the same time. There was a short blast of sound in the headphones and then everything cut out. I couldnt get sound from anything, headphones, built in speakers. No sound going in either.
I restarted my computer and if I remember correctly (maybe i'm imagining it) there was the start up chime. when I started up garageband again I got an error message reading "selected driver not found. error 10202" still no sound input or output. When trying to adjust the volume all I got was the grayed out volume thing with the little cross thingy at the bottom. I checked the sound settings and there was nothing in the input or output sound.
I did some searching around and saw people with similar problems (none with an answer).
This is what I've already tried:
I reset the permissions
I reset the PRAM
I did a hardware check (hold d which restarting) i even did the hour long check and there was no problems.
I tried putting headphones in an out (there was no red light in the headphone jack)
I updated all my software (there was an update to OS X to 10.5.8)
After the update there was no longer a startup chime, and i got no error messages when opening garage band. however there was still no input or output sound. when adjusting the volume on the screen it appears to be normal, but there is still no sound from built in speakers or headphones. I did notice there was a very faint "clicking" noise when i try and adjust the volume... like the speakers are getting power or something... but then nothing comes out. In the sound settings there everything appears to be back to normal.
I know this is long, but I wanted to be thorough in describing my problem. I'm posting this on several boards as well.

I'm having the exact same problem. I did install the newest version of Skype the last time my computer was running (with sound)... so not sure if the new Skype had something to do with it.
Also, when I try to change volume with the keyboard keys, there is a little icon (circle with slash) indicating that the sound has been disabled or not allowed to be changed.
I can't find any answers on any forums.

Generating sound signal and record the timing using labview

Hi,
can somebody help me in generating audio o/p from daq 6036 and record the same signal for reference.

Kanth,
I think you will find there are lots of topics already on the forums talking about trying to do this.
Here are a couple of examples:
Forum: Continuous audio output with varying volume or frequency
Forum: How do I get audio output from a labview program
Probably the easiest way is to search the forums for what you are looking for:
Search Results on forums.ni.com for 'audio' and 'output'
Finally, here is an example program that may also help you:
NI-DAQmx: Acquiring Audio and Transferring It to a PC Sound Card
Otis
Training and Certification
Product Support Engineer
National Instruments

Sound input and frequency comparing

Hi everyone, I am using Labview to create a tuner for eletric guitars. I
don't know how to acquire the data from my sound card input. Is there anyone
who can send me the Labview diagram? I need it urgently, thanks in advance
Cosmo

Maybe this answer is 4 years later but it's better later than never...
Check this link: http://sine.ni.com/apps/we/niepd_web_display.display_epd4?p_guid=EEFADB7C114619C0E0340003BA230ECF
If you have some question don't hesitate to ask me.
dz.

Perhaps silly, but, can Garageband take Dolby Digital 5.1 Input and record?

Using the built in mini toslink on the Mac? Or, can it simply do stereo? I see no reference to digital, or, AC3, or, TOSLINK or anything else in the help.
I have a music source that outputs dolby digital and want to be able to accept input from it.

Didn't think so, have searched the net for products allowing me to use the digital input, have not found any yet. I see things like Handbrake that allow me to convert say MPEG2 movies with DD content, but, what allows me to input the content in the first place?

Premiere Pro 2.0 and Windows 7 - Direct Sound Input soundcard driver problem

My XP machine crashed, I reinstalled Premiere Pro 2.0 with Windows 7, and I got the following error: 'The Currently installed soundcard driver does not support Direct Sound Input. Recording audio is not possible.' The soundcard drivers are updated. Any ideas? Here's what I have: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Processor 3.40 GHz 8 GB, 64 bit. Thank you for looking.

Thanks! Though I upgraded to solve the problem, this is good to know.
Bob
Date: Wed, 9 Nov 2011 04:45:42 -0700
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Premiere Pro 2.0 and Windows 7 - Direct Sound Input soundcard driver problem
Re: Premiere Pro 2.0 and Windows 7 - Direct Sound Input soundcard driver problem created by Steve-Italy in Premiere Pro CS4 & Earlier - View the full discussion
VERY VERY VERY EASY (now, when I solved the problem, not before...!!!)
Insert Micropone or any jack in Micropone Input or Aux Input, on your sound card or motherboard !
AND NOW YOU CAN USE PREMIERE PRO 2.0
Enjoy
Steve - Italy
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Sound input options for quicksilver 933 (2002) question.

My little plaintalk microphone does not fit into the audio input of my G4. According to the Specs. for this 'Puter there is no line in provided. I was looking at a Behringer UCA202 USB adaptor, which looks like it may work. I would need to get a splitter for the mike to use the two RCA inputs of the Behringer. - (I guess it's stereo...) The PCI audio cards that I've seen are a little overkill for what I'm after, and much more expensive. Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks!!
Tom

I posted a similar question recently. Somebody recommended a M-Audio card to me but as you are finding they are a bit pricey. I think the bottom line is you get what you pay for. I have seen everything from the thousand dollar PCI cards, to a $2 USB converter thing that looks like a flash drive and takes the 3.5 mm plugs for standard computer headphone and microphones. I am tending towards a less expensive device because I have ancient audio tapes with poor quality, though my respondent pointed out that if you take a poor sound source and record it through a low quality converter then you end up with even more garbage.
There's also a similar thing to the Behringer that is made by Griffin (iMic) at the same price. I don't know how they compare in terms of audio quality, but the iMic uses 3.5 mm jacks which would save you the cost of a converter. In my case I want something to attach to my home stereo so I'm glad you pointed out the Behringer.
Brian

Sound Input - Help

G'day,
I'm trying to record some audio into my eMac 1.25Ghz...
Am I right in thinking that the Audio Line In port on the eMac requires a powered source, and thus an unpowered microphone hooked up to the 3.5mm audio jack will do - nothing?
I'm trying to use just a plain old 1990's Apple microphone (also tried some headphones... seemed to work in the "old days") but get no levels...
Also - my eMac's sound input and output options have selections for "Soundflower" 2ch and 16ch.... What on earth is that? :} I'm assuming it's from something I've installed in the past...?
cheers
cosmic

Well, for future queries on this topic...
The eMac audio input jack is LINE LEVEL... Thus you need a powered device to gain any kind of signal on it. In other words, a plain normal microphone will not work.
In my case, I found a dicta-phone (sony cassette based voice recorder), and plugged it in via a mini-din to mini-din cable... (via it's headphone socket). Headphones are powered, thus it gave enough power to obtain a signal.
cheers

Sound input baffler - what's wrong?

I'm interested in copying my LPs to CD - an operation I've done before. But for some reason, my iMac isn't allowing it.
I have a stereo phone cable running from my stereo to the stereo input of my computer. When I go to Preferences/Sound/Input while a record is playing, the Line In display shows the rising and falling sound levels of my record. I should be able to hear the music that's being input and record it.
I've tried using Audacity (freeware), Amadeus (on trial), and Bias Peak (which I own), but I cannot record anything. No levels show; it's completely blank, no signal on all three programs. Why can't I record, if my computer shows a signal in Preferences/Sound/Input.
I'd appreciate your own input on this, because the sound output has be flummoxed.

Hello,
This sounds odd but try loading Garageband and playing a loop. Then close it down and try to record again.
BTW this is the iMac G4 (aka iMac Flat Panel) forum. In future it's probably best to post in the more relevant forum in future.
G4 (Flat Panel): G5 (1.6-2.1GHz):
Click the image to go to relevant forum.
kind regards
mrtotes

Recording and playing sound input from mic simultaneously in iphone/ipad

I want to simultaneously record and play the sound from a mic in iphone. As thecricket commentory application.
Please provide me a solution for this.
Is this possible in iOs.

This probably isn't going to sound very helpful, for which I apologise in advance, but I'm afraid it's the truth...
The only way you stand any way of doing any of this is by using ASIO4ALL, which can aggregate different drivers from multiple devices. But I don't rate your chances too highly, I'm afraid - USB mics have long been the problem child of computer-based audio. On top of that, you are trying to get sounds in and out of a separate device at the same time - not only that, but it's a Creative Labs gamer's device and they are second only to USB mics in terms of the 'difficult' stakes - search this forum!
A much, much better way to attempt to do this would be to use a sensible ASIO external device with sufficient inputs, and a mic that plugs into it, not a USB one. That way you could route the inputs and outputs appropriately, and use the device's monitoring so that you could monitor what you need to. I wouldn't attempt to do anything like this any other way, I'm afraid. Another approach (which can be made to work well) is to use an external mixer to do most of the work - often it's easier to set up the monitoring on these. You can get mixers with the appropriate interface built-in, and they don't cost a fortune either. Mackie and Behringer make suitable devices.

Disabling Sound Devices (Playback and Recording) via Group Policy?

Good day,
I am using an HT-Omega Claro II soundcard which has multiple playback and recording options once installed. For this specific configuration, I want to be able to disable all the unwanted options (including things like the standard PC speakers) in such a
way that only an administrator can make modifications to the available devices. Is there a way to do this via a GPO? I know that via the Sound control panel I can (and have) disable the options I do not want to be available, but there are some users who are
saavy enough to be able to find them and re-enable, which is creating problems for some of the applications that need to be used.
Any input on how to rectify this is greatly appreciated.

I dont think there are sound specific GPO's. If you want to disable the sound, you can disable the sound service from GPO :
Computer Configuration\Policies\Windows Settings\Security Settings\System Services\Windows Audio
Arnav Sharma | http://arnavsharma.net/ Please remember to click “Mark as Answer” on the post that helps you, and to click “Unmark as Answer” if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading
the thread.

Macbook Pro: Play and record sound at the same time

Greetings everyone,
My brother and I have are going to switch go a mac, preferebly to a macbook pro. we used windows so far, but the frustration has grown extremely huge, so it's time to throw off this junk.
We've been working with sound a lot and many times we recorded any sound which played through the computer: that means sound and music from dvds and games or other sources, we couldn't get anywhere else. What we did is simply letting the game or dvd play and record the audio at the same time.
I've testet this functionality in windows via bootcamp on a macbook of friend of mine, but NOT the macbook pro version. It's wasn't really that good as I thought. Sound quality was below what I'd expect.
So here are my questions:
- Does the macbook pro have a better sound card, which enables simultaneos play + record?
- Is good record quality bound to a software I need to use?
Thanks for your replies.

Apple don't have separate "sound cards" like PC's , Martin. The necessary hardware is proprietary , and built into the logic boards.
Both of them have high quality combined optical digital input and audio line in, and combined optical digital output and audio line out. You can also attach various USB or firewire audio input and output devices if you wish. So as far as 'quality" goes, it depends what you are playing them through more than anything else. The inherent audio abilities of both are pretty danged good when using Mac specific software. That is why the music industry love 'em!
Or are you just talking about sound quality through the built in speakers, which are, of course severely limited by the amount of space available, though I've heard far worse from many PC notebooks!?
Cheers
Rod

Sound input and recording

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