Ableton Forum

I have a MacBook with 2.1 GHz intel 2 duo processor and running on version 10.5.8

It's not a pro but I have recently got the novation launchpad for christmas so in the future I can plug in my Roland synth and guitar in and loop on the launch pad but unfortunately I can't get sound from my MacBook when I have the launch pad plugged into the USB. The lights all turn on but no sound from my MacBook unless I don't plug it in. Do I need alternative USB speakers to play with the launchpad? Or are the MacBook speakers not good enough?

Also I would love to plug my synth into my comp but I won't have enough USB plugs to do it if it needs alternative speakers. I should of prepared or rethought buying this things.

DMars79 wrote:I have a MacBook with 2.1 GHz intel 2 duo processor and running on version 10.5.8

It's not a pro but I have recently got the novation launchpad for christmas so in the future I can plug in my Roland synth and guitar in and loop on the launch pad but unfortunately I can't get sound from my MacBook when I have the launch pad plugged into the USB. The lights all turn on but no sound from my MacBook unless I don't plug it in. Do I need alternative USB speakers to play with the launchpad? Or are the MacBook speakers not good enough?

Also I would love to plug my synth into my comp but I won't have enough USB plugs to do it if it needs alternative speakers. I should of prepared or rethought buying this things.

No sound comes out of a launchpad - it is a controller, not an audio device. The looping you are referring to is done by a program - i.e. Ableton Live. The launchpad gives you easy access to trigger clips to record and/or play back. It does not do anything you cannot do manually in Live - it just "controls" various parameters.

You can do what you want to do in Live, but you do not plug USB cables into a computer from a synth to send audio into it - you send the audio output from it into a sound card. This converts the signal into a digital signal that your laptop can understand. You should have one stereo input on your laptops internal sound card, but if you want to send a few different instruments in, you will need an external sound card with more inputs.

Given you bought a launchpad without realising what it actually did, I would suggest you read up on how audio programs, sound cards and controllers generally interact with each other to get a better feel as to what you actually need as by the sounds of things, you do need an external sound card. It is also not all that advisable to use the crappy speakers on your laptop - you should really be amplifying the sound and listening on a set of monitors or at worst, on headphones. This will not use USB either - it will use audio cables (either jack, RCA or XLR usually). You also have one stereo output in your laptops internal sound card already and typically, you would use a "Y" cable (mini jack to RCA) to plug your laptop into an amp. But if you need more (not sure you do), again you will need to go with an external option which can be the same sound card as the one you get with more inputs.

Once you get that somewhat set up, follow the Live and launchpad manuals to learn how to trigger audio to record and play back. You have a bit to go before then, but best of luck.