Problem with hooking up studio monitors!! Help PLEASE!

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stephanclaude12

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Okay first of all to start off with, sup everyone! I am using an M-Audio Fast Track Mkii audio interface and a Macbook Pro. Also keep in mind, I'm a newbie to all of this (home recording/producing) . So first of all, I bought a used pair of M-Audio AV 40 monitors from guitar center(the guy said they were in good condition). I plugged that in to my interface via RCA and then I turned the volume knob on my interface and on my monitor and when I tried to play back music I got nothing. No sound at all. I also checked in my system preferences to make sure that the audio output is coming from my interface and it is. Still no sound. The blue light was on and yet nothing. I then went back to Guitar Center thinking it was the speakers that are the problem to trade it in for a different pair of monitors, this time a pair of Alesis Elevate 3 studio monitors. I plugged it in via RCA, set the preferences, turned on my knobs,made sure blue light is on and everything and yet, NO SOUND. So wit me thinking it was the cable I went to RadioShack to buy another RCA cable but when I get home and plugged everything in, I STILL got no sound. As you can see, this is very frustrating for me.:mad: What is the problem here? Is it my audio interface? I updated the drivers for my interface.. and there's no drivers online for the Alesis monitors..So can someone with experience please help me out? Should I buy a new audio interface? If so, which do you recommend?(keep in mind if this is the case i can only afford something in the $100-$200 price range) Sorry if this is too long but yeah I hope someone can help me out. All help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
What music are you trying to "play back"? From what source? Are you getting a sense that they're alive because there's a noise when you switch them on and a bit of self-noise as well?
 
First thing I'd do is go to whatever you're using as a DAW and check your audio routings. It's awfully easy to accidentally leave the main output patched to your internal sound card or something.
 
Armistice said:
What music are you trying to "play back"? From what source? Are you getting a sense that they're alive because there's a noise when you switch them on and a bit of self-noise as well?
Click to expand...

I am trying to playback music recorded into GarageBand from my monitors. No, there's absolutely no sound coming from my monitors.
 
Bobbsy said:
First thing I'd do is go to whatever you're using as a DAW and check your audio routings. It's awfully easy to accidentally leave the main output patched to your internal sound card or something.
Click to expand...

Did that already, everything is routed correctly and still no sound from my monitors :(
 
try plugging the RCA to 1/8 inch into an ipod or something. If you get sound, it's all in the computer someplace. My guess is you'll hear the ipod just fine. Another test is to plug headphones into the interface itself. No sound there? Again, it's gotta be somewhere between the interface, computer, and DAW set up.
 
Well, the obvious thing now is to plug some other sound source (CD player, MP3 player, Audio out from your TV, whatever) directly into your speakers. If that works, then you know the monitors are okay.

If the speakers are working, hook them up to the M Audio and plug in a mic or instrument to the appropriate socket. Turn on the Direct Monitoring switch. Can you hear your mic or guitar through the monitors? If so, the connection to the speakers is okay (Direct Monitor routes your input direct to the headphone and line out sockets).

If, even with direct monitoring selected there's no sound, suspect a fault with the M Audio. If there IS sound via direct monitoring then I'm afraid you've missed something in either Garageband or your computer's audio setup.
 
Bobbsy said:
Well, the obvious thing now is to plug some other sound source (CD player, MP3 player, Audio out from your TV, whatever) directly into your speakers. If that works, then you know the monitors are okay.

If the speakers are working, hook them up to the M Audio and plug in a mic or instrument to the appropriate socket. Turn on the Direct Monitoring switch. Can you hear your mic or guitar through the monitors? If so, the connection to the speakers is okay (Direct Monitor routes your input direct to the headphone and line out sockets).

If, even with direct monitoring selected there's no sound, suspect a fault with the M Audio. If there IS sound via direct monitoring then I'm afraid you've missed something in either Garageband or your computer's audio setup.
Click to expand...

Well I dont have the cables to do that and its late in my area so I'll go buy the cables tomorrow and test it out to see how it is. As for the direct monitoring, yeah it worked, I could hear my guitar through the monitors.What could I have missed in Garageband or my computers audio setup? I setup the input and output as my interface in both my system preferences and in Garageband preferences..
 
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Bobbsy said:
Well, the obvious thing now is to plug some other sound source (CD player, MP3 player, Audio out from your TV, whatever) directly into your speakers. If that works, then you know the monitors are okay.

If the speakers are working, hook them up to the M Audio and plug in a mic or instrument to the appropriate socket. Turn on the Direct Monitoring switch. Can you hear your mic or guitar through the monitors? If so, the connection to the speakers is okay (Direct Monitor routes your input direct to the headphone and line out sockets).

If, even with direct monitoring selected there's no sound, suspect a fault with the M Audio. If there IS sound via direct monitoring then I'm afraid you've missed something in either Garageband or your computer's audio setup.
Click to expand...

Sorry my bad, I looked around my house and I found a pair of RCA-1/8 cables. I plugged my iphone into my speakers and they are working just fine...What's the problem here then? I'd also like to add that i also tried plugging my speakers into my macbook pro via the RCA-1/8 cable and it works fine... Does that mean the problem lies in my interface? I'm like really confused
 
Sorry...I can't help much with Garageband as I've never played with it. However, maybe have a look that the bit depth and sample rate are set the same on both you M Audio and the Computer audio controller.

Besides setting the M Audio on the general preferences screen, do you have to route tracks to the master and the master to the M Audio in your session?

Is there a mute function somewhere or a master fader pulled down?

(Now you can really tell I've never used Garageband! Hopefully somebody else will be along soon!)
 
Bobbsy said:
Sorry...I can't help much with Garageband as I've never played with it. However, maybe have a look that the bit depth and sample rate are set the same on both you M Audio and the Computer audio controller.

Besides setting the M Audio on the general preferences screen, do you have to route tracks to the master and the master to the M Audio in your session?

Is there a mute function somewhere or a master fader pulled down?

(Now you can really tell I've never used Garageband! Hopefully somebody else will be along soon!)
Click to expand...

Nope I don't have to do any of that , and its un-muted and there is no master fader pulled down..:/
 
Cmon someone help me out here please im desperate this is very frustrating :confused:
 
Can't record (other thread) and can't play anything back?

Voice of God, I reckon.:laughings:

Sorry, not helpful.

Can you see any meters moving GB when you try to record? Signs of a signal? (Sorry that's the other thread, isn't it?). Still....
 
stephanclaude12 said:
... Does that mean the problem lies in my interface?
Click to expand...
no because the direct monitoring worked and that is thru the interface.
You simply have something routed wrong or muted or something like that.
It's easy to do. I don't record to a puter so i can't help you with the specifics but someone will be along that can.
In the meantime quit spending money, relax and be patient.
You simply have something set wrong somewhere and someone's gonna help you figure it out.

And quit thinking it can only be a matter of hours before someone figures it out and responds. It could be a few days before the right person notices the thread and helps. People do have lives and not everyone is on here every single second ....... it'll get figured out so try not to stress quite so much.
 
Armistice said:
Can't record (other thread) and can't play anything back?

Voice of God, I reckon.:laughings:

Sorry, not helpful.

Can you see any meters moving GB when you try to record? Signs of a signal? (Sorry that's the other thread, isn't it?). Still....
Click to expand...

Nope no meters moving in GB and the preferences for input and output are set as my interface..
 
Lt. Bob said:
no because the direct monitoring worked and that is thru the interface.
You simply have something routed wrong or muted or something like that.
It's easy to do. I don't record to a puter so i can't help you with the specifics but someone will be along that can.
In the meantime quit spending money, relax and be patient.
You simply have something set wrong somewhere and someone's gonna help you figure it out.

And quit thinking it can only be a matter of hours before someone figures it out and responds. It could be a few days before the right person notices the thread and helps. People do have lives and not everyone is on here every single second ....... it'll get figured out so try not to stress quite so much.
Click to expand...

Alright man, my bad.
 
stephanclaude12 said:
Alright man, my bad.
Click to expand...
no bad man ..... I know you're anxious to get recording and it's hard to be patient when you're excited. It'd be nice if someone will get right over here and help ...... I wish I could .... but the reality is that sometimes it takes a day or two before the right person comes along ....... sorry. Like I said ...... I know how frustrating it is and how badly you want to get going right now! :D
Just take deep breaths ..... in ....... out ....... innnnnnn ....... out ... feel better?

:)
 
So it would seem your'e not getting any signal into Garageband - I have no idea how it works - but in Reaper you have to (1) create a track (2) tell the track where the input is coming from (it defaults to #1 on my interface but if you're not using #1 - nada) (3) arm the track (4) select to monitor it (if you want to...)

I presume you've got #1 happening. Work on #2 & #3 - is there somewhere on your track that you tell it to expect input from whatever input on your interface you're using? And what input is that anyway? And have you armed the track to record?

And have you absolutely positively definitely told Garageband to use your interface as its sound source and playback outlet?
 
Armistice said:
So it would seem your'e not getting any signal into Garageband - I have no idea how it works - but in Reaper you have to (1) create a track (2) tell the track where the input is coming from (it defaults to #1 on my interface but if you're not using #1 - nada) (3) arm the track (4) select to monitor it (if you want to...)

I presume you've got #1 happening. Work on #2 & #3 - is there somewhere on your track that you tell it to expect input from whatever input on your interface you're using? And what input is that anyway? And have you armed the track to record?

And have you absolutely positively definitely told Garageband to use your interface as its sound source and playback outlet?
Click to expand...

No theres nothing like that, and I'm using the instrument input on my interface. Yes I have armed it to record. And I'm absolutely positively sure I did that.
 
What does the third button in the array of 5 shown in that picture in the other thread do?
 
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