Rocksmith cable + Mainstage 3(OSX) = Decent practice setup

[redstrand]

I inherited my Dad's newer honkin big iMac and put it through it's pace for work and some freelance. Wanted to finally get some demos done and practice like I should. Been downsizing and reorganizing for months with all of Dad's stuff too.
Came across the ROcksmith cable....lightbulb went off...why don't I try just going straight in.
I also had purchased the pro app bundle since I'm a teacher and opened Mainstage and it's not too bad. Bass sounds like bass and I can play at a low volume along with drum tracks.
It helps that I have damn decent speaker and a sub on the computer.

But I can finally sit down and have a decent setup to practice with without a ton of cables and headphones which fatigues me at times.

Serendipity is a good thing, also having too many cables

I can dump said tracks into Logic Pro X for demo stuff too. I will hook up the pedalboards later and see how that goes

 

[seamonkey]

For "I/O" the Rocksmith cable is just "I"
The "O" is going to be the regular Mac audio. I don't know that this can be low latency on a mac. And there's not going to be direct monitoring.

I always recommend a regular USB Audio interface, one with direct monitoring.
Something that does both "I/O". They just make life a lot easier.
You can get a two channel interface for $50 to $200 depending on what features you anticipate needed.
Many of the $100 are actually excellent. $200 are more than excellent, and include expanded features you may not know you need now, but will once you get a few tracks under your belt.

Look at Wweetwater, search by price, but before you buy give them a call and talk about it. Tell them you're an educator. Some of the sales tech really know this stuff and can explain why people are buying one interface over another. And might give you an educator discount.

 

[Ekajimmy]

For "I/O" the Rocksmith cable is just "I"
The "O" is going to be the regular Mac audio. I don't know that this can be low latency on a mac. And there's not going to be direct monitoring.

I always recommend a regular USB Audio interface, one with direct monitoring.
Something that does both "I/O". They just make life a lot easier.
You can get a two channel interface for $50 to $200 depending on what features you anticipate needed.
Many of the $100 are actually excellent. $200 are more than excellent, and include expanded features you may not know you need now, but will once you get a few tracks under your belt.

Look at Wweetwater, search by price, but before you buy give them a call and talk about it. Tell them you're an educator. Some of the sales tech really know this stuff and can explain why people are buying one interface over another. And might give you an educator discount.

+1
Link Removed

 

[redstrand]

For "I/O" the Rocksmith cable is just "I"
The "O" is going to be the regular Mac audio. I don't know that this can be low latency on a mac. And there's not going to be direct monitoring.

I always recommend a regular USB Audio interface, one with direct monitoring.
Something that does both "I/O". They just make life a lot easier.
You can get a two channel interface for $50 to $200 depending on what features you anticipate needed.
Many of the $100 are actually excellent. $200 are more than excellent, and include expanded features you may not know you need now, but will once you get a few tracks under your belt.

Look at Wweetwater, search by price, but before you buy give them a call and talk about it. Tell them you're an educator. Some of the sales tech really know this stuff and can explain why people are buying one interface over another. And might give you an educator discount.

I know there are other interfaces, just happened to have this on hand. It’s great so far for practicing as it cuts down on clutter, edit, output to the powered speakers and sub sounds pretty good, again for practice and quick demos it’s cool. I was just commenting on Macguyvering a situation and it actually working. Granted I have a lot of time before I need to get too fancy but it works fine for this and I don’t need to spend more at the moment

 

[seamonkey]

Parts of my comments are really about somebody doing a search on cheap USB cable solutions where maybe the starting point is best served with an affordable full I/O USB audio interface.

 

[redstrand]

Parts of my comments are really about somebody doing a search on cheap USB cable solutions where maybe the starting point is best served with an affordable full I/O USB audio interface.

Ok. My post was about plugging in what I have in hand and using a program I didn't know existed until I downloaded the apps last week. Both work pretty good for a practice setup and allow the recording when needed if a the creative streak hits. No offense, but I was just saying hey if you already have these two things, give them a try. I have DI options and would still need an interface for them to work, one just plugs into the mic hole(thank you Mesa).

For now I can actually sit, try and practice in my room without p1$$ing off my wife and still capture some ideas...especially my mistakes

 

[Killed_by_Death]

I use Ubisoft's RealTone cable with AmpliTube & enjoy it.
Something else I enjoy doing is just playing straight in, w/o any modeling, just the RealTone cable with the Mic ON:

(Listen to this device)

When I was comparing two basses about a year ago, that came in handy, because it was just more transparent & raw than playing through my amp.

 

[redstrand]

I use Ubisoft's RealTone cable with AmpliTube & enjoy it.
Something else I enjoy doing is just playing straight in, w/o any modeling, just the RealTone cable with the Mic ON:
View attachment 3842254
(Listen to this device)

When I was comparing two basses about a year ago, that came in handy, because it was just more transparent & raw than playing through my amp.

Not sure if the iMac microphone can handle the bass, but straight in USB bass sounds like bass. The mainstage app has some amp and pedals so it can color sound however you want. I'm going to try using the cable with my Mesa and see how that does

 

[seamonkey]

It'd be interesting to compare a USB cable type interface versus the iMac microphone

For example Lee Sklar uses a macbook mic for these:
Leland Sklar

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

I inherited my Dad's newer honkin big iMac and put it through it's pace for work and some freelance. Wanted to finally get some demos done and practice like I should. Been downsizing and reorganizing for months with all of Dad's stuff too.
Came across the ROcksmith cable....lightbulb went off...why don't I try just going straight in.
I also had purchased the pro app bundle since I'm a teacher and opened Mainstage and it's not too bad. Bass sounds like bass and I can play at a low volume along with drum tracks.
It helps that I have damn decent speaker and a sub on the computer.

But I can finally sit down and have a decent setup to practice with without a ton of cables and headphones which fatigues me at times.

Serendipity is a good thing, also having too many cables

I can dump said tracks into Logic Pro X for demo stuff too. I will hook up the pedalboards later and see how that goes

Yeah, its a USB mic except with a 1/4" plug on one end. I recorded my first 2 entire albums with one of those...and the vocals with the Rockband microphone, and the Socom Navy Seals (for playstation2) headset. All tracks, all instruments running through my behringer 112 combo and out with that cable through the headphone jack straight into my computer. That was before I bought myself an interface of course. Didnt come out too shabby either.

 

[Benko]

I inherited my Dad's newer honkin big iMac and put it through it's pace for work and some freelance. Wanted to finally get some demos done and practice like I should. Been downsizing and reorganizing for months with all of Dad's stuff too.
Came across the ROcksmith cable....lightbulb went off...why don't I try just going straight in.
I also had purchased the pro app bundle since I'm a teacher and opened Mainstage and it's not too bad. Bass sounds like bass and I can play at a low volume along with drum tracks.
It helps that I have damn decent speaker and a sub on the computer.

But I can finally sit down and have a decent setup to practice with without a ton of cables and headphones which fatigues me at times.

Serendipity is a good thing, also having too many cables

I can dump said tracks into Logic Pro X for demo stuff too. I will hook up the pedalboards later and see how that goes

Haha funny I found one of those when I was clearing space a few weeks ago and they are actively sought on the used market (sold mine for like 40 dollars). Before selling it I tested it on my mac and it was sounding fine.

I think for practice with headphone it's perfect. Mainstage is great but for practice I would use logic/garageband, it's basically the same but if you need to quickly loop something or add a bit of rythm it's right there.

 

[redstrand]

Haha funny I found one of those when I was clearing space a few weeks ago and they are actively sought on the used market (sold mine for like 40 dollars). Before selling it I tested it on my mac and it was sounding fine.

I think for practice with headphone it's perfect. Mainstage is great but for practice I would use logic/garageband, it's basically the same but if you need to quickly loop something or add a bit of rythm it's right there.

Pretty much, with all the upheaval in my life it was kinda good to just plug in and go...I agree logic is better, especially the drums

 

[redstrand]

It'd be interesting to compare a USB cable type interface versus the iMac microphone

For example Lee Sklar uses a macbook mic for these:
Leland Sklar

I’ll have to set up the room again, with all my dads stuff I moved the bass amps out in the family room to let me be able to play without being crowded. For now to be able to sit down and plug in it’s rather nice. I’m going to plug the wd800 and the ampeg scr in later today to see how that goes

 

[LoTone]

If it works for you; it works. Garageband can be used as well if you want some free virtual amps/cabs. There are a couple of Ampeg look a likes that come with Garageband.

 

[redstrand]

If it works for you; it works. Garageband can be used as well if you want some free virtual amps/cabs. There are a couple of Ampeg look a likes that come with Garageband.

Yeah, the ampeg stuff is in all three apps, Logic is just garageband on mega steriods. I do dig all the drum samples and loops. Putting together practice tracks is helping me think through compositions...it's also making me pay more attention...more tools in the toolbox

 

[Rabidhamster]

If the rock smith cable works with acceptable latency for playing Rocksmith, which it does, then it will also have acceptable latency for practice.

you can also open rocksmith and use the tones in there for practice, I forget the exact menu selection. There are internal Audio loop back Software programs to let you record that into logic if you can’t as is.

 

[redstrand]

If the rock smith cable works with acceptable latency for playing Rocksmith, which it does, then it will also have acceptable latency for practice.

you can also open rocksmith and use the tones in there for practice, I forget the exact menu selection. There are internal Audio loop back Software programs to let you record that into logic if you can’t as is.

I used to play on the 360, had the cable put away with non music stuff and had forgot about it. Kind of like having a new toy