Hi all,

Talent here trying to come into the 21st century (following my agent's
recommendation) to set up a way to MP3 auditions out to clients so bear
with me please...
Here's what I have: emac Tiger with garageband. Sm58 mic, M-audio
preamp (Fasttrack - very basic), headphones.

I did some test recordings and not bad...not great. I understand I'm
working on bare bones but still want to put out the best quality MP3
file I can.

I'm having some problem with the sound level. If I set the sound level
too high on the master volume in either garageband or the preamp then I
get distortion in the playback of the AIFF file but oddly, not the
final emailed MP3 file. If I do it any other way the final MP3 file is
weak, low volume. So should I keep doing that?

Secondly, I only hear mono out of the headphones but it records and
plays back out of regular speakers in stereo. What's that about?

Last, how much "goods" do I lose converting the AIFF file to MP3, is
there a way around it and what about LAME? Somebody told me to get that
but my audition files should be pretty small. Do I need it or want it?

Much thanks in your help with this.. so non techie. I wish I had a
sound guy living with me :-)
Kate

Kat wrote:

I'm having some problem with the sound level. If I set the sound level
too high on the master volume in either garageband or the preamp then I
get distortion in the playback of the AIFF file but oddly, not the
final emailed MP3 file.

MP3 compression can cover up a lot of sins. You need to learn how to
set levels throughout your system.

Secondly, I only hear mono out of the headphones but it records and
plays back out of regular speakers in stereo. What's that about?

Probably something about how your headphones are connected.

Last, how much "goods" do I lose converting the AIFF file to MP3, is
there a way around it and what about LAME?

The direct trade-off is size and sound quality. 320 kbps MP3 audio is
certainly good enough for auditions and evaluation. 128 kbps is about
the lowest rate that you can call "musical" and will sound a bit like a
short wave broadcast. The LAME encoder is one of the better ones that
you don't have to pay for, and there are some things that you can do to
your AIFF/WAV recordings that might make them sound worse played back
in that format, but which will improve in certain areas after
compression. There is some art to this which comes with experience, and
you'd best just make larger files that sound OK without too much
fooling around until you have time to fool around.

Much thanks in your help with this.. so non techie. I wish I had a
sound guy living with me :-)

Oh, is that how it works now? Can you cook? Do you have a nice boat? Do
you live someplace warm? Please send a photo.

Seriously, you don't have to live with someone in order to get
technical advice. Ask around your local music community and you're
bound to find someone who can come over and get you set up so that you
have a good starting point. Worst case you can order a pizza delivered.

kAT:"I'm having some problem with the sound level. If I set the sound
level
too high on the master volume in either garageband or the preamp then I

get distortion in the playback of the AIFF file but oddly, not the
final emailed MP3 file. If I do it any other way the final MP3 file is
weak, low volume. So should I keep doing that? "

Maybe check out one of those RNC (really nice compressor) that is
getting a thumbs up here. They are pretty inexpensive. Put it in line
with your mic and preamp to get a more level input signal to your
program.

You have people here that say compress nothing, and others like myself
compress a lot (a victim of the volume wars I guess). Good luck.

Thanks Mike, I'm going to wrangle somebody from a local band who
apparently has the knowing. This is not for music but for VO auditions,
I'm sure however, the same laws apply!
Kate

Thanks Mike, I'm going to wrangle somebody from a local band who
apparently has the knowing. This is not for music but for VO auditions,
I'm sure however, the same laws apply!
Kate

Emin::You have people here that say compress nothing, and others like
myself
compress a lot (a victim of the volume wars I guess). Good luck.


Thanks Emin. I don't know much (ie nothing) about compression. I guess
now is a good time to learn!
Kate

I am not much of a mac person, but if your aiff files and mp3 files
play with different players, it is possible that the one associated
with aiff files accidentally got cranked way up. I know Winamp used to
have an EQ section that let you control the bass and treble and
everything in between but it also had a "preamp" slider which turned
the whole thing up or down in the EQ section. If for some reason you
had the bass or treble cranked, you would have to turn down the
"preamp" slider in order to not get distortion. Only you know what is
going on with your computer, but do a little debugging. Look around to
see if anything like I said is happening. Also, try playing the file
with a different player. If you are getting this distortion in the
playback of Garageband, maybe look around and see if any of your levels
are above 0dB. If the signal is hot enough this can cause you to
distort and depending on where it is in the internal signal path, it
could only affect your playback and not your input. These are just
some ideas.