iBeam Active into Santa Cruz directly??

[gti]

Newbie here so please help.

I have an LR Baggs iBeam Active in my acoustic guitar. I don't have a mic., mixer, nor a preamp/DI box, etc.

Would I be able to just plug the pickup output directly into the Sound Card line-in jack and get a good recorded sound??
My soundcard is a Santa Cruz.

Would there be problem with not enough gain and impedence issues, etc.??

If I have to upgrade or add something, what would be the best inexpensive upgrade I should get??
(I plan to record only one track at a time and mix 2-3 solo tracks max together with a good audio software. I have no need for live performance; just home recording on the cheap).

Thanks for any input.

 

[Treeline]

I expect you'll need to boost the signal to a line level strength and use the direct input jack (never the mic input) on the soundcard. The easiest way to do that is with a small preamp, direct box (DI box) or a mixer. There are many on the market under $100 from places like Musicians Friend, 8th Street Audio etc.

I started by plugging into a little Mackie mixer and ran the tape outs to the computer sound card. It worked fine. Yamaha has some new entry mixers for $99. M-audio has a preamp for less than that. The I-beam is a really good first step.

Look in the n-track forum here for information about a very inexpensive and powerful program for the computer end of things. That's where I'd focus with an upgrade; it's where the skill set can be learned. Next step after that would be a pro level interface - like a small Aardvark - and a very nice preamp. Then the microphones. Then monitors! Then a new guitar! A 12-string! A live rig! (quick - someone shut me down before I hurt myself...) . Then... well, you get the idea.

Good luck!

 

[gti]

Thanks Treeline for the advise.
For sure I need to learn to use a recording software properly first and there is a lot more to learn for me.

Btw I did tried to plug the pickup into the Soundcard line-in and gain seems to be ok(my Ibeam is active with a build-in preamp using a 9v battery). Without any EQ the recorded tone straight thru is kinda boomy (which likely is my pickup's issue).
Q: Regarding editing/mixing is it a good idea to do a straight thru recording and do the editing/mixing/EQ/etc. afterward or it should be done some other way??

Thanks for helping.

 

[Treeline]

That's as good a place to begin as any, and lets you focus on learning the software before getting distracted with hardware gizmos. As you learn something about the program, you will begin to learn bits and pieces about the idea of recording itself. Cool, really.

Try it straight though first and tweak it in the software. You already have what you need for that much. You should be able to do complete EQ on the signal once it's in the computer. The only real downside to using exterior EQ, before sending the signal to the computer, is that you are stuck with the result, and it's likely to inject noise. There's no need for that.

If you load n-track and take it for a trial spin, you will find complete eqs on every channel and you can hear how they work in action. It's free to use for one channel, so you can get an idea of what it is all about. Lots of other programs are similar, but this is one I learned a little on. Pretty cool package.