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best home recording gizmo


johnny5

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just wondering what thoughts you all have on home recording things. i was thinking of getting a POD to use directly into my computer. and i hear some good, and not so good things about the J-station.

 

in the studio i record real amps but at home i would like a way to get some decent guitar sounds into my computer mixes.

 

any thoughts / ideas?

 

oh yeah, all this without spending tons of cash. i'll save that for the real stuff.

 

thanks

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IMO, the best home recording gizmo you can get is a decent soundcard, then a recording program, then the input device.

You can have all the greatest input devices there are and if you're sticking it into a crap soundcard and a crap recording setup you'll get crap out.

It's like the old adage crap in, crap out, except in this case the computer doesn't see the good input, it sees the crap analogy of that input via transition through inferior pathways.

So, make sure your recording stuff is decent and then you can add the other things for inputting the sound.

 

Our Joint

 

"When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it." The Duke...

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Get a Groove Tubes GT Electronics Speaker Emulator, and use your tube amps as DI preamps with no speaker connected; these sound sooo goood you won't believe it. No digital this or modeling that, either. Real mechanical voice-coil action. Great tone, works magic with vintage amps. Ask Myles Rose, he'll back me up on this, and he won't sell you his GT Sp Emu's; that's the best endorsement you can get!

 

(You can use the Sp Emu in series or parallel with other "real" speakers if you like, as well.)

 

(Of course, use the best quality actual SPEAKER CABLE that you can when connecting the Sp Emu to your amp... )

 

The best thing about the Johnson J-Station is that you can get brand new ones dirt-cheap now, $149.00 at Musician's Friend! I got one when they were so new that the CD-ROM that was supposed to be included had to be mailed to me upon registration. I got mine due to the fact that I had credit at a local music store that had them but not PODs and I wanted a killer headphone amp, and I've really enjoyed it! It has its good points and bad points, but is a lot of bang for the buck. If you try one, check out the sound of their '70s "Marshall" model paired with an "Ampeg" 4x12" cab-model, and things like that. If you have a good compressor, don't use the J-Station's on-board digital compression, as it compresses well but has a sort of gritchy, ugly distorted undertone when active, most noticeable on clean settings.

 

The delays are beautiful, the modulation effects are quite good, and the 'verbs are O.K. The pitch-shifting effects are quite chirpy and cheesey, with a noticeable delay, and are fixed-intervals, not "smart" harmonizations. Good enough for corpulant lard-assed octave-downs, or squirmy-tinkly Octavia impersonations.

 

Oh, and this thing also sounds awesome for basses! Probably even better than for guitars. Future double-duty use might be reason enough to snag one for cheap.

 

Oh, and I'll add that P-90's are the true ticket to the best "vintage" tones on the J-Station, they bring out the best of the "Vox", "Tweed", "Boutique", and other models. They should have called it the "P-J Station"! -k

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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I have one of the original Pods, and it sounds just fine on a recording.

 

For a blistering lead, I think you need the real thing. But for some rhythm parts and accents, you'd be hard-pressed to really know if it was a miked amp or the Pod.

 

Plus, if you are working in a hurry, you don't have to fart around with amps and microphones. Just plug it in, tune up, and run with it.

 

I have a huge collection of amps and guitars (and I love every damned one of them), but for some things, not all, the Pod is just as good.

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I have no personal experience, but the Digitech RPx400 looks really packed with features - if you have a USB port on your computer. It comes with a 16-track software, drum machine, phrase trainer and the usual amp and cabinet modellers. The pedalboard also shows up as a controller on the software so you can use the pedals for some basic recording controls. MF sells it for $300.

aka riffing

 

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Hi,

 

If you just want to use just your guitar and a computer the Line6 Guitarport may be an option

conversion is done inside the guitarport and you

will need an USB connection on your computer,

it comes with modeled amps and effects wich are

good and give you access to lessons for $8 a

month ...

 

Hope this helps.

 

Bests.

 

Stan

Love + Learning + Music = LIFE !!! (some money welcomed as well ...)
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I am using the POD XT into cakewalk. it sounds perfect...I would recomend the J-station or POD 2.0 though if you are going for low budget stuff.
If I was talking to the ice cream, I would be eating you.
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Very happy with the V-Amp2. I've used about a half dozen or more units for direct recording and this is the best sound I've gotten yet by far.

 

It depends on what kind of player you are though. Some guys mentioned not liking the clean sound on the POD units, but personally, that's what I think they do best. The V-Amp2 excells at the Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier (think Santana) sound I think and it's old black face Twin is real nice. It's Marshall JTM 45 isn't bad but POD does it better I think. A lot of the metal guys seem to like the J-Station. It'd be nice to have em all wouldn't it?

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I don't think the GuitarPort is a good solution for his use. I say this because the GPort is a huge system resource hoag. Unless you're using a non-native recording program, you might run into some serious issues. My computer's pretty old, but even with a much faster processor, I've gotta wonder what would happen if you started doing overdubs while you have a bunch of plug-ins already open and running.
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DC_jim, good point. when mixing a song, i am already taxing my CPU pretty good with the mixing program. i would hate to put more on it. would be asking for drop outs.

 

i think i am leaning toward the POD, or maybe just say "f#$@ it" and get a UniValve and use it's line out (doesn't it's line out incorporate it's power section?)

 

thanks for all the tips.

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