So I just got a POD...

[ttiwguitar]

I bought a POD today to use for basic recording at home... since my rig stays at my band's practice space I didn't have anything decent to practice through or record ideas with so I figured it would be perfect for what I need. The thing is, I have no idea how to use it for direct recording... I've never really recorded anything so it's all new to me. Basically I was wondering a few things: what kind of recording software to use, if i need to get a special kind of soundcard, and if there's anything else I need to plug the POD into my computer and record. I'm assuming I'll need to use a 1/4" cable with an adapter to plug it into my "line in" jack on my computer... but any other help would be awesome! Thanks guys.

 

[felipe-x]

welcome to the family

 

[AudioPhile777]

For basic recording you can do that, as long as the DAW you are using supports your sound card... or vice versa?

You could use anything from freeware programs that you could probably find on download.com or you can do out and buy something like Home Studio ($100) to learn on and if you choose to, you can move up from there...

You can also buy some like an M-Audio firewire/usb interface that will more than likely have better converters and line inputs than you compy's sound card.

Staring out, the options are limitless... as long as your wallet has none.

Another cool place to check out is www.americanmusical.com , just cause if you plan on spending more than $250 in a single purchase you can split it into 3 interest free payments and they bill your card once every 31 days... and if its over $1000, 5 payments... its pretty cool if you need other things too like speakers for your cab and amps... and I'm getting off topic... useful nontheless.

This concludes my 2 cents.

 

[AudioPhile777]

welcome to the family

+1, welcome indeed.

 

[Denial Machine]

Can't you just hook it up to the comp with the usb cable and record like that? It works for me with the POD XT.

 

[AudioPhile777]

Can't you just hook it up to the comp with the usb cable and record like that? It works for me with the POD XT.

You could do that too... I don't have a pod... I do own line6 gear though.

If I did, though, I would record via the 1/4" out rather than USB...

 

[Mutant]

what kind of recording software to use

Reaper

If I did, though, I would record via the 1/4" out rather than USB...

Why ?
By going to your DAW digitally you are bypassing POD's not to great DA, your soundcard's imperfect AD converters and the analog noise introducing cable.

 

[AudioPhile777]

Why ?
By going to your DAW digitally you are bypassing POD's not to great DA, your soundcard's imperfect AD converters and the analog noise introducing cable.

Because I like to make thing difficult for myself,

Would you use a USB mic for the same reason? I just... i dunno... something about going in with a USB kinda freaks me out. To me, it would feel like playing with a midi guitar...

 

[Denial Machine]

Because I like to make thing difficult for myself,

Would you use a USB mic for the same reason?

Huh? Using the USB cable to record off of the POD produces the cleanest sound since you bypass the POD's D/A converter and your DAW's A/D converter all together.

If you were converting MP3 files to .Wav files you woulnd't first burn em to the CD then rip the CD.

 

[ttiwguitar]

OK, I got everything plugged in and working and I opened up Reaper to try to record something... and there's a delay of about a second between what I'm playing and the computer registering it... how do I fix this? I probably sound like a total idiot right now haha, but I've never tried to record anything on a computer. I have a feeling I need to update the soundcard, it's a Realtek AC'97.

 

[Mutant]

I have a feeling I need to update the soundcard, it's a Realtek AC'97.

You need to use ASIO drivers IIRC asio4all are compatible with your soundard and yes it would be a good idea to get a truly ASIO compatible soundcard i have E-mu 1212M and with lots of plugins i can record/monitor with 8 miliseconds of latency.