Very basic questions about reload

New to the whole digital thing so forgive me if this is too basic

1. Can reload be used as just and attenuator guitar-reload-cab and how good of an attenuator is it compared to others generally?

2. How easy is it to set up into say a MacBook pro? What daf would you recommend (I have no idea about any of them). And how would that set up go. Guitar-reload-daf-computer-monitor?

3. Any suggestions on studio monitors?

I'm looking for something versatile but I don't want to spend more time figuring out the setup or how it works rather than just playing mthanks for your help.

Hey dude, i'm going to try your answers as best as i can until someone more "official" comes on by:

1. yes it can be used as just an attenuator/guitar reload-cab, check out pete thorns demo, its very helpful (if you have not seen it already https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtgpyMsi-Q0

Don't know enough to compare it to others, sorry

2. I have a Torpedo Live that is setup with my Macbook pro, its as easy as connecting the usb cable and downloading the software. I use the Apogee Duet for iPad and Mac and it is exceptionally easy. Setup is quite simple for the torpedo live:

Guitar>Amp>Speaker Input on Live or ReLoad>Line Out cable into your DAF>DAF into your computer via USB and into your monitors via XLR cables

The manuals for Torpedo products do a very good job of explaining the different ways to setup the devices. Also Apogee products are consistently rated the best but there are plenty of cheaper alternatives depending on what your budget situation looks like.

3. I would highly recommend the Yamaha HS8 studio monitors with the accompanying subwoofer. I found two monitors and the subwoofer used for $600 and that was a steal in my mind. Look around on eBay, guitar center and you can generally find great deals. Not to mention, guitar center frequently has good deals on brand new monitors fairly frequently.

I'm not much of a tinkerer and hate having to fuss around with wires so spent a lot of time researching and found that this was the easiest setup for me. Having zero knowledge of all this stuff, I spent about 20-30 minutes setting it all up and have not had to do anything since then in relation to tinkering with wires. I just plug in to my amp, flip the switches and record whatever i want directly into garageband. Its honestly a phenomenal setup if you want the real amp tone without turning the volume up to ear-bleed levels. Hope this helps!

Thanks bro appreciate it. So is apogee a daf? Sorry I know these are really basic questions.

no worries dude, apogee makes various digital audio interfaces, i'd recommend this one:

http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/duet

they have cheaper ones and more expensive ones depending on your needs

in order to actually record, you will need some sort of a recording program which I believe are commonly referred to as digital audio workstations. This is as simple/free as garageband which you probably already have with your macbook or you can get logic which is what more experienced folks use.

As someone starting out, i highly recommend sticking with garageband until you get the hang of it. once you're comfortable recording and tweaking things, i'd recommend getting logic (downloadable from app store). plenty of other software out there as well!!!

hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions

Thanks bro I appreciate it. Look forward to getting one of these setup!

Hey dude, i'm going to try your answers as best as i can until someone more "official" comes on by:

Click to expand...

That was perfect, and IMHO a non-official answer, real life user answer was the perfect thing to do, thank you.

It's hard to give an opinion on monitors, because there are so many, at very different price points.

About sequencer, give a try to Reaper which is really inexpensive, and cover most of what you need to start recording. Maybe GarageBand is easier for someone who is not familiar with the studio recording workflow.