reaper sounds quality PC vs. Mac

uglijimus · 05-13-2022, 08:37 PM

hello all,

recently got a MacBook Air and have been loving it. One thing I noticed though is, when I re-amp my guitar in the MacBook, compared to my PC, there seems to be less gain/distortion by about 15-20 percent. I can match my original sound (the one from the PC) kind of by increasing the gain on my pedal and/or amp, but it doesn't quite sound the same.

I am using the same template (file) that I used on my PC so I know nothing had changed there..I am wondering if there is something inherit in either the MacBook Air that needs to be turned on? or something in the reaper preferences in the Mac version that may be causing this?

*I should mention that only the revamping seems to be affected, my get good drums samples the same as it does on the PC

Judders · 05-13-2022, 10:52 PM

When you say "re-amp", are you actually running audio to a real amp and recording it with a microphone?

uglijimus · 05-14-2022, 09:24 AM

yup, that's exactly how I am doing it.

Kewl · 05-14-2022, 11:03 AM

You don't mention the audio interface: that's probably the culprit.

uglijimus · 05-14-2022, 12:25 PM

it's a Behringer U-Phoria UMC404HD and I haven't changed anything on it. Everything is the same on it as it was when I was on my PC.

uglijimus · 05-14-2022, 01:58 PM

just like in this video, i'm still doing it the same way. only thing that has changed is the laptop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3ZmR3vbrJE

Judders · 05-14-2022, 02:50 PM

There is less level coming out of your audio interface for some reason, that could be in REAPER or on the interface.

Is there a software mixer for the behringer, or just a driver?

uglijimus · 05-14-2022, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Judders

There is less level coming out of your audio interface for some reason, that could be in REAPER or on the interface.

Is there a software mixer for the behringer, or just a driver?

that's interesting you say that. so the PC needed to have a driver downloaded for it, and there is no software mixer for the behiringer. Also, I was using the ASIO for the PC. The Mac required nothing..it was just plugin and go.

uglijimus · 05-14-2022, 09:00 PM

update:

So I basically was able to get the same sound as I had before by doing one thing. My ramp pedal has a noise reduction switch on it, and when I turned if off, I got loads of saturation and gain back, BUT at the expense of more noise. I am 90% sure that this noise reduction switch was always engaged when I had my PC, so this is not the "solution" but it is as close as I have gotten to my original PC sound.

Judders · 05-15-2022, 02:03 AM

In Audio Midi Setup, which is in the Utilities folder in your Mac's apps, can you change the output level of your interface?

nepenthe · 05-15-2022, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Judders

In Audio Midi Setup, which is in the Utilities folder in your Mac's apps, can you change the output level of your interface?

AudioMIDI Setup is a good place to look. Bookmark this app as you'll often need it on a Mac and it actually has some pretty useful features. Make sure sample rate, bit depth are set properly and that there's not weirdness with the input or output gain controls.

uglijimus · 05-16-2022, 09:52 PM

thanks guys, but yeah everything seems to check out in the audio MIDI setup. 48hz 24bit, full input and output, everthing seems totally normal. I guess I just have to do it with a little more noise than usual, but I still got a good sound ever since I turned off the "noise reduction" on my ramp pedal.