guitar pc recording - arrgghhh!

[robby]

I've got a 300mhz PC with an Ensoniq PCI sound card (duplex, 16bit) and Cool Edit 2000 sound recording/editing software. I'm pluging my gits (Strats and Teles) directly into the sound card and recording LOTS of noise along with a very low volume of guitar tones. I've played with the Windows volume EQ and other stuff to no avail. I suspect I need a DI box to buffer the hiZ to loZ ... ? I don't have an amp with a line out (all my amps are vintage Fenders ;=])

I'm not looking for perfection - yet - just reasonably decent guitar recording.

TIA.

 

[Guest]

You will need a preamp or some sort of direct input device to plug directly into your sound card. The less expensive way would be the direct box. A mic'd amp with a preamp will give better results. I use the pre's in my mixer and mic my amp to get great result. But, yes your right the output of the quitar is not correct for the sound card.

 

[lkmuller]

Chris,

Robby is right on the money - you need a preamp between your ax and the computer. Went through the same trip you're going through now, until I picked up a guitar with a preamp built in. What a difference. If you have the time, check out the sound I'm getting from a classical with a preamp built in at http://leemuller.iuma.com . Drop me an email right from my site if you have any questions. I use Cool Edit too, but not for the recording part.

Lee
http://leemuller.iuma.com

 

[jrlemonz]

Another way you could go instead of a DI is to go onto your good friend eBay and buy a Korg Pandora. They go for under $100 (PS-2's that is, the PS-3's aren't as cheap). They were around before the POD and all of those, and work pretty good in my opinion. It has a shitload of effects and a metronome/drum beats thingy bulit in. The best way to go if you have the vinatge Fender amps is to mic them, but the Pandora does a good job.
Jake
http://www.worthlessmusic.com
http://www.creation16.com

 

[netmosis]

If you're playing with vintage fender amps i'd mic 'em all the way. I've got a PS2 and I love it. I'd never use it to record though. They are the on the road savior: fun drum patterns, metronome, bass on the PS3. While they do sound pretty good if you are just playing around after you compare them to a well mic'd amp sound you'll find the pandora sounds cheesy. My amp is the line6 flextone II plus...basically a 65 watt pod with a 12" and a separate 35 watt power amp to power an outboard cab...it sounds unbelievable and i've played with recording the POD to know that it is much better sounding than the pandora...if you've got the extra two hundred go for the pod over the pandora.
-
j

 

[jvasey]

I use ProTools Free for getting ideas down on the computer, and plug my Ovation and Tele in direct. Something that you can try without spending any money is go into your audio mixer on Windows. Click the "Advanced" button under the microphone fader, and turn off the microphone boost. This will turn your mic into a mono line level input. It won't give you any tones worth pressing unless you get some nice plugins for your software, but it's fine for just working things out.
Jeff