61e question for bosie

Sorry to be persistent, and I hope this isn't too daft a question, but when you're playing the 61e, you can't hear the music you're creating - right? But can you hear it live via GarageBand, as you play? Or can you have headphones connected to the 61e?

I can't make out, with any confidence, what the answers to these questions are.

A few years ago I bought my daughter the exact same keyboard. We use it with a M-Audio Fire Wire Solo http://www.maudio.co.uk/products/en_gb/F... and a pair of M-Audio StudioPro 4 bookshelf speakers. We needed the Firewire solo for a microphone. That said the sound is great and avoids the "tinny" sound from the computer. In answer to your question once in garageband you can hear your keyboard through your computer's built in speakers. You can always ring M-Audio UK for Mac support or pre-sales enquiries on (0)1753 65863.

Thanks, dsch. That clears up a niggling wee question lurking at the back of my mind.

This is a birthday present, in the offing, for my wife. She won't be interested so much in 'performing' rather than making up music for burning onto CD, or exporting to iTunes and then on to her iPod.

I've bookmarked the Solo for future reference.

Hi, no problem and sorry for not replying earlier I only just noticed the post. The 61e is a silent keyboard, it doesn't generate synthesized sound itself and so there's no headphone jack. Midi (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a protocol that will allow the 61e to send messages (note pressed, note volume, note length etc) to your Mac running GarageBand whenever a key is pressed and control (play) the virtual instruments on it. You'd plug the headphones into the Mac, not the keyboard.

Sound output arrangements are virtually infinite from there. You could for instance connect the Mac's sound output to your home HiFi system to benefit from its better speakers. My Mac is connected to a mixing deck and studio monitors - more than you want but just to illustrate the point.

Edited by deleted (Wed 04-Feb-09 20:22:57)

This is great, bosie. All this is sounding really good. I think she's going to like it a lot.

Many thanks.