using PC to record guitar

[AndyR]

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...

[_tom_]

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 :)

[indysmith]

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.

[SamR]

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!

[kellar]

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.

[SamR]

Oh wow i didnt know there was a new one out! cheers man ill check it out

[_tom_]

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.

[AndyR]

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:

[_tom_]

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?

[roland_rat]

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.

[_tom_]

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 :(

[Spitfire]

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.. :(

[indysmith]

You definitely need to plug the microphone into a microphone input rather than a guitar Hi-Z input, or it will sound shitee.

[_tom_]

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?

[Ted]

Hey guys, thread bump.

Any of you use the Stealth Plug with Amplitube 2. 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