Using the internal soundcard of a Macbook to gig

galo · Post by **galo** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 9:04 am

Hi guys, I have been a PC live user for a couple of years now and have been gigging successfully with a echo dj card, but i am on the verge of turning to the mac side. I have a spare audiophile firewire at the house, but in all reality i dont really need 2 sets of outs, could i get away with gigging of the internal card in a macbook.

thanks

sqook · Post by **sqook** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 9:08 am

I've known plenty of people that have done it, though I would probably prefer an external card myself. The line noise on the mac laptops is pretty good (as in, there basically isn't any).

If I were you, I'd bring the audiophile with you just in case.

galo · Post by **galo** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 9:14 am

thanks for that, i might just do that, i have read alot of bad reports about the audiophile on this forum, though one of the other guys in my band has one which has performed without issue for over a year

The Mysterious Flying Pum · Post by **The Mysterious Flying Pum** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 9:49 am

I usually directly plug my iBook on the sono. I never tried with an external sound card.

Would the sound be better ? Punchier ? Louder ?

Robert Henke · Post by **Robert Henke** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 10:03 am

The audiophile does sound far better than the internal out of my MacBook, so i would assume the same goes for an iBook. But I am an audio nerd anyway and what applies to me might not appy to you or your music. Why not checking the difference during soundcheck at a gig if a bandmate has one? If it makes a huge difference to you, buy one, if not you will be fine with the internal out and have one unit less to take care of...

Interesting observation: I worked on my current club live set for six month using an Audiophile. At some point I needed eight outs for another project and bought a Motu Ultralite. The sound difference was amazing. BUT: it took me quite some time to get used to the new sound since the Audiophile sounds muddier but also warmer.

Another thought: If you play in a band the most critical point for the overall sound is the mix. A mix done by someone with ears is 100000 million times more important than the most expensive equipment on stage.

Robert

Hervé · Post by **Hervé** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 10:18 am

Use the extenal one for the main output it's gone be much better signal whise, and use the internal for cue (headphones)...
go in the midi/audio pref panel of your mac and go to the Aggregate Device to do it.

beatnik · Post by **beatnik** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 10:56 am

I use a MacBook and an audiophile FW as my setup. It's great. I've tried using the internal audio but I was getting so much grounding noise that it wasn't worth it. No matter what I used, ground loop isolator - even tried removing the earthing pin on the plug - I'd still get the grounding noise.

I eventually plumped up the money for the FW and have never looked back. I just plug it in and run everything from it.

If you wanted to go internal, the MacBook Pro has an Expresscard/34 slot - though I know of almost no companies that manufacture a multiple IO card.

Tarekith · Post by **Tarekith** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 11:14 am

Might be ok for the MacBook, but I know the MBP's sometimes get some line noise on the headphone out. Almost sounds like ground noise or LCD whine when you turn up the volume more. My wife and I both have this.

For smaller gigs, or crappy pa's, probably ok, but at a loud club with good system, I'd definitely recommend the external soundcard.

SubFunk · Post by **SubFunk** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 1:30 pm

robert wrote:

Another thought: If you play in a band the most critical point for the overall sound is the mix. A mix done by someone with ears is 100000 million times more important than the most expensive equipment on stage.

amen! and that applies to studio gear as much.

having both is the winner, still skills and ears before gear, amen!

SubFunk · Post by **SubFunk** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 1:31 pm

Tarekith wrote:Might be ok for the MacBook, but I know the MBP's sometimes get some line noise on the headphone out. Almost sounds like ground noise or LCD whine when you turn up the volume more. My wife and I both have this.

For smaller gigs, or crappy pa's, probably ok, but at a loud club with good system, I'd definitely recommend the external soundcard.

use the unearthed powerplug adapter on your macs PSU!

Tarekith · Post by **Tarekith** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 2:21 pm

I am actually, the power in my studio is all properly balanced and grounded, thanks to a hefty UPS system. Again, it's only noticeable higher volumes, otherwise it's fine.

The Mysterious Flying Pum · Post by **The Mysterious Flying Pum** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 3:18 pm

Tarekith wrote:I am actually, the power in my studio is all properly balanced and grounded, thanks to a hefty UPS system. Again, it's only noticeable higher volumes, otherwise it's fine.

That's strange... as i said earlier, i directly plug my iBook on my monitoring system and i don't have any ground noise even at high volumes... may be i am already deaf ;-)

SubFunk · Post by **SubFunk** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 3:54 pm

The Mysterious Flying Pum wrote:
Tarekith wrote:I am actually, the power in my studio is all properly balanced and grounded, thanks to a hefty UPS system. Again, it's only noticeable higher volumes, otherwise it's fine.
That's strange... as i said earlier, i directly plug my iBook on my monitoring system and i don't have any ground noise even at high volumes... may be i am already deaf

same here on a mbp c2d with the earthed plug i have this hum, actually more a high wine sound... with the unearthed plug all tutti frutti.