iMac recording

[rsminton]

I'm new to this forum, so please forgive me if this question has already been asked and answered.

I have a 333MHz iMac (using built-in mic) and though I've tried several audio recording programs (Pro Tools Free and Cubase, I believe) have never been able to record on one track while monitoring myself and listening to the other tracks on the headphones. (Recording on track 2, for example, while listening to track 1 and monitoring myself on track 2.)

I've been told by that the problem might lay with my sound card, but as far as I know this is not upgradeable on an iMac, and I'm quite sure people use iMacs for recording.

Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks for your help,
Rob

P.S. I really only want to do some basic 4-track, non-Midi recording (just mic'd guitars, drums, vocals, etc.), I have no need for effects or anything fancy. Are there any very basic multi-track recording programs out there?

[michaelhoddy]

You need a full-duplex audio card to monitor while recording. A lot of earlier Mac built-in cards were not full-duplex, although I don't know about the IMac. Using a stock soundcard which is not designed for pro-level recording (I/O, A/D conversion, duplexing) is a dicey bet on all counts.

If you're going to seriously pursue recording, you will eventually need to get a hardware interface in order to do it easily and well. Since you're using the IMac, you'll need to go with a FireWire interface, perhaps the best of which right now is the MOTU 828.

[kaboombahchuck]

Hi rsminton. I'm using an iMac g3 350mhz, with cakewalk metro 5, and have no problems with playback while recording.