Contents
- Index
Speakers and Microphones
The simplest way to use M+O is by plugging headphones into your computer's headphone jack. "Ear bud" type headphones work best for this purpose since you can easily hear both yourself and accompanying audio. Many computers have internal microphones built in, so that an external microphone, while preferable, is not absolutely necessary. You will know that your microphone, internal or external, is working by seeing the Level Indicator movement during your rehearsals.
Many musicians think the most satisfying way to use M+O is with speakers, rather than headphones, and an external microphone. You will need speakers that produce a volume level that can balance your instrument --- often computer speakers are not designed to produce this much sound. M+O will work with inexpensive computer-type microphone, though you may prefer the quality of your recordings with a better microphone.
Care must be taken to ensure that the microphone is much closer to the solo instrument than the speakers. While M+O expects to hear some of its audio output returned on the microphone, the microphone signal should mostly consist of the soloist when both solo and accompaniment are playing. Best results are achieved by putting the microphone directly on the instrument, say on the strings on the "other" side of the bridge for a string instrument; or clipped near the bell of a wind or brass instrument. In many cases you may get satisfactory results clipping the microphone to a music stand while assuring the mic-to-speaker distance is several times the mic-to-soloist distance. In Rehearsal Review, the accompaniment contribution (when "Accompaniment" is set to "Out" in the Mixer Panel) should be significantly less present than the solo audio. MPO's ability to hear and follow the soloist diminishes when the microphone and speakers are too close. While the program may still seem to work correctly, you may never discover how responsive it can be. The positioning of the speakers and microphone can be checked with the Audio Test.
An ASIO driver is required for Vista-or-later versions of Windows and recommended with earlier versions. Nearly any external audio interface (USB or Firewire) will come with an ASIO driver and will support a quality microphone. The best overall method for using M+O uses such an external audio interface. If you use such external hardware you must let M+O know this by making the apprpriate choice with the Choose Driver option. However, the simplest approach uses the internal audio hardware of your computer. ASIO4ALL provides a simple way of using this hardware through an ASIO driver.