How to recording high quailty into Macbook

[crashdesk]

Hi,

I want to start recording the bass straight into my Macbook. I need the quality to be as good as it can be (I think the sample rate is important here?) because I would like people to have the opportunity to sample the bass lines. What do I need to get the bass recorded onto hard disk?

I have a copy of Ableton and a little Vox. The Vox creates al ot of hum and isn't very clean. I have read a little about DI boxes but as you can guess I am totally out of my depth here.

Thanks for any advice.

Clinton

PS I am just using a wee Fender Music Master so it's a passive bass. Pickup has been upgraded to Seymour Duncan.

Edited October 8, 2014 by crashdesk

[Skol303]

Hi Clinton,

You'll need an audio interface - a 'box' that allows you to connect your bass (or any other instrument) to your computer.

This is a good one for starters:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B005OZE9SA?pc_redir=1412530406&robot_redir=1

You'll then need a desktop audio workstation (DAW) software. Your Mac will have a copy of Apple GarageBand already installed. It's a great piece of software - easy to use and it'll do everything you need. Lots of tutorials on YouTube on how to get started with it.

Hope that's pointed you in the right direction and give us a nudge here if you need more help

Paul

Edited October 8, 2014 by Skol303

[crashdesk]

Thanks Paul.

Things are starting to make sense. Do I need a DI box as well as the audio interface eg SansAmp?

[Skol303]

Nope, no DI box required.

The audio interface will have a 1/4" jack input - just like a bass amp - into which you can plug in a regular 1/4" jack lead and connect up your bass. It'll also have an input for microphones.

Most interfaces (including the one linked to above) have a switch or button for selecting either 'line' or 'instrument' input. The 'instrument' setting tends to boost the signal slightly, so you don't need to turn up the gain on the interface too high when recording (leaving plenty of 'head room', which helps to avoid clipping the signal and causing distortion).

All of which might sound complicated... when in reality, you just plug in and play!

So to retiterate: no, you don't need a DI box. You just need an audio interface, which will connect to your computer using a USB cable (which will come supplied with the interface if bought new).

Edited October 9, 2014 by Skol303

[crashdesk]

Great! Thanks for the advice. I will look into getting the interface this week.

[skej21]

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1412802476' post='2572318']
Hi Clinton,

You'll need an audio interface - a 'box' that allows you to connect your bass (or any other instrument) to your computer.

This is a good one for starters:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B005OZE9SA?pc_redir=1412530406&robot_redir=1

You'll then need a desktop audio workstation (DAW) software. Your Mac will have a copy of Apple GarageBand already installed. It's a great piece of software - easy to use and it'll do everything you need. Lots of tutorials on YouTube on how to get started with it.

Hope that's pointed you in the right direction and give us a nudge here if you need more help

Paul
[/quote]

Great interfaces! However, if you only want to record bass, may I suggest this; http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00MTXU2DG?pc_redir=1412828612&robot_redir=1

The recently released Scarlett solo has slightly different inputs but if you're only recording bass or one instrument and/or mic at the same time, this will do the job at a slightly more reasonable price. The outputs are limited but again, if youre just monitoring via headphones its perfect :-)

[crashdesk]

Okay. So I bought the Steinberg UR22 after reading reviews and considering what I need with regards to functionality. I have to say that it is a great piece of kit. I got the lend of a midi keyboard so took the decision to get an interface with midi in/out as well as the inputs.

Getting a good review of a product was very difficult and there are many factors involved in providing the review, a couple of which are, the persons competence with computers and opinion.

I tried to see through the fact that someone may have set up the interface wrongly, that they hadn't updated the drivers for the interface, that a crackle may have actually come from the instrument (not the interface) or that their computer was severely lacking in memory, CPU or running too many programs at once.

Here is a summary of what I have running and connected:
1. Macbook (2009) 4GB RAM
2. Ableton Live 9 (Standard)
3. UR22 Interface
4. Fender MusicMaster '77 with Seymour Duncan pickups

Bass was plugged into Input 2 with Hi-Z on. I got a perfect recording, no hum, super clean, untainted sound of my bass which is exactly what I wanted as it can be post processed.

Some people talk about the warmth etc of preamps adding a quality to a recording so I can't comment on that because I have nothing to compare the UR22's to but as I say, it's just the sound of the bass. I was extremely surprised by the lack of buzz and hum.

Hope this helps someone else.

Best,
Clinton