Motu Z-Box - Recording Guitar Directly to interface?

SOS's review of it.
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep10/articles/motu-zbox.htm
Fender and other vendors have guitar input devices, too, if your I/O doesn't have an instrument input with very high impedance.

Supposedly the capacitor they use mimics the capacitor in the preamp section of Fender amps (which are obviously quite clean and crisp). So although the impedence may be the same the actual electronics may still make a difference.
 
I have a Focusrite which has a very nice Inst in (which you heard in those tunes I posted) BUT I may still get some extra sauce out of the Z-Box and for $60 I figure it's worth it. Also it would allow me to plug straight into my Mackie mixing board as well which would be very nice for the extra routing, level control and EQ.
 
Now you will have to take the following statement with a grain of salt because I simply do not know nor have I used your interface... but I do not think M-Audio really has the greatest Inst/Hi-Z inputs. That's based on reviews and I have tried M-Audio devices in the past but that was a long time ago and only briefly. I nearly bought an M-Audio but decided on the Focusrite Scarlett because of all the amazing reviews and I love the thing.
 
Still the Hi-Z isn't QUITE how I'd like it which is why I am constantly coming up with elaborate schemes in regards to my guitar/bass input.
 
If you haven't already do a youtube search for Motu Z-Box unboxing. It should bring up a rather well done video of a guy doing some pretty intensive tests on it. He does a sound comparison (which is kind of hard to tell the difference because it's youtube sound) and runs it through a fancy frequency analyzer so you can SEE what the Z-Box is doing. The analyzer shows a lot more complexity in the Z-Box signal.
 
That said there are other options. There are some DI box manufacturers that have whole lines of devices for guitar and bass that are tuned for specific instruments/applications. I forget their names at the moment but maybe I'll dig out some links later. That stuff is more expensive though.
 
Thing is you may not notice a HUGE difference with any of these devices. It's all very subtle but those subtleties can mean a lot to a sim and overall mix. It means less tweaking and notch EQing.
 
The other thing to know is those Inst. ins are kind of designed to take various inputs other than guitar such as keyboards (or so I've read) whereas the Z-Box and other dedicated DI devices are specifically for guitar.
 
You should also check out Craig Anderton's various articles about using guitar sims. If you google "Anderton SOS Guitar Sim" you should find a really good article about making DI guitar signals work a lot better with sims. I use those tricks all the time... particularly notching out the "fizzy/crackly" sound with and EQ. Those tricks are meant to circumvent the problems the Z-Box claims to solve.
 
Cheers.

When intending to (or potentially might) use an amp sim, Melodyne (Melodyne can fall apart when trying to process a signal with harmonics already existing), or external send for re-amping it is best to actually record a clean guitar signal with the best S/N ratio you can get initially. You may be able to achieve this from your interface alone (would need to test), as you can record a track and then normalize it before then doing any of the above.
 
The advantages of an active DI box are to boost the signal for recording where the interface doesn't cut it as well as allowing for very low monitoring when tracking by also splitting the output giving you the flexibility of using a real amp to monitor while tracking that signal (which you can also record with a microphone if desired). To achieve these best, mute both the clean/microphone tracks while recording and simply listen to the amp while tracking.
 
The "purpose" of a DI box (for signal boosting) can also be achieved via any powered external pedal/processor which can boost the clean signal (which you may already have), but the routing of a DI box (two signals, one clean for recording, one colored for monitoring) may not be readily achievable.
 
As far as tone... the purpose of recording a clean signal is you can use EQs both pre/post processing (via amp sim or external re-amping) to color that tone to your heart's content. It is often easier to take away than add, so I always shoot for the best clean S/N ratio of the full signal on the recording and let the amp sim do the rest post-production. The biggest advantage of an amp-sim or reamping is you can change your mind down the road without having to re-record anything. Amp sims are the easiest to work with, and a post-EQ LPF in the 4K-7K range seems to have the biggest bang-for-the-buck to harness harmonics created which an amp itself would not.
 
I just wanted to throw this out, since an active DI box is intended to boost the clean signal, not "color the tone," per se. As long as you get a good S/N ratio, you also have the possibility of normalizing a recorded track and gating the normalized track to remove the boosted noise in most cases. Active DI boxes do have advantages in signal boosting and monitoring options while tracking.
 
With all that said, I looked into an active DI box in the past, but realized 1) I already had a processor to do what I wanted, and 2) didn't need the processor since my interface alone can achieve proper signal gain with low enough latency to monitor via amps sims once I streamlined my tracking process.
 

I think Beepster is referring to this SOS Anderton article
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul13/articles/sonar-notes-0713.htm
 
and this one on Bass is good, too
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct08/articles/sonarworkshop_1008.htm

And maybe this thread I posted last fall will be of interest here...
 
http://forum.cakewalk.com/SOLVED-Recording-from-a-Mixer-into-the-DAW-Direct-Outs-vs-Aux-sends-m3075268.aspx
 
I was asking about mixer stuff but the convo veered off into DI stuff which is when Rain pointed out the Z-Box (first I'd heard of it). Lots of really heavy hitters chimed in on that thread including Danny who talks about his mixer with onboard instrument/hi-z inputs he plugs straight into. Very very educational and got me looking at a lot of things that I am now actually doing as I record even thoug my gear is limited.
 
Also check out some of the stuff Radial puts out for DIing guits and other stuff. Unfortunately their site isn't as well laid out as it used to be (used to have simple charts... now it's all wacky)...
 
http://www.radialeng.com/index.php#
 
I'd love to snag some of that stuff.

Most guitar amps have a very high input impedance, around 1MegaOhm is typical in a valve amp. Many effects pedals with poor bypasses, DI boxes and interface inputs are lower than this, which can result in the guitar losing volume and treble (it's called "tone sucking" on guitar forums).

Some amplifiers also have a "low" input which usually has lower impedance which means a cleaner but less bright sound.

MOTU don't seem to say what the input impedance of their product actually is. Boss pedals all contain a permanently-on buffer circuit with input impedance of around 1MOhm, as do some pedals by other manufacturers. Whether the Motu can do anything a simple Boss or similar pedal can't I have no idea, but unless it adds something beyond simply having the correct impedance...

Incidentally, I'd be curious how someone measured the input imoedance of the Z-Box. Input impedance isn't generally something that can be easily measured, at least not without taking things apart, tracing the circuit and a bit of calculation.

A clone of the highly respected buffer in the Klon Centaur can be put together very simply and cheaply. PCB or bread-board, three capacitors, six resistors and one IC. Kits for that and other good quality buffers can be found online. Here's one example of a Klone buffer kit from the UK -
http://shop.pedalparts.co...r/p847124_6346591.aspx

The instructions give the complete circuit diagram as well.

The output is low impedance, but unbalanced of course, though over a short cable run that shouldn't really make much difference. I've not tried that kit, nor have I ever played through a Klon. I do have the EHX Soul Food however and if it really is the same circuit it's a very transparent buffer (and a seriously nice transparent low to mid gain overdrive as well).

Yeah, try it through the sims. One of the big problems with DI guit and sims is that "fizzy/screechy" quality. That generally needs to be notch EQd out so it makes sense the dry signal would sound a little duller. It's probably yanking out those obnoxious upper mid range frequencies that causes problems allowing the "good" tones hit the sim properly. Curious to see how it works out in the long run for you.
 
It may be more noticeable on other sims though like Guitar Rig which I always had to fight WAY more than I do with TH2. I still notch with TH2 but it's never as extreme or finicky. I think they may have compensated a bit specifically for direct input.