Re: Advice needed--using my laptop as a guitar effect

[Per Boysen <per@boysen.se>]

On Jan 30, 2005, at 6:59, Art Simon wrote:

> I don't think this is too off-topic, I am trying to use my laptop for
> all my guitar effects including looping with Loopy-Llama and
> ElottronixXL. I have a Dell Inspiron with an IndigoIO cardbus
> soundcard running EnergyXT.

That is a relly nice sound card! I have one too. Used it on my IBM  
laptop, before it died from swallowing a glass of milk through the  
keyboard. Now I use it on a mac powerbook. But I do not dare relying on  
the computer to shape the basic guitar tone (although I have tried that  
in the past). Instead I use an old POD 1 (the first version, red and  
roundish. Cheap second hand purchase) and I set the Indigo i/o to  
monitor the input directly. That gives I have only to coup with the  
delay of the POD unit, but that's ok. Not worse than standing some four  
meters away from your physical guitar rig, comparing  IRL . Then, in  
the software I take out all direct signals to avoid phasing problems.  
So the sound card direct monitoring gives the DRY signal and all the  
stuff inside the laptop gives the WET signal.

> I bought a cheap amp (a Drive G35 DSP) with an effects send and
> return, and plugged in my Indigo IO soundcard of my laptop.  It
> sounded horrible. I realize now that the amp is using instrument
> levels and the Indigo IO is using line levels. Is there a cheap and
> easy way to solve this, or do I need a compeltely different setup?

You need a line level amp. Or head phones. Buying a pair of really good  
headphones is a good investment.

> BTW, I was inspired to ditch the AX10G by an excellent thread on
> various (and mostly free) guitar amp VSTs here:
> http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php? 
> t=59469&highlight=cortex+guitar
> The free Marshall JCM900 amp simulation is very impressive.

I agree, that guitar plug is awesome! I used it all the time on pc. Not  
for live playing though, only when producing recordings.

Greetings from Sweden

Per Boysen
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