TranceAddict Forums (www.tranceaddict.com/forums)
- Production Studio
-- Line 6 guitar port vs. Audio interafece and DI Box..to capture

Line 6 guitar port vs. Audio interafece and DI Box..to capture

Hey. I recently purchased a fender telecaster which I am completely in love with. I've been recording guitar previously by just plugging it into the line input on my lap top, but to properly capture the tone of this guitar I'd like to purchase an interface for it.

I've read in magazines that A DI (direct injection) Box with balanced cables going into an audio interface is the way to go, but there also this neat little interface made by line 6 called guitar port in which you plug in your guitar directly (No DI box) and hooks up to your computer via USB.

I've no idea which of these options to choose. The most important thing to me is quality and I'm willing to shell out the extra cash for a DI box and interface, but if the Guitar port has everything I need and will produce quality results I could save quite a bit of money.

So which route should I go down?

if you are really serious about it i would recommend IK Amplitube or NI's Guitar Rig 3, it requires a decent sound card and the guitar rig comes with a midi pedal controller, but ive heard that the amplitube sounds better... from personal experience they are both good

quote:

Originally posted by Vortex_SA if you are really serious about it i would recommend IK Amplitube or NI's Guitar Rig 3, it requires a decent sound card and the guitar rig comes with a midi pedal controller, but ive heard that the amplitube sounds better... from personal experience they are both good

guitar rig, imo, doesn't reproduce effects (especially good, crunchy distortion) half as well as hardware. i've heard nothing but good things about Line 6 POD and the variations of that hardware though.

I think I'm gonna go with the LINE 6 TonePort GX. I just read the specs on it...It can record up to 24 bit 96 khz and its $50 and usb powered....

looks like the perfect little product.

quote:

Originally posted by Orpheus Is Dead I think I'm gonna go with the LINE 6 TonePort GX. I just read the specs on it...It can record up to 24 bit 96 khz and its $50 and usb powered.... looks like the perfect little product.

Tell me how it works for you, as i was considering buying one myself.

I wouldn't go with the guitarport. Its still processing on your computer so you'll have lots of latency. Imagine hitting a string and then having to wait for the sound to come back to you. And its not like MIDI where you can bump all the notes back into line.
You should get a real POD which does all the processing outside of the computer. I have a POD XT Live 1 which is really good, I recommend the XT series generally.
If you then want to be able to change the tone after its recorded it gets even more complicated (its called reamping) because you need to monitor with effects on but have the computer see an uneffected signal. Then when you play back it needs to play back the unaffected signal but be reamped by the POD. You'll want an audio interface with a few outputs.

Srry guys, but I have a line-6 too, and I think it really sucks. I use the input on my Supernova to record guitars.

Which line 6? I think it must be user error mate, because mine sounds better than any other guitar amp that I've heard, except a few Matchless, one Fender and MAYBE a Mesa Boogie, but thats a maybe. Definately better than any Marshalls I've played...

quote:

Originally posted by kitphillips Which line 6? ...

Check my signature ...
I am looking for a farely clean sound when recording a guitar. I will process it with software (IMO guitarrig is great!).. The Line6 just gives me a crappy sound I'm not looking for.

Well, your going to run into a crappy sound if your processing it with both a POD AND a guitarrig. Thats just overkill unless your looking to jump two amps together.
And POD 2.0 isn't that great from what I hear (especially for mid gain tones), the XT really is though.
Maybe try running it without the guitar rig and get all your sound from the POD, then on the computer EQ and light compression.
Also, what guitar do you have? I've noticed some guitars sound great with Pods and others don't, if you have a cheaper guitar, computers often sound better for some reason....
Guitar tone is a real artform though, you have to know your gear so well... Which is why I don't buy much guitar gear these days, it takes too long to learn it!
What I really mean to say, is that if the guys gone to the trouble of getting a Fender (even if it is a crappy mexican) you don't run that calibre of guitar through software. Ever.

quote:

Originally posted by kitphillips What I really mean to say, is that if the guys gone to the trouble of getting a Fender (even if it is a crappy mexican) you don't run that calibre of guitar through software. Ever.

lol. crappy mexican. I've been caught!

Umm. Yeah, well a guitar pod is a little huge for me. I keep travelling around and need something more portable. If the tone port is as bad as has been being said I guess I'll go the route of a direct box with balanced output and an audio interface.

I generally record everything clean, and have asio drivers running so latency right now is not an issue, I would hate right now to bring in anything that would cause latency though.

go with either a decent di/pre-amp and use vintage amp room software or buy a good amp and microphone. This will give you much better results than any line 6 product. check out the REDDI DI box and the SPL gainstation. Both are very good for a clean di and also good for warming up synths etc.

Alright, as long as your happy with your latency situation, then go for it. I wouldn't rely on software for guitar tone but maybe thats a reflection on the amount of latency I get
If your buying an audio interface by the way, you can avoid the DI by getting one with instrument inputs.

yeah, i mean if you already have a few stompboxes or at least a hardware multi-effects processor (thus making guitar rig unnecessary) and a decent amp, you might as well just plug your speaker out from your amp into the line in of a decent external soundcard. problem solved. also prevents having latency headaches with software..

Yo my marshall amp has an emulated line out. I'm thinking of buying a decent audio interface... and runing the line from the guitar into the amp, then out through the line out, into the instrument input of the audio interface...

right now I'm pluggin in directly from the emulated line out to the input of my laptop and checking the tone on voxengo span...Its pretty evenly distributed except theres a roll off at about 5 khz. Is that normal or just the effect of not having an audio interface? Will the audio interface bring out clarity??? I'm kinda confused. I don't want to shell out a lot of cash if it isn't gonna make any difference.

Heres a sample of the telecaster through the marshall and directly into the laptop.

[[ LINK REMOVED ]]


Are those eq slopes at 60 hz and 5 khz normal?

quote:

Originally posted by Orpheus Is Dead Heres a sample of the telecaster through the marshall and directly into the laptop. [[ LINK REMOVED ]] Are those eq slopes at 60 hz and 5 khz normal?

sounds about right, don't know shit about eq slopes, but i would switch it to a different pickup so you don't get all that feedback.

I got a m-audio fast track audio interface today.... Real entry level stuff but I'm a student so I need something to tide me over for a bit.

Haven't put my amp through it yet but I'm pretty pleased with the clarity I'm getting putting my guitar through it.. The level could be a little higher but I'm sure my amp can will bring the level up to par.

Thanks guys.

Powered by: vBulletin
Copyright © 2000-2021, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.