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Thread MAC OS user: Need Help with my Digital Recording Studio

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1 MAC OS user: Need Help with my Digital Recording Studio
Hey, I'm new to these forums, and I came here for you guys to help me with this problem that I have....

I'm on a Macintosh iBook Laptop, running OSX 10.3.3 with 384 MB of RAM, 14 GB HD, 600 MHz G3 Processor, a built in "dot" mic, and a 12.1" screen. I'm 14 years old and have been playing the violin for 7 years.

I first got interested in this stuff a few months ago when i was fooling around with ProTools Free (a program that only runs in system 9), and saw how powerful the program can be used. So I transcribed some of some really cool Video game music and did some overdub projects with my violin and dot mic, where I record one track, and record a second track while I listen to the track I just recorded, and proceeded on with more tracks in the same fashion. (The music I did if anyone is interested, was Zelda Ocarina of Time, the Lost Woods theme, and Zelda III; A Link to The Past, the Dark World theme, and the Lost Woods theme for that game too. If you would like to hear them, IM me on AIM, my screen name is MasterOfFlames89).

Please note this all happened while I had system 9.2 installed. Since the recording quality was lacking due to the dot mic's capabilities (the noise added up every track you added on), I wanted to step up, Microphone wise. I have a 6 Channel Powered Mixer right here, that I tried plugging an analog Mic through, which then goes through a USB device called an iMic. It worked, untill I needed to overdub my next track. It had about a quarter second latency, so i couldn't overdub to myself in real-time. I became discouraged and stopped making new projects for a while.

I recently found and got something from the same company as the makers of iMic, called a Powerwave which has Zero-Latency. I just got my Powerwave, and since I installed system 10.3, I had to get a version of 9.2 on my system again. So I took a backup CD and copied the 9.2 system folder to my hard drive. I booted up in Classic, got ProTools Free, and it turns out it doesn't work in Classic. So I boot into pure 9.2 and set the Input to the Powerwave. I have, again, my Mic into my Mixer, which is hooked into the Powerwave, which is hooked into the computer via USB. I opened ProTools, and tested it out, and recorded my voice as a test. When I tried to listen to the sample, I heard nothing, even though the graphic of the wave looked like it wasn't silence and had ridges. Then i try putting up my internal volume, only to find the even though my volume was up, no sound, even through other applications, were comming out of my speakers. I tried changing my Output Settings, but the only thing listed was "Internal Speakers", even though I had my Microphones plugged in. I unplugged them, and still nothing. I restarted my computer, and heard the startup sound in releif. When the machine was fully restarted, I pressed the volume up button, and heard a beep sound. Then when i put my Headphones on, the sound dies again. This time, I tried restarting WITH my Headphones plugged in. The sound works for about ten seconds, then dies, even when you take them out. I can't do this project without my headphones, because I need them to overdub without it having record again what it is playing back.

The choices I see are, I either I fix this really weird glitch, or I find a program that is able to do the same things as ProTools does in OSX, which I have yet to discover.

Any Tips, Advice? Enlighten me!
2
Hey guys. I'm MasterOfFlames' older brother. I help(ed) him create the projects that he mentioned. If you could help us solve this problem that would be great. Thanks alot in advance.
3
eeeep im sorry i know nothing about macs......

can anyone else help?
4
Well I'm not quite sure, but the headphone problem might be a short in the actuall headphone jack. I had an old Powermac 4400/200 which had the sound go out in a very similar manner. It was an old machine so i really didnt worry about fixing it. Now as for the latency issue it could be due to a couple factors. One being your G3. I used to run Logic on a G3 which caused alot of latency with playback. Have you changed the sound quality of your mic input? Because a higher bit rate may be taxing your processor with overdubbing. Also there are a number of programs on OSX which do what protools does. One of those IS Protools, but its the paid version. Cubase SX is another, but I've had alot of issues with SX so I don't recommend it at all. Logic 6 (now Logic Express/Pro) is a really good program also, but it has a really steep learning curve. All these programs will run you $200 and more though so you may want to save up and get them if your serious about getting into music and recording. Also if you are serious I'd highly recommend getting at least a G4 or a G5 and a really big HD with that too.