Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: roland_rat on August 30, 2008, 10:38:12 PM
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I been thinking of geting a few bits for recording on to pc and manipulation. It may not get any further than thinking. Realistically im not that good on guitar but enjoy it, :lol: so its only really for me to few ideas down. Im thinking of going for somthing that will connect by usb. Have done a little looking about and the line 6 stuff looks intresting, that said it scares me stupid buying line 6 gear with all the reliability issues you here about. What would you reccommend? I also had a little look at guitar rig 3.
As well as this I been looking at cubase and similar programs. Got to say its going over my head a little trying to tell the difference between Cubase 4, Cubase studio, Cubase SE, and Sequel2. Any one any idea on them or other packages? If I do decide to bite the bullet I was thinking of a budget of a couple of hundred quid though its not set in stone.
Any help or ideas greatly appreciated
Cheers :lol:
Ps hope I posted this in the right forum
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I just bought a Line 6 Toneport and am quite fond of it. :D If you go down a bit further, you will find my review of it.
For $99 you can download the Riffworks program that comes with it. Seems perfect for recording on your PC and getting your ideas down. Total cost less than $200.
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Just bought a Line 6 Toneport and feckin' hate it. :evil: It's a GX model; let me know if you'd like to purchase it.
For putting down basic ideas you'd be fine with Audacity probably, which is free and easy to use :)
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Just bought a Line 6 Toneport and feckin' hate it. :evil: It's a GX model; let me know if you'd like to purchase it.
For putting down basic ideas you'd be fine with Audacity probably, which is free and easy to use :)
You gotta get it working first Indy. :D
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Just bought a Line 6 Toneport and feckin' hate it. :evil: It's a GX model; let me know if you'd like to purchase it.
For putting down basic ideas you'd be fine with Audacity probably, which is free and easy to use :)
You gotta get it working first Indy. :D
I've given up with it completely. I can't get any sound of the bloody thing unless I'm using software monitoring (or using it as you're supposed to - as a standalone soundcard), and even then it doesn't sound very impressive; it's just too "line 6"... which is probably to be expected. I also got a load of randomly placed digital distortion which I couldn't figure out :?
The thing that sealed the death deal was that it didn't come with the AU plug-in and they wanted me to pay more money for it! $%&#ing cheeky $%&#ing dickheads. Especially when it said on the box "Plug in to Toneport GX and record your tunes with the tone you crave using your favourite recording application, including Garageband, Logic, Cakewalk/Sonar and many, many more."
I got Amplitube in the end and I'm very happy :) I'm sure the Line 6 stuff is great; just not for me and my current set-up.
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I can sympathize man. I have had more than my fair share of frustrating moments.
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Sorry if this is a bit long and waffly, but I remember when I was considering getting going on PC recording that any info was a good thing...
If you read the Line6 forums it sounds like there are horrendous problems, but bear in mind that they are support forums, and 90% of the posts are "it's fecked, what have I wasted my money on?" - all the happy punters aren't posting on there.
I've got a lot of Line6 kit, and have had minimum issues:
POD 2.0 (bean) - no problems at all
POD XTLive (fully loaded with all model packs & bass expansion) - occasionally I have to re-calibrate the pedal, otherwise no problems
Variax 500 - haven't used it for ages, last time it was out of the case it was exhibiting a possible piezo problem, but more likely a loose connection, I'll get round to it...
Variax 600 - had to replace the nut when I bought it, and it has the "intermittent fault due to shorting out in the coffin" problem - I'll sort it out next time I restring it...
Variax Bass - not used it for ages until doing some recording yesterday, absolutely no issues (except the strings are a bit manky!)
The guitar issues are exactly what you get on "real" guitars - loose connections, cr@p plastic nut, etc - but people posting on the Line6 forums seem to miss that!
I didn't buy a toneport for various reasons. One of which was the Line6 update program (Monkey) told me that Gearbox or whatever program it was (I could get it free because of my XT) can't be guaranteed to function because my laptop's Hard Drive isn't up to it (I think it was DMA versus PIO, don't quote me - I spent a while trying to configure it but gave up. My wife's PC is configurable, I had the drives working both ways, but my somewhat older laptop just does it's own thing even after you've told it otherwise... :roll:).
Also, I don't use my POD XTLive as a usb soundcard because of noises like Indy described - not been able to help you there, sorry Indy, I put my problem down to a) clashing with my main soundcard (external digital/midi usb box by Edirol), and b) possibly something to do with this DMA issue on my hard drive controller. But I use the Edirol anyway, so I never investigated further...
Anyway, roland_rat, in my experience, Line6 kit is just like everything else - you get what you pay for. They have their share of f-ups, but stuff seems to get replaced if it's actually broke. The toneports look like a "magic bullet" to get started if you haven't got an audio interface yet. I understand some models even have phantom power for condenser mics etc (I bought a mixing desk to get that sorted!!)
The biggest problem I had setting up my "studio" was the "soundcard"/"usb" thing - mine is an Edirol UA-20, the cheapest thing I could find at the time. It's an external Audio/Midi 24-bit digital usb interface. Installing the driver, and getting my recording software to recognise it and profile it was a one or two day nightmare several years ago. I bought the Line6 gear after that was sorted when I found I needed to get decent amp modelling. It sounds to me like kellar and Indy's problems with the toneports were/are "soundcard" problems - basically "computer and periphal device" configuration problems - and in my limited experience you're going to get those sorts of problems whoever the supplier is!
When it comes to the amp-modelling, it'll be a matter of taste. I'm ok with Line6 amp-modelling sounds, but I have recently converted to a Vox Tonelab LE - I much prefer most of their models (no recording interface there though - might be a good choice on Vox's part - leave the dodgy computer bit to someone else...! :lol:)
For recording software I would definitely recommend Cakewalk. I use their Home Studio from several years ago, if I ever upgrade, it will be to Sonar. I know a few people that have used Cubase type stuff, and usability-wise it sounds to me as if Cakewalk scores more points... The Home Studio software I bought was about £100, it came with plug-ins - soft-synths, additional (and better) studio effects - and LOADS of help on getting started (how to use compression, eq, etc, etc). Four or five years on, I still haven't bought any other software.
I also use Audacity for vinyl to digital conversion (it came with a usb turntable I got last christmas), it's good for that job, but I wouldn't want to try multi-tracking with it!! I am interested in checking out the other freebie one that kellar's gone for - can't remember, was it Reaper? - sounds like that might be easier to use for multi-tracking.
Not sure how much help any of that is - but you definitely want to give it a go. Once you've got it set up, it is so much easier to use than the four-track cassette recorders that we old people had to use (and pay far more for!!) 15-20 yeas ago! And it's a lot cheaper than going to a recording studio :D
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Good post Andy.
I had the same problems when I first set up my Toneport- ASIO settings on my computer were set to PIO when they should be in DMA. I switched it. Windows seems to have a mind of its own. When I run the Monkey compatibility check, it still says that my computer drivers may not be compatible due to the driver settings (despite the fact that they are now in DMA mode). Regardless, it works fine and I haven't had any issues.
I had white noise/breakup problems in the beginning as well and it boiled down to adjusting the latency in gearbox. I haven't had any problems since.
Regarding the recording software, I dropped Audacity (I had the old version) and downloaded Reaper. Initally, I was quite impressed with Reaper. Unfortunately, after a few days issues started to pop up. I couldn't record anything without there being a slight delay between the playback and what I recorded. Basically, nothing lined up. I messed around with settings and whatnot and eventually got frustrated and ditched it. I downloaded the new version of Audacity and it seems much more user friendly. Although, the recordings sound sub-par in my opinion. Reaper's audio quality was certainly better IMO, but I just couldn't get it to work right. But hey, it is free software.
Eventually, I will buy some recording software. I quite like the Toneport. I think you will find that any product you buy to work in unison with your PC may have issues.
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I think you will find that any product you buy to work in unison with your PC may have issues.
That's exactly what I was struggling to say in the middle of mine - very succinctly put :lol:
I was also trying to say it when you were thinking of the toneport a few weeks back. It's why I go for standalone modelling kit. My Edirol thing works, and until I need to get a new PC and the fight with Vista starts, then I don't want to add anything that stops it working!!
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Thanks guys some really great advice. I was looking at the cakewalk stuff what do you think of this :-
Cakewalk USB - Sonar Power Studio 250 £140 at dolphin music
http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/shop/flypage/product_id/34449/r/base
Cheers
Gareth
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Have any of you guys got experience with Digidesign M-boxes and protools? What do you think?
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Hi, was just having a look at them though I think it could be a little over what I want to pay.
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Wooo!
At first I wasn't sure what software was in the Power Studio 250, so I followed the link to the Cakewalk site...
If my laptop died, I'd have to be getting a new computer of some sort, it would have Vista on it - which I'm scared of from a music point of view... Put it this way - I'm no longer scared :D. If this imaginary "new computer" was on the desk in front of me - that Power Studio 250 is what I'd be ordering right now.
If their claims are correct (easy to set up, ready to go), and my experience of Cakewalk has all been good, then this is the beast - full recording studio plus the audio/midi interface for £140!
You can worry about the amp-modelling later if the bundled Amplitude LE isn't to your taste. EDIT: Or you might be one of these people, braver and more patient than me, who is happy to try mic-ing up your valve amp.
You've almost got me gassing for a new PC so I can justify ordering this!!
EDIT: Fikelox, not tried them, and according to the specs, Sonar has somewhat more flexibility (I just got that off the Cakewalk site - they compare the package to an M-box), but then I am a Cakewalk user already :lol:
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Andy I'm using Vista and recording on it within Reaper ok. I got more latency and other problems on my old XP laptop and wouldnt even consider going back to XP now. Vista looks and feels so much nicer and works just as well for me. Had a few problems before but I didnt have the proper driver for my onboard sound installed.
I'm probably getting a Presonus Inspire 1394 firewire interface soon, presonus have Vista drivers so I hope it runs ok. If not I'll be a bit pissed off though. I'm interested in that Power Studio 250 though tbh I'm fine with Reaper right now, does everything I want it to and is really easy to use. If you can convince me otherwise I might go for it though, its only £40 more than the interface I'm looking at :P
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I managed to download a trial version of Sonar 7 from Cakewalk. I know its not the same version but its giving me a bit of a taste for the software. Im away for a few days so guess it gives me a bit of thinking time. Thanks once more everyone.
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Ah... I'm feeling more and more re-assured over the Vista thing :D
Are you still on a laptop with Vista Tom? I'm reasonably happy with latency on my XP laptop, but once a song gets a lot of tracks I have problems with what Cakewalk calls "DROPOUT" - basically the computer ain't got enough resources to keep up... Eventually I found out that what is restricting me is hard disk speed - most laptop drives run a fair bit slower than desktops, and considering the number of disc reads involved in playing back multi-track... :roll:
I like the look of the Power Studio 250 because it's got the user-interface I'm used to (updated, obviously), it wants Vista, and they've packaged it with what appears to be a well thought out audio interface with their name on it - so once you've convinced your PC it's taking the drivers, the two should most definitely work together!!
Oh yeah, and I TRUST Cakewalk bigtime... I've been wracking my brains, but I can't remember having a single crash or anything that's gone wrong at all with the Cakewalk Home Studio I'm using at the moment. The help files are comprehensive - I've always found out what I need to know - and their website is full of information (or at least it was, I assume it still is).
Bottom line though - if what you've got does the job, why change it? I'm only in the market when my laptop dies, fingers crossed that isn't too soon, but it can't be too long now, it's getting on 5 years old...
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No I'm on a desktop with vista, a custom build with fairly decent specs - q6600 2.4ghz processor (I kinda want to overclock it but I dont really know what I'm doing and dont want to mess it up), 2gb crucial ram (actually thinking of selling this as it has annoying flashy LEDs on each stick), seagate barracuda hdd, ip35 pro motherboard and some other stuff that probably isnt really relevant to recording/sound. Weak link is that I'm still using onboard sound until I get an interface. If recording with an amp I dont monitor the input signal though so latency etc isnt really a concern for me there but when using amplitube even with the onboard sound and asio drivers I dont get too much latency/lag in vista. Only trouble is when I use the asio drivers in amplitube it doesnt sustain properly, probably because I'm going into my computers mic input rather than a proper DI or instrument input on an interface. I've said it before but I really dont see why everyone complains about vista. Runs really well for me and my friend/his family who use it (mind you we're all on custom build pcs with decent stuff rather than PC World off the shelf jobs which may be a factor). Have had a few slowdowns with Reaper but I think its because I've been too lazy to update to a newer version for a while :oops:
I cant find enough reviews of the Power Studio at the minute so I think I'm going to leave it for now and go for what gets good reviews :)
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Have any of you guys got experience with Digidesign M-boxes and protools? What do you think?
My flatmate bought an M-Box with protools; I'm pretty suprised that Digidesign hasn't made it Leopard-friendly yet. My mate installed it and it DESTROYED his brand new iMac. The was no warnings saying it wouldn't work with Leopard, but afterwards nothing worked - he had to return it to Apple.
I don't like digidesign as a company - not just because of the above though.
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I record through my PodXT and its done me proud everytime. Everything gets recorded and mixed in Audacity,which isnt so reliable on my PC, it seems to have a habit of freezing or closing itself... but its free so whatever!
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I record through my PodXT and its done me proud everytime. Everything gets recorded and mixed in Audacity,which isnt so reliable on my PC, it seems to have a habit of freezing or closing itself... but its free so whatever!
SamR, have you downloaded the new version of Audacity? I had the old version and had the same problems, since downloading the new one it has worked perfectly.
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Oh wow i didnt know there was a new one out! cheers man ill check it out
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Andy, I come to offer more reassurance with vista! I just got my Presonus Inspire 1394 today and it installed painlessly within Vista - just downloaded the driver off their website, installed that and plugged it in :) I can play through amplitube 2 with what feels like no latency and it seems to work in Reaper as well. Using it as my main soundcard and it seems to sound a little better than the previous onboard sound, a bit clearer and punchier though I've just got used to it now and sounds exactly the same to me so its not a huge difference :lol:
Havent tried plugging in a mic yet because I dont have an xlr-xlr lead, just a cheap xlr - 1/4" jack which probably wont show the quality off as well.
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Nice one Tom :D
It's not helping on the GAS front though - I'd managed to rule out even thinking about getting a new PC because of "Vista... yeurrk!"... but this thread has managed to evaporate many of those prejudices... :lol:
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I dont know if I spoke too soon or what but I cant get a good mic'd sound using this interface at all :( Maybe its because I'm using my xlr-1/4" cable to go into the guitar/instrument input but it just sounds thin and fizzy :x Will getting an xlr-xlr cable definitely help? Maybe the 1/4" inputs dont have good preamps for mics or something?
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Hi,
Hope you get it sorted Tom. I think im going to do a bit more research apparently vox as some package as well that guitarist magazine are reviewing next month. I think im going to wait and see if that what that article says.
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gah, was just listening to music then suddenly the sound goes all fuzzy and crackly until I change the interfaces sample rate from 44.1 to 48 :? Dunno whats going on there, hope its not broken :(
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i havent used much line 6 stuff... but everytime i have used it, i have been very very disappointed. If you are recording guitars, i would get a mic setup rather than a direct recording setup.. i know that the toneport has a xlr input... but its not the best for that purpose ive heard...
If i had a PC i could put hardware in, i would get a m-audio 2496 soundcard and a mixer... and use that for recording. but sadly i dont have a PC i can upgrade.. :(
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You definitely need to plug the microphone into a microphone input rather than a guitar Hi-Z input, or it will sound shitee.
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Off to get myself a proper mic cable soon, hope the local shops arent too dear for em I only want a cheap one.
btw I think I've fixed the crackly sound problem. Someone on the presonus board had it as well in XP and someone posted a hotfix for it- apparently there can be problems with the firewire chipset in SP2. Anyway I found the vista hotfix and installed it, seems to be allright thus far so will see how it goes. This is the hotfix for later reference if anyone else has trouble with it -
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/951410/en-us
edit - the problem has just come back :x :x Was working fine all day then I just went to listen to some music and it was there then went away when i stopped the music and changed to a different track. Hasnt happened again yet though. Dont know if I just need a new firewire port or what - mines not a pci card, it fits in the pci spaces on the back of the case but has wires which go to the 1394 connectors on the motherboard. Dont know if that'll make any difference?
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Hey guys, thread bump.
Any of you use the Stealth Plug with Amplitube 2. http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/stealth/71180 (http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/stealth/71180)
Other recommendations?
I need a quick and easy solution as my amp and pedals are in storage :(
Thanks,
Ted
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I Have a Toneport GX, cost nearly nothing, fun for a weekend, but now i dont use it anymore because it has nothing to do with sound just with bits and bytes, YES IT BYTES!!!!!
The thing that put me off most is the software that you get with it, its 'free' for a couple of months and then you have to buy it to use, at least the whole package. The software that remains usable consists of a handfull of digital effects and a jack to usb converter.
Still hoping i come across some decent usb active mic, audacity is fine to get some basic stuff recorded.