Running signal into a Mac Laptop for Live Shows

[das216]

All

I'm in a band with extreme techies - both the guitarist and keyboardist have "upgraded" and are now running their signal processing through their own Mac laptops into 4 JBL MRX 515's. The drums are electronic. I'm not exactly sure how they are doing all this...I'm low-tech.

For live shows, they want to use 2 515's as monitors and the other 2 as FOH. In order to get a balanced FOH sound, they would like me to run through the Macs too.

I've been using my own rig. Bass > Boss ME50B > AI Focus2R > Epifani UL310.

I've tried running my rig through their PA by using the DI on my Focus 2R. I've also tried using a Sadowsky Bass Preamp. Every time I do it, my sound is distorted. It also seems to distort when recording through the same gear. I guess my signal is too hot.


I hesitate because:

1. I really like my rig.
2. The JBL's distort when I run into them and I don't know why. There is no distortion when the keys play low notes.

So does anybody have an idea what I can do to eliminate the distortion while feeling comfortable with my sound at live gigs?

I'm really good friend with them and admittedly, they have done some amazing things with their sounds via the Mac's. Also, I do think that sometimes their set up is more trouble than it is worth because glitches show up in their set ups practically all the time.

Check out the band Trixie Neptune:

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[baba]

See if the channel you are interfacing with on the Mac has an input pad. If so, use it to pad your signal.

If not, try an external DI and place it after your Boss. The DI will have a pad switch to get you to a signal level the Mac interface will like.

 

[IanStephenson]

If you upgrade the Boss to pretty much any of their other models it will have a digital out. You can then feed that straight into a modern macbook, as they support digital audio in. That way you know the signal in your pedal board is going straight into the softweare. You might need a coax-optical converter but they're cheap.

 

[JimmyM]

Do you have your settings on the Boss at unity gain, or are you a signal booster? If not, do you run active electronics cranked all the way up on your bass? If you run direct into the AI, does it still distort? Since the distortion starts at the AI, I have to assume you're slamming its input with excessive signal from your bass or the Boss.

I'm with you about the amp, but if I were in a band where everything went direct to the PA and the drums were programmed, I'd probably get on board with it, too, just because everyone else was doing it.

 

[das216]

Do you have your settings on the Boss at unity gain, or are you a signal booster? If not, do you run active electronics cranked all the way up on your bass? If you run direct into the AI, does it still distort? Since the distortion starts at the AI, I have to assume you're slamming its input with excessive signal from your bass or the Boss.

I'm with you about the amp, but if I were in a band where everything went direct to the PA and the drums were programmed, I'd probably get on board with it, too, just because everyone else was doing it.

Unity gain? Is that where the signal volume through the Boss is as loud as teh signal bypassing teh Boss?

I'm not a signal booster...at least I don't think so because I'm not a techie either. I've never really grasped the whole EQ thing. I go for what I think sounds good and the result then goes into the MAC but it distorts the JBL's and recordings using teh same MAC.

My bass is passive and I run the Boss with knobs at 12 o'clock. I run the AI at 12 o'clock also. The guitarist is an engineer and is vewry knowledgeable about electronics but one thing he suggested which I highly doubt is to turn the AI preamp all teh way up and use the master to control volume. I think it's the other way around.

I do own a Sansamp RBI maybe I should try it. I don't use it much because it adds noise to my signal.

Thanks!

 

[JimmyM]

Unity gain? Is that where the signal volume through the Boss is as loud as teh signal bypassing teh Boss?

I'm not a signal booster...at least I don't think so because I'm not a techie either. I've never really grasped the whole EQ thing. I go for what I think sounds good and the result then goes into the MAC but it distorts the JBL's and recordings using teh same MAC.

My bass is passive and I run the Boss with knobs at 12 o'clock. I run the AI at 12 o'clock also. The guitarist is an engineer and is vewry knowledgeable about electronics but one thing he suggested which I highly doubt is to turn the AI preamp all teh way up and use the master to control volume. I think it's the other way around.

I do own a Sansamp RBI maybe I should try it. I don't use it much because it adds noise to my signal.

Thanks!

Your guitarist is right. You do control the volume with the master and you leave the gain set to where it doesn't distort. If you have your master low and the gain high, it could easily be the problem.

You did get the definition of unity gain right, though.