Guitar Interface/Processor

[RoOkiE85]

i need to know what guitar interface has the best sounds all around at an affordable price...I heard of the BlackBox by M-audio...i just want to know more cause looking into one of those for guitar recordings...unless it is better to record with a mic infront of an amp....have any suggestions??

[faderbug]

it is better to record with a mic in front of an amp

[noisedude]

/\
¦¦ What he said.

[Fenderville]

Originally Posted by RoOkiE85

unless it is better to record with a mic infront of an amp

Yes...........

[amra]

Depends on what you are trying to do, and what kind of amp you have.

[greenascanbe]

Unless you have one of those cheap Gorilla Amps, I have to concur with the rest of the people here. An SM57 and good recording amp is always a wise investment.

[Sirnothingness]

I'd agree that using a mic'd amp is classic, it's not always feasable. I record at home and don't have the ability to crank up like I'd want to. I use a Pod XT and go straight into my Mac. Works pretty nice. The USB seems to offer up some noise, so I go line in using iMic. Decent alternative to using a real amp.

[prestomation]

Originally Posted by Sirnothingness

The USB seems to offer up some noise, so I go line in using iMic.

The usb is a digital connection, there shouldn't be any extra noise. Using the line in, you're going through A/D and then D/A which will probably introduce much more noise anyway with the convertors in those things.

[beezelbubba]

I use a Digitech RP300 which has lots of usable(and tweakable) sounds.
There are also some surprisingly good free VST plugins that'll let you simply plug your guitar into your computer(asuming you record w/ a computer.)
Check these out,if you care to:
Guitar Suite- http://www.kvraudio.com/get/465.html
Cortex- http://www.kvraudio.com/get/1611.html
Guitar Suites JCM 900 is awesome,IMO.

[ahuimanu]

Originally Posted by faderbug

it is better to record with a mic in front of an amp

For various reasons, not all of us HOME RECORDERS can do that...

[faderbug]

yes, but that doesn't change anything about the fact that :


it's better to mike an amp.


thank you.

[amra]

Depends on the mic and the amp!

[Sirnothingness]

Originally Posted by prestomation

The usb is a digital connection, there shouldn't be any extra noise. Using the line in, you're going through A/D and then D/A which will probably introduce much more noise anyway with the convertors in those things.

There shouldn't be but there is. Check Line 6's forum and you'll find quite a few complaints about it. Or just come over my house and I'll plug er in and you can here it for yourself. Something to do with their driver I believe. Causes crackling and 'fizzing'.

[apl]

Originally Posted by faderbug

it's better to mike an amp.

Who's Mike?

I use both a Line 6 Spider II amp and a Digitech RP50 direct into either the US122 on the desktop or built in soundcard on the laptop because it's much less annoying for everyone in the rest of the house....um, I mean the studio.

But I'm all about good enough, not perfect.

[nkjanssen]

Am I the only one who would rather not play at all than play through the red kidney bean of death?

[apl]

Originally Posted by nkjanssen

Am I the only one who would rather not play at all than play through the red kidney bean of death?

There are people who would rather not eat than consume the Spam sandwich I craved yesterday.

[mikeh]

I'm hoping this whole shouting thing is not a trend.

While I think just about everyone will agree a well mi'c decent amp will provide a better end result than even the best amp simulation. - sometimes I mic'd amp is not a feasable solution.

I own a POD 2.0 a J-Station and a V Amp as well as several small wattage cabs. When I can, I prefer to mic a cab - but I live in a condo and there are many times I simply can't be blasting an amp so I then use simulation.

If it's a critical guitar part or the guitarist/client absolutely insists on mic'ing a cab, I either schedule the session for a time when we can crank up - or I simply suggest they record somewhere else.

As apl suggests, sometimes good enough has to take the place of perfect.

[scrubs]

Originally Posted by apl

There are people who would rather not eat than consume the Spam sandwich I craved yesterday.

Hmmm....I had a craving for braunschweiger last week. As long as I don't read the nutrition information, I'm o.k.

[apl]

Originally Posted by scrubs

Hmmm....I had a craving for braunschweiger last week.

Digital or analogue?

[scrubs]

Originally Posted by apl

Digital or analogue?

Definitely analogue...much creamier.

[noisedude]

Originally Posted by mikeh

I'm hoping this whole shouting thing is not a trend.

As apl suggests, sometimes good enough has to take the place of perfect.

ME T...



Err ... me too.

And yes, good enough is, well, good enough. Get a Vox AD30VT, turn the power output down to 0.1W to blast the tube section full whack, put the master and volume controls up and mic that beeatch. Won't make enough noise to disturb the baby in the cot in your 'studio live room'.

Failing that ... yeah, some of the emulator things are more than ok. Depends what you're doing. If you don't believe the best guitar sounds were made 50 years ago, and that our job is to try and get them all over again, then the sounds you can get out of a POD might be just up your street. But if you're trying to track down that Fender twang or Marshall stack boom ... getting "good enough" from a fancy DI box might be quite tricky.

Nik

[Hawkinnc45]

Ok I've got an old home made tube driven set of speakers and i pump through an archaic two mic karioki play thing. (only because I have yet to figure out my MR-8. Please clarify this for me, are folks saying you can plug the guitar directly into the sound card? through the mic input or the sound in input? I've had that idea in the past but slapped myself for even thinking it. I dont want to risk frying my computer with a simple lil radioshack adapter. I dont know nuthin about electrical theory or ohms and watts nots.