Old 07-24-2017, 11:52 AM   #1
harphunt
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Default Here we go!

I am making the switch to my iMac (and eventual MacBook Air) from an 11 year old laptop PC. This was my signal chain: mic/line -> mixer -> Indigio IO PCMCIA sound card stereo input -> Indigo IO stereo output -> Behringer MiniMon -> headphones/powered monitors. This worked wonderfully for me.

I'm guessing I can do relatively the same with the Apple: mic/line -> mixer -> USB port... headphone jack -> Behringer MiniMon -> headphones/powered monitors.

Anything wrong with my thinking? From what I understand, Apple's internal "sound card" is fine. Thanks in advance.

peace
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Old 07-24-2017, 12:46 PM   #2
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The iMac will not have a PCMCIA port (or even the more modern Express34 port anymore). And you aren't just going to be able to adapt a PCMCIA card to USB.

However, any small $100 firewire or USB integrated audio interface with the mic/line inputs you need to directly connect to the computer would be an upgrade and a significant upgrade on your analog path as well. You'll get rid of a lot of noise and degradation vs. the small mixer fed into an 1/8" analog input. You'd fight with cobbling old stuff together for only mediocre sound and probably spend more money doing that in the long run to keep the old system in service. Get a small USB or firewire audio interface and it will be almost a bigger upgrade than the computer.

The integrated sound card in the iMac (built into the logic board actually, not a separate card) might be an upgrade on that Indigio interface actually. Probably very much the same though. Lower grade unbalanced analog connections for sure but at the same time that low end point is pretty usable in a pinch. The average 1/8" line in/out on a Mac is higher quality than some low end stereo equipment I've run across. So you can keep using the old system that way with the Macs built-in interface until you get a new more proper interface.
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Old 07-24-2017, 01:05 PM   #3
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Thank you for your input. I wouldn't be using the pcmcia card. That was for the pc. With the mac it would be mixer -> rca -> to USB to iMac. I will look at interfaces.
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Old 07-24-2017, 01:28 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by harphunt View Post
Thank you for your input. I wouldn't be using the pcmcia card. That was for the pc. With the mac it would be mixer -> rca -> to USB to iMac. I will look at interfaces.


The "rca -> to USB" part. You didn't mention what USB interface you were planning on using here. Do you mean that you will be buying a USB interface by that?

Or is that mixer one of the combo units that also has a small USB audio interface built into it? (The PCMCIA unit is the only interface you mentioned originally and you can't very well plug analog outputs into a USB port so...)

Again, if you're talking about a small analog mixer, you could connect it to the 1/8" line input on the built-in audio interface in the iMac the same way you connected it to the PCMCIA interface before.
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Old 07-24-2017, 03:31 PM   #5
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Hey serr,

I have a USB out on a mackie board or a behringer uc200 rca to USB that my daughter used successfully.
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Old 07-24-2017, 04:43 PM   #6
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Quote:
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Hey serr,

I have a USB out on a mackie board or a behringer uc200 rca to USB that my daughter used successfully.
Aha, a combo unit then.

The thing to realize is that it's a USB audio interface and small analog mixer in the same box if that wasn't clear. You're going mixer/interface -> USB to restate that part.

You can use that Mackie audio interface together with the iMac built-in audio interface like you asked too. Use Audio MIDI Setup to make an aggregate device of the Mackie mixer/interface with the Mac's built-in output. Select this aggregate device in Reaper instead of one of the single interfaces.

Or you can use the Mackie interface by itself (Assuming it has at least 2 output channels and no restrictions on using the ins and outs together). Or make an aggregate device and use all 3 together (adding the UC200 you also mentioned).

The PCMCIA card interface will retire.

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Old 07-25-2017, 03:04 AM   #7
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Quote:
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Apple's internal "sound card" is fine
it's fine for playback only. when you're recording, you want to plug in all your headphones/monitors stuff in the same device that you use for recording.

aggregate devices introduce a notable delay, as does reaper's 'different input and output devices' checkbox. so the best way to go is to plug ins and outs in the same sound device. built-in audio device will also have a huge latency when used for recording and playback at once.
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Old 07-25-2017, 05:30 AM   #8
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Latency was a concern. I will have to talk with my daughter to she if she experienced latency (I will have to explain what it means ; ) Kids just plug in and go...

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Old 07-25-2017, 06:27 AM   #9
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Latency is only an issue when you run live sound. Either live performance through fx or running live mics on a stage where the mix needs to be in sync with the sounds heard live off the louder instruments in the room. (Any lag cannot be greater than 11ms or you start to perceive the lag and doubled sounds.)

If you're mixing, any delay is a moot point because the sources are pre-recorded. If you never listen to the original live sound combined with the output of the DAW while performing, you'll never hear any lag. It would be annoying to have to wait minutes after hitting play before any sound came out but anything under a second doesn't matter for that.

If you are in fact doing live work, you would want to avoid aggregate devices. You'll be concerned with achieving < 11ms round trip latency while keeping stability with all the plugins you intend to use live. Just recording parts/overdubs and mixing? Set the block size to 1024 samples to leave processing power for mixing and monitor your overdubs with the monitor mixer in your interface.

It looks for all the world from the first post that this is a typical small recording/overdubbing/mixing scenario going on here. Not live sound.
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Old 07-25-2017, 06:37 AM   #10
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Just me, myself, and I. Thanks serr!
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