SOund card or Line 6 stuff?

[Sly_D]

Hi guys,

I'll be back posting clips soon, but in the meantime, I'll be buying a new computer and I was wondering which route I should go. Buy a quality sound card, like M-Audio stuff, or go with a Toneport ? I actually don't want digital stuff since I record with a tube amp, so I'm under the impression I'll get a lot of stuff I don't want with the Line 6 Toneport. Although I'd get some cool effects. Can you use the Toneport just as a sound card to mic an amp?

For now, I can order a Sound Blaster Audigy or XFi with the computer. Or just the internal audio system.

Are high-end Sound Blaster as good as M-Audio Revolution 7.1?

I've always been getting very decent results with a crappy SB Live! so I guess anything more current will sound better.

By the way, I must have a 1/8 mic in since I use speach recognition software for work. So something like a M-Audio 2496 is not too attractive since I would acutally have to buy it in addition to a standard card.

Thanks!

 

[YJM_Rocks]

Re: SOund card or Line 6 stuff?

If you can afford it get a PODXT and run that into the PC via usb.

 

[shogunlegend]

Re: SOund card or Line 6 stuff?

i wouldn't invest a whole lot into a pc, but then again i'm not that impressed with line6 stuff.

 

[MikeS]

Re: SOund card or Line 6 stuff?

If you don't need the PC for modeling, I'd shy away from the tone port. I'd spend my money on a quality sound card and USB interface. I use a Guitar Port when I can't make a lot of noise and the thing can be a system hog. Keep your computer's resources open for your recording software. The last thing you want is latency that could other wise be avoided. If the versatility of a Line 6 product is attractive to you, stick with something outboard.

 

[Sly_D]

Re: SOund card or Line 6 stuff?

Thanks Mike, I definitely don't look for any modelling stuff so I'll check USB interfaces, some looks pretty cool. The M-Audio Fast Track USB looks like what I need. No bells and whistles, just a couple of I/O for guitar, bass and mic.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: SOund card or Line 6 stuff?

I just use a lowly SB Audigy 24bit card....and use Nuendo as recording suite.
A good mic and a reasonable soundcard can work well enough.
And Sony Soundforge to regain some of that flat feel of Mp-3's

 

[Sly_D]

Re: SOund card or Line 6 stuff?

You're certainly a proof that such a setting gives good results Rid! I'll keep loking at this... I may actually get the higher-end Sound Blaster and see what results I get... I can always buy something better later on. Thanks.

 

[MikeS]

Re: SOund card or Line 6 stuff?

As long as you are buying PC parts for a new computer, maximizing the performance for audio work is a good idea. Sacrifice hard drive space for hard drive speed if necessary, maximize RAM, you get the idea...

 

[Sly_D]

Re: SOund card or Line 6 stuff?

Yep, that's pretty much what I did Mike. I'm getting a Dell, and I pretty much concentrated on processor speed (the higher they have) at least 2G of RAM and a 7,200 RPM hard drive. The rest can be tweaked later on. I'm not on a budget since this is also my work computer and it's part of my business expenses

 

[Reload in 5]

Re: SOund card or Line 6 stuff?

No Vista

 

[Sly_D]

Re: SOund card or Line 6 stuff?

Yeah, I read that a lot but it's pretty hard to get an XP right now.

 

[Virtual Kevorkian]

Re: SOund card or Line 6 stuff?

Nah, get something with vista and then reformat it.


What every you do, DO NOT GO WITH VISTA! It's absolute **** for recording - worse than XP!

 

[SoCalSteve]

Re: SOund card or Line 6 stuff?

I have the Toneport UX1 and it's a pretty cool device. In addition to being able to record your mic'd amp, it's also great for quiet practicing and has a built-in metronome that you can custom tailor with snare, bass and hi-hats on different beats. You might find the amp sims convenient for recording rhythm or lead tones and putting your mic'd amp tone on top of it.

SDF member innerdreamrecords uses the Toneport and can give some great tips.

 

[Sly_D]

Re: SOund card or Line 6 stuff?

Thanks Steve... I knew the more answers would come, the more confuse I'd get

 

[7 DYing Trees]

Re: SOund card or Line 6 stuff?

Sound card all the way. Preferably one with a breakout box, or an external one running of firewire. Will give you the most flexibility and allow you to plug all manner of things in, plus have low asio latency etc.

THen mic up the tube amp or run in a pod-xt or similar mmodeller if you can't use the tube amp.

 

[Mononoaware]

Re: SOund card or Line 6 stuff?

FWIW, I've been pretty pleased with my Tone Port UX2. Main difference from the UX1 is a biggie if you want to mic an amp -- UX2 has two mic inputs, one with +48V phantom power.

That said, I haven't messed around with the mic inputs much yet. But the on-board software modeling is pretty good; sometimes, I'm almost convinced by it. Worst thing I've noticed so far is that the lower notes don't have the "spank" that they do through my YCV50 -- they sound a little too fizzy to me.

Good for quiet practice or getting down ideas, though. I much prefer it to my XFi card; just having a breakout box on my desk with its own knobs and inputs seems easier.

 

[Sly_D]

Re: SOund card or Line 6 stuff?

Well, you really got me confused guys... I guess it's a matter of taste and experience... more experienced people seems to stay away from any USB options. But I'm no pro musician or sound engineer, so I'm not that demanding. I just don't want to sound like an AM radio. I still have time to investigate various avenues. Thanks for all your input bros.