Recording Electric Guitar

Hey, guys.  Have had a question for years that I've been embarrassed to ask because it's something I should probably know, but I'm damned if I can figure it out on my own... For those of you who record electric guitar directly into SONAR, how do you hook it up?  I have a Fender Tele and have always had a problem getting enough signal to the system. If I plug it straight into my sound card (Audiophile USB) I get signal, but even with all knobs set to "11" the input is barely registering. I mean, I get signal and I'm able to record, but the level is very low.  I ask this now because with TH2, there is a button that says "Input level" and when I clicked it, it shows a VU Meter and gives instructions about raising my "Pot" to maximum and playing the guitar as hard as I can... so forth.  But If it registers any level at all, it's barely 4 bars from nothing.

I know I can route my guitar through a mixer, which I've done, but I then have to raise the output of the mixer and I start getting a lot of noise, so that's really not helping.

What do you guys do? Is there such a thing as a pre-amp for guitar? Is it my sound card that sucks?

Any ideas?

As always any and all comments/suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Best,
Rob

The audiophile only has line level inputs. You need a direct box or some other device to take your instrument input and deliver a line level output to your interface. Many interfaces come with a hi-Z (or instrument) input which would allow you to directly connect your guitar to the interface.

Looks like I got beat to the punch but if your interface is line level in only without a trim knob you need to either use some kind of instrument input device as has been mention or get another interface that does have those options.

Mic level<guitar level<line level.  As the others have said, you need to raise the level coming out of your guitar to something your line level interface can see.  That is why it is called a pre-amp.

@

+1

Electric guitars require a pre-amp or a stomp box/effects unit/amplifier with a line out to deliver the appropriate level signal to the computer.

Great information all!! Thank you all so much.  All points to what I thought was the base of my problem... the audiophile not having an instrument In/Out.  I got confused because it DOES have inputs and outputs, just not the right kind.  Something I should have known. 

Now... your help has reinforced my thoughts of upgrading my Sound Card, which after a big computer upgrade (to 4core 64) and software upgrade (X2), is now the weakest link.  I'd really like to get a sound card that plays nicely with my current set up and also, obviously, has at least 1 instrument line in.

So I'm off to search and research threads about Sound Cards!

Thanks to all who responded. This is truly a wonderful, civilized and caring community.

Best,
Rob


EDIT: Hmmm after looking up audio interfaces, I don't see a lot of sound cards with Instrument inputs.... Now i'm thinking that I'd need a preamp anyway... so now I'm back to preamps

sharke


I get a great sound from my Tele through my cheapo M-Audio Fast Track interface. I don't think I've ever had the gain pot past 9 o'clock before it starts clipping. 

So the Fast Track has an Instrument In? It's a USB interface, isn't it?  I'm gonna go look it up now. I've always been satisfied with my Audiophile USB but I thought I was losing some Latency benefits by not going PCI...

Yes it has hiZ input. Yes it is USB. Generally USB interfaces will have a higher latency than PCI interfaces.

And what do you know, it's only $149.99 on Sweetwater these days. Holy crap I paid a lot more than that!

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/C400

People have had issues with some M-Audio drivers not letting Sonar close properly. I don't think it's an across the board issue but I've seen it mentioned enough that it's worth noting. They are supposed to be nice little boxes though.

For $99 the Alesis I/O 2 has a direct input for guitar at hi-z and will get you to line level for recording in the box. It's a great, cheap and flexible box. 

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/iO2exp

SToons

rcrees


Great information all!! Thank you all so much.  All points to what I thought was the base of my problem... the audiophile not having an instrument In/Out.  I got confused because it DOES have inputs and outputs, just not the right kind.  Something I should have known. 

Now... your help has reinforced my thoughts of upgrading my Sound Card, which after a big computer upgrade (to 4core 64) and software upgrade (X2), is now the weakest link.  I'd really like to get a sound card that plays nicely with my current set up and also, obviously, has at least 1 instrument line in.

So I'm off to search and research threads about Sound Cards!

Another option would be to keep the card and pickup something like this:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/line-6-pod-studio-gx-with-pod-farm
This comes with it's own modelling software but will also allow you to use any other amp modelling software like TH2.
 
For around the same price you could likely get a PodXT which is several years old but sounds great, or splurge on a newer unit like the HD500, which are portable so you can drag your guitar "rig" anywhere. They also function as a stereo USB soundcard. Very low latency as well. They function the same as the StudioGX but have their own internal modelling software. This allows you to use them with or without a computer. If you use it with a computer you can use it to send a "dry" signal if you prefer and substitute other amp software.
These options may not suit your needs but if you play guitar much you may be able to solve two issues at once.

Well you should be warned about the device in that link. This device is only USB 1.0. I had a UX2 The device above is a UX1. A lesser model. When these things first came out they were red and they were called Toneports. Line 6 changed the color to black and called it a Pod Studio. They added additional software but it is really the same hardware with all the same specs. The tecs in their forum even admitted this when they were pressed.


They market it by saying it works with 2.0 and leaving an assumption that it was 2.0. further more it is powered by the USB port itself. after owning both the Toneport 2 and the Studio 2 AKA UX2 I can tell you that it work, but it won't solve your problem. in fact it will be worse. you will not get a signal strong enough to record unless you use a preamp.


When I purchased the VS-100 I was blown away at how much better the recordings were. I no longer needed a preamp to boost the signal. The sounds that this UX1 will produce is on par with the Pod xt series. that is an effects processor that is 2 generations older.


Since then Line 6 has come out with the X3 series and now the HD series. A quick search on ebay brought up several pod x3s between 100 and 200 bucks. They also function as a sound card and portable guitar rig. They even have a mic input for vocals. This is a better bet because it is USB 2.0. It will not require a preamp, and you will be able to download and use the entire Pod Farm 2.5 for free. That is 78 guitar amps and 22 bass amps 96 pedal effects and hundreds of presets.


What ever you decide to get, you should at least get an audio interface that is USB 2.0 if you can.

+1 to getting something like the Art tube MP and then going line out to your audiophile rather than buying a budget usb interface. Part of the reason being that a lot of the cheaper usb interfaces aren't capable of achieving low latency.   

If you're going to be using amp sims a lot, the total round trip latency you can achieve is pretty important.


EDIT: Woops. I didn't read your post carefully enough. I didn't know they made an audiophile USB interface. I was thinking you had the PCI card. In that case, you may want to go for a new interface, depending on how acceptable the latency is with the audiophile USB.

I've used one of the ART tube pre-amps in the past. In fact I still use it on vocals in my live rig.

If you consider a Presonus, be sure and get the vsl series.