Connecting and recording with Yamaha THR5A

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Level 1

55 points

Connecting and recording with Yamaha THR5A

Hello everyone,

I seek for help while trying to figure out recording my guitar with Yamaha THR5A amplifier in GarageBand. The device isn't listed as available sound input anymore.

I have installed newest Yamaha Steinberg USB Driver V2.0.3 and THR Editor v1.1.0 software.

While THR Editor works alright and I can setup my amplifier via USB, GarageBand cannot see any recording device to record from.

I cant even see THR as sound input in my system sound settings. Also, my privacy and security settings don’t list any other devices to confirm an exception.

Any suggestions, please?

Thank you

Jan

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jul 20, 2020 12:49 AM

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Answer 1

Teddy_B

Community Specialist

Jul 23, 2020 8:44 AM in response to jprazak

Hello jprazak,

Thanks for the post. We understand you're having some issues using a USB audio input device on your Mac with GarageBand. We'll be glad to see how we can assist.

For clarification, you're not seeing the amp under Apple menu () > System Preferences > Sound > Input; is that right? If so, we recommend trying to connect the amp using a different cable or a different port on your Mac. Does that make a difference?

Are other USB devices working as expected with your Mac?

If you haven't tried it already, see if an SMC reset helps: How to reset the SMC of your Mac

If that doesn't help, create a temporary administrator account on your Mac and see if the amp appears in System Preferences > Sound > Input there: How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac

Let us know what you find in the test administrator account.

Take care.

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Answer 2

i_rina

Community Specialist

Aug 3, 2020 7:50 AM in response to jprazak

Hi jprazak,

Thanks for the post. If you're having issues with only this input device and the issue persists in a newly-created user account as well, your best bet is to continue working with Steinberg as they would be in the best position to help with an issue like this.

Cheers!

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Answer 3

jprazak Author

Level 1

55 points

Aug 3, 2020 12:11 PM in response to i_rina

Hi, i_rina,

thanks for your response. I still suspect some Mac OS security override here. If the device works correctly as USB device, why wouldn't it function as mic input as well, especially if it did recently. I was hoping somebody could point me on some deeper system info where I could verify if this isn't somehow suppressed by system while not visible in System Security user settings.

Still waiting for next Steinberg reply and I appreciate they communicate at least. In contrary, Yamaha user support didn't respond at all.

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Answer 4

jprazak Author

Level 1

55 points

Jul 31, 2020 10:14 AM in response to Teddy_B

Hello,

thank you for your response, I really appreciate it.

It took me a while before I could test it all. Also, I have got some response from Steinberg support with couple of recommendations too. Unfortunately, nothing helped so far.

Correct, I don't see the amp in Apple menu () > System Preferences > Sound > Input. I tried multiple cables and both USB inputs on my MBP without success. I don't think the cable is the issue as I can see THR5A under USB devices in the system information and THR Editor software can connect and control the device without a problem.
Yes, so far I didn't have any issues with any USB device connected into my MBP.
I did try this even though my MacBook Pro 13 early 2015 doesn't feature T2 chip, without any effect.
I did create temporary administrator account on my MBP and checked the devices. The situation is exactly the same as under my original account:

- I can see THR5A in System information > hardware > USB
- I don't see THR in System information > hardware > Sound
- I don't see THR as sound input either in Audio MIDI setup, or GarageBand setup, or System Preferences > Sound setup

What confuses me is that I had this working ok sometime at the beginning of this year (I have this setup since last Christmas). I didn't change the computer, but I actually reinstalled Mac OS during SSD disc upgrade and recovered my data from Time Machine backup. I have the most recent Mac OS version too.

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Connecting and recording with Yamaha THR5A

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