audio in on a macbook pro (1 Viewer)

[pad]

i thought i'd post this one as a new thread, cause it's a new question.
last night i tried to plug in my guitar via the amp into the macbook pro audio in, but it didn't seem to read it. i changed the settings in system preferences>sound>input and all and that made no difference. so my question is: is there something i'm missing, or should i get an external soundcard/firebox, and if so what would you recommend.

by the way thanks muchly for all your help. it's very much appreciated.

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

What output from the amp were you using?
What software on the Mac were you using?

 

[pad]

i was using the line out initially, then i used the headphone out (cause i didn't want to disturb anyone.
i was using garageband.

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

And you're setting the input in garageband correctly, yeah?

 

[pad]

hmm. this may be where i look stupid. see there were no booklets explaining things with the computer. it's a refurb you see. i set it to real instrument, but couldn't see anywhere else to set the input in garageband itself. am i missing something here?

 

[george mcfly]

hmm. this may be where i look stupid. see there were no booklets explaining things with the computer. it's a refurb you see. i set it to real instrument, but couldn't see anywhere else to set the input in garageband itself. am i missing something here?

is it robbed?

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

Yeah, you gotta set the input for the channel.
Get up the track info screen :

And choose the appropriate input.

 

[pad]

ah yeah. see i think i did that too. i tried it with stereo, mono 1 and mono2 and no joy. nothing of note happened.

and no georgie. it's not robbed it's a refurb.

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

Hm.
In that case, all I can suggest is that you go through the chain one step at a time and make sure everything is working at each step.
Make sure noise is emanating from the amp before you plug it in to the mac etc.
How about plugging the guitar straight in?

Also, using the headphone out from an amp into the line in isn't an ideal setup. They're slightly different signal levels etc.

If you're planning on doing anything more than super rudimentary recording, a cheap mic and interface would be well worth the few quidz.

 

[pad]

see the thing was that even when i switched it over to the audio input, it still picked up the built in mic. which i thought odd to say the least. does this mean my computer may be a bit broken?

 

[Goodbye]

No... Just go through every step like Red Tape says. The answer has got to be a simple one.

 

[pad]

but see i'm pretty sure i did that.

 

[Goodbye]

It's aaaaalways the simplest little mouse click somewhere that can stump people for hours

 

[Anthony]

have you got "moniter" set to "on".
I hate how "on" is not the default setting,

 

[ernesto]

also, go to SOUND in the general Mac Preferences and select the 'line-in' as opposed to 'built-in mic'

google a mac app called 'soundsource'. its a free, quick audio options menu thats quicker to get to than keep going into Preferences.


EDIT: nevermind.\ just read the first post.