Mic boost on macs?

[JacobTM]

So I just got my first mac, and I'm trying to record on garage band. On my PC, I would go into sound properties and click "mic boost" so that my recordings would be a good volume. On my mac, they're ridiculously quiet, and I can't find an option like mic boost. Do I have to buy a preamp, or am I just missing it?

Thanks,
Jacob

 

[Jeff Dunne]

Re: Mic boost on macs?

What are you plugging the mic into?

Do you mean the stock mic on a Laptop? Mine picks up fine, but I definitely wouldn't record with it.

 

[JacobTM]

Re: Mic boost on macs?

What are you plugging the mic into?

Do you mean the stock mic on a Laptop? Mine picks up fine, but I definitely wouldn't record with it.

I've got a real mic, I'm plugging it into the mic input on the back of my computer. It's an Imac if that makes a difference.

 

[Jeff Dunne]

Re: Mic boost on macs?

Unless I'm mistaken, I don't believe they have a mic input. Icon next to the jack looks like two speakers facing opposite eachother with a ring connection them? That's a line-in jack, and you'll need a mic pre, unfortunately.

 

[ParameterMan]

Re: Mic boost on macs?

You can go into System Preferences -> Sound -> Input and select the internal mic or the line input, and adjust the level. Unfortunately, I do believe you'll need a preamp of some sort. There are lots of affordable USB/Firewire preamp/audio interfaces out there as well.

 

[muttonchopsrule]

Re: Mic boost on macs?

as stated above, you'd need some sort of interface, or a preamp at the very least. a line level input, like the one on your computer, is expecting to see a much stronger signal than a microphone can produce on it's own, which is why it's coming out too quiet. that's the basic function of a mic preamp; to boost the mic-level signal up to line-level.