Hi,
I'm in need of a little help or I'm afraid I'm gonna blow up stuff
Situation:
For practicing after 10pm etc, I would like to hook up my guitar to my pc and use software like Amplitube or Guitar Rig, using headphones, to do exercises, jam along with MP3's etc. So I used to plug in my guitar straight into the Line In of my sound blaster audigy 2, using a big jack -> small jack convertor (1/4"-1/8" if I'm correct), and it seemed to work, but the sound wasn't quite right (hissy, sharp, snap-crackle-pop). As for latency, no prob with ASIO and the Audigy 2, can even go to 2ms. Raising the latency didn't help the sound-quality.
So I start reading, and seems I would need a DI box to correct stuff like impedance, (as)symmetrical and balanced things, line levels etc. I quite new in that field so I'm looking for advice:
1. I don't want to spent a lot of money and would prefer to stick with my Audigy 2. Do I need a DI box, and which one will to the job ? I'm not gonna need it do to serious recording. Practicing in silence is the first target. I've been looking at some behringer stuff etc, but I noticed the outputs are all XLR, my Line In is a small stereo jack (1/8" if I'm right).
2. I have an ADA MP-1 preamp, could I use that to go from guitar signal to line level that will suit my sound card's Line In ?
3. Will I need a hardware cab simulator to go with a DI box ? Amplitube and Guitar Rig seem to have cab emulations or is that something totally different ?
4. Since impedance comes in the equation, I was wondering if I need to be concerned about my pickups: Dimarzio Breeds, Tonezone, and EMG81 active. (I remember the guy at a guitar store who installed the EMG81 that he had to remove the tone pot due to impedance differences between the EMG81 and the stock Ibanez V7-S1-V8 pickups).
There happen to be some V-Amp Pro for sale around here for 80€. a DI box strats around 30 new. Since the V-Amp pro has Balanced outputs, cab sim, and even a SPDIF digital output (my Audigy 2 has a 2-pin header SPDIF input somewhere on the card if I'm correct), I was wondering if it isn't a better choice than just a DI box (if I need that in the first place to solve my problem).
Thanks in advance.
a tech-puzzled guitarist
I'm in need of a little help or I'm afraid I'm gonna blow up stuff
Situation:
For practicing after 10pm etc, I would like to hook up my guitar to my pc and use software like Amplitube or Guitar Rig, using headphones, to do exercises, jam along with MP3's etc. So I used to plug in my guitar straight into the Line In of my sound blaster audigy 2, using a big jack -> small jack convertor (1/4"-1/8" if I'm correct), and it seemed to work, but the sound wasn't quite right (hissy, sharp, snap-crackle-pop). As for latency, no prob with ASIO and the Audigy 2, can even go to 2ms. Raising the latency didn't help the sound-quality.
So I start reading, and seems I would need a DI box to correct stuff like impedance, (as)symmetrical and balanced things, line levels etc. I quite new in that field so I'm looking for advice:
1. I don't want to spent a lot of money and would prefer to stick with my Audigy 2. Do I need a DI box, and which one will to the job ? I'm not gonna need it do to serious recording. Practicing in silence is the first target. I've been looking at some behringer stuff etc, but I noticed the outputs are all XLR, my Line In is a small stereo jack (1/8" if I'm right).
2. I have an ADA MP-1 preamp, could I use that to go from guitar signal to line level that will suit my sound card's Line In ?
3. Will I need a hardware cab simulator to go with a DI box ? Amplitube and Guitar Rig seem to have cab emulations or is that something totally different ?
4. Since impedance comes in the equation, I was wondering if I need to be concerned about my pickups: Dimarzio Breeds, Tonezone, and EMG81 active. (I remember the guy at a guitar store who installed the EMG81 that he had to remove the tone pot due to impedance differences between the EMG81 and the stock Ibanez V7-S1-V8 pickups).
There happen to be some V-Amp Pro for sale around here for 80€. a DI box strats around 30 new. Since the V-Amp pro has Balanced outputs, cab sim, and even a SPDIF digital output (my Audigy 2 has a 2-pin header SPDIF input somewhere on the card if I'm correct), I was wondering if it isn't a better choice than just a DI box (if I need that in the first place to solve my problem).
Thanks in advance.
a tech-puzzled guitarist