Attaching guitar to computer?

ramirez · 18 Jun 2006 at 11:09

Hi guys,

Whats the best way to attach an electric guitar to a PC? I remember those Soundblaster live drives - is there a current equivalent? If possible i'd lilke the computer / software to act as some kind of distortion effect!

William · 18 Jun 2006 at 11:20

The ultra-cheapest way would be to buy a 1/4" to 3.5mm jack converter and stick it in the sound card. However, I still think the best way of doing it is recording the amp from a mic which is plugged into a decent sound card.

cleanbluesky · 18 Jun 2006 at 12:13

William said:
The ultra-cheapest way would be to buy a 1/4" to 3.5mm jack converter and stick it in the sound card. However, I still think the best way of doing it is recording the amp from a mic which is plugged into a decent sound card.

A quick compromise is the Line6 Toneport or GuitarPort - very easy to use and quite good results... I would reccomend one.

Zebede · 18 Jun 2006 at 12:15

Yeah I can recommend the GuitarPort, use one myself and it has an excellent range of tones.

cleanbluesky · 18 Jun 2006 at 12:19

I'm off out climbing then possibly running for a hour or so, but if you like I will record some stuff and post it here so you can compare and wonder whether it is what you are after...

What sort of music are you hoping to record... I'll check when I get back...

sjt269 · 18 Jun 2006 at 18:13

cleanbluesky said:
A quick compromise is the Line6 Toneport or GuitarPort - very easy to use and quite good results... I would reccomend one.

+1 to that. Never used a Guitarport, but the Toneport is excellent. £80 might be a bit more than you're willing to spend though, you didn't mention a specific budget. There's an M-Audio product (cant remember the name of it...right on the tip of my tongue, but can't quite get it) out, it's basically a small box with a USB connection and a guitar input, it does a similar thing but doesn't record (or at least, it doesnt provide recording software - you could probably configure it to record). I've never used one myself, though.

SidewinderINC · 18 Jun 2006 at 18:40

ive always wondered about these toneport / USB port devices, what is the latency on USB like?
thats the only thing thats put me off up until now.

cleanbluesky · 18 Jun 2006 at 19:41

SidewinderINC said:
ive always wondered about these toneport / USB port devices, what is the latency on USB like?
thats the only thing thats put me off up until now.

Not sure really, but its low. most drivers have come on now and latency is rarely an issue..

sjt269 · 18 Jun 2006 at 20:20

There's no percievable latency with mine, but there are latency settings that you can change to adjust the load on the CPU (less load = more latency). Mine isn't even on the lowest setting, and it's fine.

jonorigin · 19 Jun 2006 at 10:41

Another tumbs up for the toneport, lovely bit of kit!

sinister_stu · 19 Jun 2006 at 10:58

The cheapest way to do it would be to put a buffer amplifier just before the guitar's output jack, or somewhere between the guitar and the PC. This is because the main issue with plugging a guitar into the line-in socket is the difference in impedance. A buffer amplifier solves this as it is effectively an impedance converter. A search on google should give you all the info you need to do this.