Firewire/USB out to 1/4" in? help would be appreciated

[pyx]

whats up everybody.

i write a lot of music on my new macbook, and i was wondering if somebody would be able to suggest the best way for me to plug into my mixer. Is there a piece of hardware that acts as an interface? Or is there a much simpler solution im just looking over? firewire/usb out ( from the macbook ) to 1/4"input ( to the mixer ) again, any help would be greatly appreciated


-pyx

 

[TEG]

By 1/4" do you mean a Phono Jack? If so, any simple 1/8" to 1/4" adapter would work, just connect it to the headphone out on the MB. They are just a few dollars at any Radio Shack, Circuit City, or Best Buy, and at many Hyper/Super Markets or other box store with electronics department.

TEG

 

[nb705]

If this is going into a semi-decent mixer you'll find that if you use an 1/8" to 2 1/4" jacks then you'll get noise from the power supply.

The way a lot of touring bands do it is to use an external soundcard. These range in price from £5 for a cheap USB one to several hundred pounds for a usb/firewire to balanced XLR one (with Jensen Transformers).

Please ensure that if you are going from a stereo output (the minijack on your machine, or from a standard usb soundcard) that you go to two unbalanced quarter inch jacks.

 

[pyx]

yea thats kinda what i was planning on. so a usb soundcard i guess would be the interface im lookin for then eh?

 

[TEG]

If this is going into a semi-decent mixer you'll find that if you use an 1/8" to 2 1/4" jacks then you'll get noise from the power supply.

That is only true in desktops. Since all AC power is contained outside of the system, there is little to no interference from the headphone jack.

TEG

 

[jonbravo77]

No need for a fancy USB device or anything like that. I use my MBP for playback in live audio all the time without issue. If for some reason you find that you get a bit of noise (more than likely from the mixer your using) look into a DI Box that you can get from a guitar store or any pro audio store for about $30-$100 depending on what you want.

I would go for a passive DI box that needs no external phantom power. Find something that has a ground lift on it. I use a Jensen D90 DI box which is active but it has a pad on it and a ground lift and uses a Jensen Transformer which pretty much resolves any bad power or noise that can be generated.

Peace