Sound-Line In

[George Rothrock]

Tim,
hi, just wanted to share some expierience with this issue.  I was 
dissapointed that the first TiPBs didn't have audio in. I upgraded my 
PB as soon as Apple released a model with an audio in. However, every 
audiophile I know pointed out that, actually, you get better results 
when the audio circuitry is seperate from the rest of the hardware, 
like in an external capture solution.  The input on the back is an "AV" 
connector and you should search the Apple Knowledgebase for the ins & 
outs of it.  ;)
I have the Griffin iMic and recently bought the Griffin Powerwave.  I 
had success with both products for their intended purpose, meaning, I 
used them to attach my tape deck and phono in order to import OTR tapes 
and LPs.
I then tried to set up a decent (although budget minded) solution for 
doing vocal recording.  I bought Deck LE at my local Apple store and 
used the Powerwave.  (one advantage the Powerwave has over the iMic is 
the play-thru feature, meaning, you can hear yourself in headphones 
while recording).
Here are the issues I have run into:
a) the mini-pin jacks for both the headphones and mic input on the 
Griffin products were a bit unsatisfactory, requiring jiggling and 
fussy handling to get both channels to be responsive.
b) if you are using a microphone that requires/uses phantom power the 
signals (even on mic level) were off, resultling in a very distorted 
signal.

If you use a decent mic (now powered), go ahead and use the iMic, just 
plug it in and use it, un-plug it when you're done, I wouldn't worry 
about a hub and all that.  It is too easy to just hot-swap.  Your big 
concern will be the software.

If you are more serious, or have other uses for it, check out the 
Powerwave.

I decided that for the level I wanted (near professional and 
profeessional vocie-over, audio drama) to go with the Digidesign MBox 
(w/ Pro Tools LE) and a professioanl level microphone.

If you have any questions, email me off list.  Best of luck!


On Monday, October 20, 2003, at 04:29 AM, PowerBook G4 Titanium List 
wrote:

> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 19:01:57 -0700
> From: T Molnar <tam at em.ca>
> Subject: Re: [Ti] sound-line in
> Message-id: <627B8A20-02A1-11D8-B27C-000A9579B712 at em.ca>
>
> Here's another thought about this microphone thing.
>
> Why would apple put out a machine that doesn't allow you to just plug
> in an available microphone and have it work., in other words some sort
> of built in pre amp? or option for same?
>
> Seems weird that you can't just plug in a microphone you would use on a
> windows pc and
> just have it work, digital convergence and all that schtick.
>
> seems like I will have to get a Griffin iMic, to run that while I am
> doing other things with my usb ports I will also have to get a small
> hub.  So instead of being able to just get a microphone I need to buy
> two additional items.
>
> Or am I missing something in this equation?
>
> cheers,
> tim
> tim.molnar
> Digital Tao
> http://www.digitaltao.ca
> 306.585.3666
> tam at em.ca
>
>
>
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