Axe Fx Direct recording question...

[jcj]

Can one of you power users help out an idiot?

I'm looking for the best interface to record the Axe direct into Garageband, and what outs you personally use. Any advice is greatly appreciated, as this is my first attempt at this crap on my own!

Thanks!!

 

[Audioholic]

I personally use the Analog outs, going into a Nice Converter then into Pro Tools. If I didn't have a good A/D, i would probably try and use the digital outs, but they are at 48k, so everything you did would have to be at that same sampling rate.

 

[jcj]

Thank you!

Any other suggestions on the interface?

Thanks!

 

[daveg62]

Hard to say, it depends on your budget. I use analog outs also, or just mic my cab most of the time. But again, I have decent a/d conversion and nice mics and mic pre's to use. I record all of my projects 44.1 so the spdif 48khz on the axe-fx does me no good. If you want to record digitally just make sure your interface can use 48khz since for some odd reason they decided to only give that option on the axe-fx.

 

[jcj]

I'm looking to keep the cost at a few hundred, or so. Any suggestions that are decent in that range?

 

[MARK1970]

Josh, did you just buy a Mac ?

 

[jcj]

Got a freebie

 

[Audioholic]

Hard to say, it depends on your budget. I use analog outs also, or just mic my cab most of the time. But again, I have decent a/d conversion and nice mics and mic pre's to use. I record all of my projects 44.1 so the spdif 48khz on the axe-fx does me no good. If you want to record digitally just make sure your interface can use 48khz since for some odd reason they decided to only give that option on the axe-fx.

I think its so strange that they made it 48k out on the Axe FX. Still there are a ton of recordings being made at 44.1, or sometimes recorded at higher then 48k. Should of at least gave the option to work at 44.1 as well you know.

 

[daveg62]

I think its so strange that they made it 48k out on the Axe FX. Still there are a ton of recordings being made at 44.1, or sometimes recorded at higher then 48k. Should of at least gave the option to work at 44.1 as well you know.

I hate getting into this argument and I'm sure there's thought on both sides but I could never understand why you would want to record at 48 when you eventually need to get down to 44.1 for cd quality anyway. Sure it may sound slightly better @ 48 but then you have to make a conversion and I'd bet you end up worse off, your throwing out the extra samples. 48khz is the dvd standard, 44.1 is audio cd standard.

 

[AusTexCap]

I'm probably going to go the M-Audio or Echo route. Both of these companies have gear that incorporate analog I/Os, SPDIF I/Os, and MIDI. The Echo Gina and Layla are PCI that connect to a I/O box which is nice because you don't have to climb behind your computer. The M-Audio stuff is mainly Firewire, USB, or PCI with a breakout cable.

I'm going to the store today to take a look at all of these because my Axe gets here tomorrow

There is a sticky thread on the Axe forums about interfaces that are known to work or not work with the Axe. I think most of the non working ones are ones that don't have good drivers or don't allow for enough MIDI configuration so that you can successfully send SYSEX messages (firmware, patches, etc). Definitely check that out before buying.

 

[jcj]

I'm probably going to go the M-Audio or Echo route. Both of these companies have gear that incorporate analog I/Os, SPDIF I/Os, and MIDI. The Echo Gina and Layla are PCI that connect to a I/O box which is nice because you don't have to climb behind your computer. The M-Audio stuff is mainly Firewire, USB, or PCI with a breakout cable.

I'm going to the store today to take a look at all of these because my Axe gets here tomorrow

There is a sticky thread on the Axe forums about interfaces that are known to work or not work with the Axe. I think most of the non working ones are ones that don't have good drivers or don't allow for enough MIDI configuration so that you can successfully send SYSEX messages (firmware, patches, etc). Definitely check that out before buying.

Thanks for the input.

I've seen the threads at the axe forum, but I was thinking that was for the updates.

I was under the impression that to use the M- Audio stuff you had to be running protools; is that not right?

 

[stratotone]

I guess I'm a weirdo - I just plugged my axe-fx into the stock audio input on my PC and it sounds fine.

Pete

 

[jcj]

I guess I'm a weirdo - I just plugged my axe-fx into the stock audio input on my PC and it sounds fine.

Pete

Pete-

I'll have to see if that works on the Mac laptop....I'm not good with any of this crap, hence the questions

 

[Audioholic]

I guess I'm a weirdo - I just plugged my axe-fx into the stock audio input on my PC and it sounds fine.

Pete

Pete-

I'll have to see if that works on the Mac laptop....I'm not good with any of this crap, hence the questions

It will certainly work, though most likely your input is a single TRS 1/8 inch or mini jack, in which you will need to get a special cable to accomodate. and while it will work it is hardly the best way to get your recordings done by far. Much better and easier to get a decent I/O

 

[stratotone]

I guess I'm a weirdo - I just plugged my axe-fx into the stock audio input on my PC and it sounds fine.

Pete

Pete-

I'll have to see if that works on the Mac laptop....I'm not good with any of this crap, hence the questions

It will certainly work, though most likely your input is a single TRS 1/8 inch or mini jack, in which you will need to get a special cable to accomodate. and while it will work it is hardly the best way to get your recordings done by far. Much better and easier to get a decent I/O

Might be better, but how is it easier to set up an I/O rig than to plug in a cable you can get at radio shack or guitar center?

Pete

 

[Audioholic]

I guess I'm a weirdo - I just plugged my axe-fx into the stock audio input on my PC and it sounds fine.

Pete

Pete-

I'll have to see if that works on the Mac laptop....I'm not good with any of this crap, hence the questions

It will certainly work, though most likely your input is a single TRS 1/8 inch or mini jack, in which you will need to get a special cable to accomodate. and while it will work it is hardly the best way to get your recordings done by far. Much better and easier to get a decent I/O

Might be better, but how is it easier to set up an I/O rig than to plug in a cable you can get at radio shack or guitar center?

Pete

I think its easier because you don't have to go and find a breakout cable that would work for the 1/8 input jack, use better quality cables, and have more input/output options to connect a monitor or more devices, just easier to me in the long run/better. Most of the interfaces should be very simple to get working with any program, not to mention midi possibilities.

 

[jaybird]

I guess I'm a weirdo - I just plugged my axe-fx into the stock audio input on my PC and it sounds fine.

Pete

Pete-

I'll have to see if that works on the Mac laptop....I'm not good with any of this crap, hence the questions

It will certainly work, though most likely your input is a single TRS 1/8 inch or mini jack, in which you will need to get a special cable to accomodate. and while it will work it is hardly the best way to get your recordings done by far. Much better and easier to get a decent I/O

Might be better, but how is it easier to set up an I/O rig than to plug in a cable you can get at radio shack or guitar center?

Pete

I think its easier because you don't have to go and find a breakout cable that would work for the 1/8 input jack, use better quality cables, and have more input/output options to connect a monitor or more devices, just easier to me in the long run/better. Most of the interfaces should be very simple to get working with any program, not to mention midi possibilities.

I for one would love to hear the differences between PC input and I/O cards. 1/8" mini adapter costs less than $5, I/O cards / boxes obviously much more. I don't do much recording but would like to do more, so quite curious!

 

[Audioholic]

I guess I'm a weirdo - I just plugged my axe-fx into the stock audio input on my PC and it sounds fine.

Pete

Pete-

I'll have to see if that works on the Mac laptop....I'm not good with any of this crap, hence the questions

It will certainly work, though most likely your input is a single TRS 1/8 inch or mini jack, in which you will need to get a special cable to accomodate. and while it will work it is hardly the best way to get your recordings done by far. Much better and easier to get a decent I/O

Might be better, but how is it easier to set up an I/O rig than to plug in a cable you can get at radio shack or guitar center?

Pete

I think its easier because you don't have to go and find a breakout cable that would work for the 1/8 input jack, use better quality cables, and have more input/output options to connect a monitor or more devices, just easier to me in the long run/better. Most of the interfaces should be very simple to get working with any program, not to mention midi possibilities.

I for one would love to hear the differences between PC input and I/O cards. 1/8" mini adapter costs less than $5, I/O cards / boxes obviously much more. I don't do much recording but would like to do more, so quite curious!

Like I said if all you want to do is plug in the axe, then you can simply do that with the included input, thought most likely its not ideal and your are compromising your recorded signal unless your computer had a special audio card installed. But if you are wanting to send the signal to monitors, have headphone outputs, use more then one input at a time, have midi options and upgrade your A/D, then an I/O is what you need. The sound difference all depends on how good the converters are. I recently helped out a kid with recording something into his puter using just the 1/8 jack. It was less then ideal if you ask me. And chances are you guys wouldn't go to Radio shack to buy your guitar cables right?

Guitar goes into AXE Fx, where it is converted into digital. Out of Axe FX where it is converted from digital to analog again. Then add in another conversion step, and you are converting your signal again to Digital. A better converter will capture the sound better, its the reason we spend money on better recording gear, and why studios have thousands invested in just A/D alone sometimes. Its noticable. An I/o will give you more features and in the long run is a better solution if you want to do any sort of recording imo.

If I can find a breakout cable, I will try an experiment.

 

[stratotone]

I'm not arguing about the I/O changing the tone, just depends on how critical the mission is. I think the Axe sounds fine with just a cable into a stock soundcard... and since the cable costs less than $20 and is easily available, it is a no brainer IMHO to try that first and see if it's acceptable. For many people I think it could be. Of course if you're doing a major CD project or something it may not be, but mine sounds pretty good like that, and I have a decent collection of amps and guitars for comparison.

Pete

 

[stratotone]

Oh, and you're right about the Rat Shack cable, I had one and it did kinda suck, replaced it with one from Guitar Center that was much better, still well under $20. Not everyone needs a full I/O solution, just like not everyone is going to be happy running a cable to their PC.

Pete