Re: What do I need to be able to record onto my computer?
well to be honest I think for 99 bucks you won't go wrong with using the guitarport to record to your computer. Here are the reasons why:
There's two real ways to get sound into the computer - analog and digital inputs. The problem with analog inputs the quality of your sound card or related input device, as well as the quality of your computer components can affect the quality of the recorded input. That can mean shelling out more dollars later to get better components. The digital interface bypasses all that. For simple guitar tracking and without the need to mic in other people this interface is the way to go.
The Guitarport's using the same amp/cab/mike simulator technology as what you find in amp farm, the vettas, the pods, etc. Now we can go on and on (and indeed we have) about it not being tits on emulation, but many would agree that in many cases it'll nail 95-100% of what you're going for, with about 15% of the effort. That number varies depending on whether you were planning to plug in something or mike something. I think miking something brings a whole extra layer to the process.
With the guitarport, you're not having to pay for the hardware needed to DSP in (near) real-time. You're taking advantage of the massive horsepower of today's computers to do the work for you - in a sense, you're taking advantage of something you already paid for.
I think the reality is, once you see how much you can do with guitarport, your computer, and a good pair of headphones you'll probably agree with me the only way you'll get better results is to spend a lot more money on equipment and/or learn a lot more about home recording. For you, 99 for guitar port, say 50 bucks for a decent pair of headphones, your computer, and say a shareware recorder progran like goldwave (
www.goldwave.com) and you'll be recording some cool stuff. for an extra 89 bucks you can get cakewalk home studio and really be in the home recording thing.
The only thing I might add is that regular computer monitors, no matter what you're recording with, tend to generate very low frequency electromagnetic radiation that can get picked up by your guitars pickups and/or other electronics. If you have a laptop or a flatscreen monitor, you're golden - but tv-looking monitors can give you a lot of noise if you're facing the monitor with your guitar or in a certain direction. What a lot of people do is just turn the monitor off while they're recording. Since I have extra money lying around I'm planning on getting a flat screen monitor.
