GTP2 Reunited

Hey Pete,

Welcome to the forum.

Regarding what to sugest. Well that is an open ended question. I guess the place to start would be what do you want to record, style, etc. And what gear do you already have?

You may want to look at an external interface. Though not the cheapest way to go it is the most flexible and consistent. Among the interfaces out there you will want to go with a USB interface as this technology is going to be the lowest cost next to just pluging directly into the laptop.

You might want to check out the Line Six Pod Studio series. Specifically the UX2 and the KB37. These will give you multiple inputs and amp and preamp modeling out of the box. A UX1 would be the lower cost alternative. You can check these out at Line6.com.

Roland/Cakewalk have their new series of USB interfaces available as well. I can't speak to their capabilities but Roland builds some reliable equipment.

Also you might want to look into the Lexicon Lambda. I have one of those as well and it worked for me quite well till I went to a multi-input firewire interface.

As for Microphones. Cost is going to be a factor in your choices. I have found that MXL/MCA SP-1 is a good budget priced mic for vocals. It is a condenser mic and requires 48volt phantom power. So what ever interface you look at getting it will need phantom power. Also the MXL 990 is another good low cost vocal and acoustic instrument mic and it will also require phantom power.

Now if you want to spring for a bit more the Shure SM58 is a great all around vocal mic that doesn't require a phantom power source.

For Instrument mics the Shure SM-57 is a standby for micing amp cabinets. The Sennheiser e609 Silver is also a good candidate for this job as well.

Thanks very, very much guys!

WELCOME PETE !  I use an Edirol FA 66 with 2 inputs for my interface and the ones I have seen have 2. I think the UB1 only has  one but I'm not sure. I suggest the UB2 like Doc said. I also use the line 6 Pod X3 for inputs and the goodies that go with it but not as my audio interface. I could but I already had the FA 66. http://line6.com/podxt/ I'm not sure if GTP2 records to 2 separate tracks at the same time. Hope I have helped in some way. Have fun!


BTW I loved GTP2. One thing it does the others do not is if you want to hear or learn a solo slowly you can change the tempo of the track but the pitch doesn't change. EX. I was trying to pick off a Charlie Parker solo but it was just too fast. I imported the song from my desktop to a track. The tempo is listed as 100 so if you change it to say 75 it will play back 75% as fast as the song at 100. The pitch will not change. VERY COOL!

 
Hi there Pete
 
To add to what the guys have said, I have a Line 6 UX2 and quite a lot of Cakewalk stuff, including my beloved GT2!
 
I can record two simultaneous sources through the UX2 in the later Cakewalk stuff (GT3 onward) but not in GT2; the TonePort needs to be set to run with ASIO drivers to use two inputs and GT2 can't be set to use these unfortunately.
 
GT4 however, will work perfectly with two simultaneous inputs.
 
 
Steve

Well, once again thanks guys. Because I am new to this (Noob I think is the term) I am just hoping  to get confirmation:

I can understand how a soundcard with lets say 2 inputs would allow the possibility of live recording 2 instruments at the same time.

What I cannot get me head round is this USB interface that may have two inputs but only the one USB cable. Can you really record two instruments live this way

BTW I have now got GTP4 and I am sure I will have more questions. In fact I have :)

Pete

Pete Stobbs


Well, once again thanks guys. Because I am new to this (Noob I think is the term) I am just hoping  to get confirmation:

I can understand how a soundcard with lets say 2 inputs would allow the possibility of live recording 2 instruments at the same time.

What I cannot get me head round is this USB interface that may have two inputs but only the one USB cable. Can you really record two instruments live this way

BTW I have now got GTP4 and I am sure I will have more questions. In fact I have :)

Pete

Hi Pete,

An external audio interface can have any number of inputs and connect via any number of methods, one of which is USB. I'll try to keep this in laymans terms.

The analog audio that you send into the device by connecting a guitar is converted in to little digital envelopes that contain the audio coming in for one input channel per millisecond. These little envelopes have an address on them that says they go to track say tack 1.

On the other channel you have a microphone connected. The analog data that comes from the microphone is converted in to little digital envelopes that contain the audio data coming in from input two per millisecond. These little envelopes have an address on them that says they go to track two.

These flow over the USB cable into the computer where the computer sees the address and sends it to the program (Guitar Tracks) where the program sees the address says track 1 and delivers the audio to track one. The other envelopes that say track two are delivered to track two.

Insider  the program you set input 1 as track one and input 2 as track two and viola, the audio is reproduced and recorded to the proper track assignment.

Now the technical term for the envelopes is called a data packet or packets for short. The part of the  computer that does the addressing and delivery is known as the protocol. The cable that you connect through the USB port is basically like a motorway over which the envelopes (or rather packets) travel.

While there is a limit to the amount of packets that can travel accross the cable at any given time, there is something called a buffer that prevents any loss of data or that the data reaches it's destination in a timely manner. Think of the buffer as a queue where packets wait in line to go across the motorway. If the capacity of the motorway has been reached they wait till there is a lul in the traffic on the motorway and then go at the first available opportunity.

Without a buffer that is large enough to hold the queue you can run into a situation called audio dropout. since all the packets cant fit into the building (figuratively of course) they get lost and you get audio that is choppy or non-existant which results in a dropout condition.

I hope that helps you to understand how you can have multiple inputs going into an external interface and still have one cable going from the interface to the computer.

Can do on the Floyd Rose. Do you want it in a word document or in video? I can provide both. Oh does the guitar need to be routed out?

Been away for a while so apologise for not replying sooner.
Thanks Doc! I understand now.

Once again, thanks Guys.

Pete