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hardware to connect my guitar to mac

D

Dotty

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 28, 2006
76
0
Hay, i've finally got a little cash spare and decided to do some serious music recording/editing.

What do you lot use to connect a guitar to macs? I heard of a cable called stealthplug? Is that any good whats the sound quality like? Or should i go elsewhere?

I got about $300 to spend.

Any suggestions?
 
just record, edit mix in some drums using garageband or something simular.
 
Dotty said:
just record, edit mix in some drums using garageband or something simular.
Click to expand...

Record what? Gtr only? Or do you want the option of mic-ing up amps, vocal, etc?
Will it be you only? Or with a band? Will you have an external keyboard/synth, etc?
 
guitar, i'll get amidi interface (later on) and plug in a keyboard.
 
Dotty said:
guitar, i'll get amidi interface (later on) and plug in a keyboard.
Click to expand...

Christ, you really are a minimalist when it comes to giving the details!
If you're going to only use the keyboard as a controller for your software synth and samplers, the 79.95 product will be fine.
If you want to connect the output of your keyboard as well, then you need a proper interface.
Can't help you any further without any info. Good luck.
 
haha, sorry.

I primarily play guitar. I want to be able to record my guitar, with decent quality, into garage band and then mix in some drums and such. As for keyboard, at the moment i'm not thinking in that direction. I don't mind using garagebands on screen keyboard for work, however eventually i'll invest in a midi controller and a keyboard.

So i want a way to record my guitar, with very, very good quality.
 
Depending how serious you plan on being, there are plenty of good products. If you plan on being pretty serious about it, I'd get something that'll last you and possibly future-proof you a bit. For example, I'm getting the Apogee Duet. It's a beautiful, high-quality audio interface that uses a breakout cable, meaning you can plug in two guitars/basses, keyboards, and vocals, even within the small form factor. Given, it's not in your price range, but if you plan on staying serious about music for a long time, you might as well invest in something nicer. If not, though, I'm sure M-audio and others offer some decent audio interfaces in your price range.
 
krye said:
I picked up a 1/4" to 1/8" adapter from Monster. They had it at the Apple store. It's good because it's flexible and your guitar's large heavy 1/4" plug won't back out of and put strain on the input jack on the Mac.

http://www.monstercable.com/productdisplay.asp?pin=2440

I can now plug my guitar directly into the Mac and record in Garage Band.
Click to expand...

Right, but relying on the Mac's built in A/D convertor, and taking a chance on what the impedence of the input will do to the guitar sound, is the lowest possible quality way to go.
 
The Line6 Gold Bundle is $150 these days. That's half of what you're looking to spend: it includes a good hardware interface (24/96 capable) and the complete set of add-ons (if not complete, it's at least the most complete bundle available). Plus, they can be used standalone or as plug-ins in an audio sequencer. That sounds like a no-brainer.
 
krye said:
I picked up a 1/4" to 1/8" adapter from Monster. They had it at the Apple store. It's good because it's flexible and your guitar's large heavy 1/4" plug won't back out of and put strain on the input jack on the Mac.

http://www.monstercable.com/productdisplay.asp?pin=2440

I can now plug my guitar directly into the Mac and record in Garage Band.
Click to expand...

Not only does this give you the aforementioned impedance-matching problem, but your input is expecting a more powerful signal than what an unamplified guitar puts out (bad impedance-matching makes this problem even worse). You wind up having to boost the record volume really high to make up for that, cranking up the noise levels along with it. It's likely to affect your tone, too. You need something in between to boost the level if you plan on doing anything serious with it. If it's just a toy, you might be able to live without it, but you should have some kind of preamp.
 
dementia13 said:
The Line6 Gold Bundle is $150 these days. That's half of what you're looking to spend: it includes a good hardware interface (24/96 capable) and the complete set of add-ons (if not complete, it's at least the most complete bundle available). Plus, they can be used standalone or as plug-ins in an audio sequencer. That sounds like a no-brainer.
Click to expand...

Where have you seen it for that price? Cheapest in the UK for Line6 Gold Bundle is £270!! Thats, $540!!!
 
I bought the LIne6 Toneport UX1 for recording straight into the computer. It has one instrument jack for a guitar or bass (1/4" jack), as well as a headphone jack and an XLR mic jack.

It also has jacks for 2 stereo inputs, stereo monitor in, and 2 analog outs.

Picked it up over at Guitar Center for about $120, and it works great with Garageband.

It also has several software-based ams, guitars *and* basses you can choose from for varied tone.

Hope this helps,

-Bryan
 
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