what's up with my vocal levels?? lil' help here!

[Doc Rorick]

Anyone around here doing any recording on GarageBand? I'm having some issues getting vocal sound levels even close to audible and can't figure out why... I feel like the pirate with the steering wheel sticking out of his fly. Yep, it's drivin' me nuts.

Here's what I'm working with:

GarageBand as my DAW

Focusrite Saffire PRO 24 (firewire DI box)

Saffire mix control software for signal routing between DI box and GarageBand

Shure PG58 mic

So, I've got everything set up and working nicely; I've got a good headphone mix coming out of the Saffire that gives me both the track playing on my DAW as well as latency-free sound from the mic, and I can blow the speakers out with vocal levels in this mix -- so nothing wrong with the mic, connection, cables, or my DI box. But no matter how high I push levels on my mix control software (or even crank the gain pots on the DI box), all I get on the vocal track on GB is a mushy whisper.

I've pushed all the faders on mix control to the roof, I've tried everything I can think of in GarageBand, and I've plugged a guitar directly into the same input on the PRO 24 and gotten great levels. The PRO 24 supplies phantom power, but unless there's something I'm doing terribly wrong on the GarageBand side of things, what the hell else could it be? The internal mic pre in the PRO 24 should have enough stones to record with no issues, so... what's the deal???

Any suggestions/thoughts would be most appreciated; I know it's damn near impossible to troubleshoot this kind of stuff from a distance but input might put my thoughts on the right track...

cheers y'all

[Blue Church2]

You're alive!!!!!!
That being said, I believe it might be a cable issue. Try using a different cable to ensure this isn't the issue. Also, turn off phantom power, because that won't make it any better since the PG58 doesn't require this use. Then if the issue persists, please contact your local Focusrite retailer to help complete your support issue.
I feel like a robot!! But if this doesn't work, I can try to troubleshoot it via 1 on 1. It's a software that allows you to "see" the persons computer to trouble shoot or fix the problem.

[Doc Rorick]

Doc.... is.... ALIVVVVVVE!!!!

Ha! Yeah, back with the crew now that my busy season is finished. Thanks for the tip on the cable, I'll pick up another one and see if that changes things. If not, I've already got a message in to Focusrite for help, and then maybe we can check out the 1 on 1. It's super frustrating! Which means it's probably something as simple as a faulty cable

[Blue Church2]

I had that issue once when I tried to record my acoustic via line in. It kept popping and was super annoying, but it turned out that the batteries were almost dead... -_-
Let me know if that helps, I have a Focusrite 2i2, but I think I can help a bit.

[Doc Rorick]

duuuuuuude.... it was not the cable. Also, it appears to not be the Saffire DI box.

It appears to be a quirk of GB. I started a new project/file in GB and the vocals came through perfectly well. Continuing to dig. And be frustrated.

[Blue Church2]

So it's just the current project you worked on that isn't working properly? Hmm... Well then what you should do if you want to continue, would be extract each file currently on there separately, then open a new GB project, and re-upload them (hope that makes sense) and work on that. But Let me think of other solutions because it seems a bit tedious for that.

[Gorelik276]

whats up with my vocal levels lil help here

I have been trying with some different trading scripts, and also search in the forum, but I havent found the way to autotrade with the players ship. The options are in grey.

Is there any script that makes it possible?

[ch willie]

I had the same trouble in Garageband and my gear is a bit advanced. I hated everything about GB. I got a few good recordings, but even a decade ago, I made better sounds on freeware than I ever got off GB. I'm going to Logic Pro X, and I've bought an Apollo processor.