monkey69962000 Posted February 23, 2005 Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 Hey PG, I want to make an adapter so i can plug my guitar into my computer and us it on Band In A Box. Anyone know how? I searched a little and cant find anything. Thanks, Monkey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted February 23, 2005 Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 Just head down to Radio Shack, or some other electronics supply store, and find a cord w/ a 1/4" jack (guitar output) on one end and a 1/8" jack (sound card input) on the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnewman Posted February 23, 2005 Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 Hey PG, I want to make an adapter so i can plug my guitar into my computer and us it on Band In A Box. Anyone know how? I searched a little and cant find anything. Thanks, Monkey ← If you take the straight up output jack on your guitar and plug it into the input jack on your computer's soundcard, not too much will happen - it is NOT a line-level audio signal. The signal has to be amplified first. There are a couple things you can do: One: Buy a microphone to plug into your computer. This is probably your best option. Two: Go buy one of the $30-40 9V battery-powered Marshall or Fender 4" speaker portable practice amps that have a headphone out (which you can plug into your computer just fine, although it will sound like crap). Three: Find a line-level-out guitar amplifier schematic on the internet and build it yourself. Be warned, it will at the very least use opamps and possibly also transistors - if you've never done DIY electronics before, it might take you a few tries to get it. Four: You can buy a line 6 pod or whatever they're called, those silly little modelling boxes that have a headphone out. Any of these things will let you use a normal stereo mini-mini cable with a mini-1/4" adapter to hook up directly to your computer (except the microphone, which may have a mini plug, which is fine, a 1/4" plug, which will need an adapter, or an XLR plug, which will also need an adapter). All cables and adaptors, except possibly the XLR one, are available extremely overpriced in extremely poor quality at your local radio shack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted February 23, 2005 Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 You should be able to plug your guitar directly into the microphone input - you may not like the sound, but the guitar should drive that input without issues. If your soundcard doesn't have a microphone input, see the previous post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ansil Posted February 23, 2005 Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 for around 10usd you can make your own usb powered line level clean or distorted preamp based of simple circuits over at ROG. say tube reamer and speaker sim perhaps an eq. buffered fx loop for other pedals. hour or two of build time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren wilson Posted February 23, 2005 Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 http://www.dvforge.com/plug.shtml http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/garageband_cables/ They're advertised as Mac products, but i don't see why they wouldn't work in any environment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedoctor Posted February 23, 2005 Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 I bought an MAudio MobilePre and couldn't be happier! It has high-imp. inputs, a clean preamp and two stereo or two-channel outputs. It is USB-powered and is a slice of heaven for dragging around your own accompanyment on a laptop. Can't say enough good about it. About $130.00 US. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkey69962000 Posted February 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 I want to put it into the usb port. I want some type of quality sound. Well decent sound. Thanks for the help so far Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctams Posted February 23, 2005 Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 I want to put it into the usb port. I want some type of quality sound. Well decent sound. Thanks for the help so far ← I want to put it into the usb port. I want some type of quality sound. Well decent sound. Thanks for the help so far I bought the Line 6 Guitarport, their cheapest product which is guitar to usb to digital output to your pc. It really is a quality product at $99 and comes with a slew of amps, modeling tones, etc. I use it more than anything else because its great for playing along to other things and can be used through headphones easily. I ahve 5.1 surround and it sounds great. You can export your guitar to other software recording progs, etc. as well. Check their website. I don't use my amps, stomp boxes or anything else much anymore, because of this thing. Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadmike Posted February 23, 2005 Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 i take mines from the "external speaker" socket on my amp rather than the headphone as it seems to come out louder, straight into my line in on my soundcard . comes out great, but i did have to buy a jack adapter. 99p well spent and a darn sight cheaper than a soundcard with a pre-amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvertonessuckbutigotone Posted February 24, 2005 Report Share Posted February 24, 2005 you dont need usb to get a quality sound. you can use this http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?cata...ct%5Fid=274-366 either from your amp or straight from your guitar to the mic input and record using audacity or another free software. if you get a few plugins you can even have effects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dugz Ink Posted February 24, 2005 Report Share Posted February 24, 2005 Please tell me that half of you guys were just joking! I mean, if you just want to capture guitar-like sounds on a PC, then most of this advice will work just fine... but If you really want a good digital recording of what your guitar sounds like, don't waste your money on cheap fixes. $100 Absolute entry-level gear is stuff like the Line6 Guitar-Port, a USB interface that does a resonable job of turning the output of an electric guitar into digital audio. It won't sound like a recording studio, but it will sound a LOT better than plugging a $30 Radio Shack mic into a game-player's sound card. $150 If you want more clarity and a bunch of inputs, step up to something like the M-Audio Delta 44; 1/4" jacks in a breakout box that can safely handle the headphone/line output(s) from your practice amp. And the A/D conversion is good enough that it will actually sound like a guitar. It's only fault: it's not made for non-amplified guitars. $200 If your computer can handle a firewire interface, buy the MAudio Firewire Solo and have something that actually does what you need. It is designed for guys like you! One mic input, one guitar input, line inputs and outputs on the back, and a headphone jack with it's own pot. It's everything you need for now... and maybe for the next several years... if your computer will handle it. Or, you could try some of those cheap "fixes" and bitch about how crappy it sounds. D~s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted February 24, 2005 Report Share Posted February 24, 2005 Have to agree with Dugz, though the MobilePre is a decent "in-between" solution for you if you don't need all the Firewire Solo's features. A question, Dugz or other GuitarPort owners-- do you know if I can use it to record directly in my sequencer (ie. select it as a device and record), or do I have to record with proprietary software and then import the file into my sequencer? Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted February 24, 2005 Report Share Posted February 24, 2005 Hey, Dugz, I agree that the soundcard input isn't good enough to do any serious recording, but how good does your input need to be to play along with Band In A Box? Seriously, a Hammerfall DSP9652 card and a handful of Neve mic preamps would be great, but why bother if you're just going to plug the tracks into a $60.00 "music minus one" software package? At that level, even the Edirol UA-1x is probably overkill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted February 24, 2005 Report Share Posted February 24, 2005 Another good point. If you just want to dickaround, use your existing soundcard and its crappy mic pre and you'll still have fun. I did! All you need is a 1/4" to 1/8" stereo adapter, like the kind you use for headphones. $5 and you're sorted. Yes, a guitar sends a mono signal, but it WILL send it through a stereo plug no problem. If you find one, you could even go 1/4" mono to 1/8" stereo, but I've personally never seen one. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkey69962000 Posted February 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2005 (edited) I just made one in like 3 min. It took a old broken microphone, a cheap instrument cable from my saga kit, a soldering iron, solder, and some electrical tape. Thanks for the help. Audacity make the guitar sound very quiet. I need to boost up the volume all the time. Anyway to fix that. Oh i used somehow made it stereo. Well it ends up that way. I plug my guitar into my Zoom 606, then from the pedal to the computer. It plays with very good quality. Edited February 24, 2005 by monkey69962000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dugz Ink Posted February 24, 2005 Report Share Posted February 24, 2005 (edited) ... but how good does your input need to be to play along with Band In A Box? Seriously, a Hammerfall DSP9652 card and a handful of Neve mic preamps would be great ... I didn't quote a Hammerfall, or anything close to that category. I quoted basic interfaces that would allow him to record a track that will sound like what he may be used to hearing out of his amp. OEM sound (or even an Audigy2) will not do that... unless he has bad hearing. And it's my personal opinion that telling people they can use a cheap sound card and a Radio Shack cable or mic to record their guitar is like telling somebody they can protect their project guitar and get a "stained finish" by using Creosote. I can't do that. If he wants to try the headphone-jack-to-sound-card trick, that's fine... but he needs to know before he plugs in his guitar that it will not yield incredible results. And he needs to know what his next step should be, so that (if he's serious) he can save up his money and buy an interface that will actually do what he expects. Bandaid-in-a-Box will get him started. I wouldn't have recommended it, but he has it. He'll figure out what he can do, and what it won't do, and he may eventually upgrade to something like Cakewalk's Home Studio... at which point he'll have the right interface to go with the right software. (At least until he can build a beautiful studio and buy that Hammerfall.) But he won't have the enthusiasm to do anything if he starts recording (expecting beautiful tones) and hears a weak impersonation of his favorite guitar. We have to give him complete advice, not just answer his question, if we're going to help him pursue his dreams. That's where I'm coming from. It plays with very good quality. Ummm... it may be time for a hearing test. D~s Edited February 24, 2005 by Dugz Ink Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted February 24, 2005 Report Share Posted February 24, 2005 It plays with very good quality. Ummm... it may be time for a hearing test. And that's where I'm coming from! Look, I know that you and I are both over 40, educated, and have at least a passing (in my case) understanding of the recording process that results in records and DVDs, and we both know that he's not even going to be able to make bad demo tracks with an unbuffered 16-bit soundcard input, but monkey69962000 doesn't really care about all that - he just wants to add his own guitar tracks to BIAB! Telling him he can't do it for less than $100 doesn't serve him any better than telling him his Soundblaster will give him studio quality recordings would. When he gets tired of listening to those noisy, telephone-bandwidth tracks, he'll go looking for an upgrade, and then we tell him about Pro Tools! No offense intended - I'm actually a huge fan of the M-Audio Delta Series (they really sound better than they have any right to, at the price point), and everything you said was perfectly true and well thought out. And, yeah, the Hammerfall was a gross exageration, but the point I was trying to make is that monkey doesn't know the difference, nor does he care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted February 24, 2005 Report Share Posted February 24, 2005 It plays with very good quality. Ummm... it may be time for a hearing test. And that's where I'm coming from! Look, I know that you and I are both over 40, educated, and have at least a passing (in my case) understanding of the recording process that results in records and DVDs, and we both know that he's not even going to be able to make bad demo tracks with an unbuffered 16-bit soundcard input, but monkey69962000 doesn't really care about all that - he just wants to add his own guitar tracks to BIAB! Telling him he can't do it for less than $100 doesn't serve him any better than telling him his Soundblaster will give him studio quality recordings would. When he gets tired of listening to those noisy, telephone-bandwidth tracks, he'll go looking for an upgrade, and then we tell him about Pro Tools! No offense intended - I'm actually a huge fan of the M-Audio Delta Series (they really sound better than they have any right to, at the price point), and everything you said was perfectly true and well thought out. And, yeah, the Hammerfall was a gross exageration, but the point I was trying to make is that monkey doesn't know the difference, nor does he care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkey69962000 Posted February 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2005 I actually have a good sound card. My dad used to build computers a his job. I have a lot of high end computer parts. Its not the best qualty. Its just more than i expected. I just want to start recording a bit. Then as i get more experienced, move up to better things. I do care about quality. But im starting at a base then moving up. And thanks for the tip on Pro Tools. But that will be later. Well for another question. Can you play an instrument in BAIB and have it self-notate the music? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvertonessuckbutigotone Posted February 25, 2005 Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 the one comlaint i have with all my recordings is that it isnt clear at all. its gummy and muffled which probably has to do with my computers age/soundcard. i run a dell that had win 98 on it, but we upgraded to xp, im thinking about investing in a better soundcard, any reccomendations? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Cavanaugh Posted February 25, 2005 Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 (edited) the one comlaint i have with all my recordings is that it isnt clear at all. its gummy and muffled which probably has to do with my computers age/soundcard. i run a dell that had win 98 on it, but we upgraded to xp, im thinking about investing in a better soundcard, any reccomendations? ← How about running a buffer like this into your computer? http://www.till.com/articles/GuitarPreamp/ 1/4" female (or male) mono in, 1/8" male stereo out. It will make for a real cheap and easy quality direct box if you're experienced with soldering. The problem you're having is that a passive guitar will have a very high impedance, as high as 5 megohms, while the input on the sound card is likely around 10 kiloohms. It gets a lower impedance because the preamp increases gain considerably without voltage loss. If it's something you'd want to try but don't feel comfortable doing yourself, my email's korinastratkyle@hotmail.com, gimme a buzz... Edited February 25, 2005 by Kyle Cavanaugh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedoctor Posted February 25, 2005 Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 Yup, Silvertone, you need a preamp or a better A/D converter. Mud usually comes from the lower sampling rates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ansil Posted March 1, 2005 Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 Please tell me that half of you guys were just joking! I mean, if you just want to capture guitar-like sounds on a PC, then most of this advice will work just fine... but If you really want a good digital recording of what your guitar sounds like, don't waste your money on cheap fixes. $100 Absolute entry-level gear is stuff like the Line6 Guitar-Port, a USB interface that does a resonable job of turning the output of an electric guitar into digital audio. It won't sound like a recording studio, but it will sound a LOT better than plugging a $30 Radio Shack mic into a game-player's sound card.D~s ← i can' justify spending 100usd to turn my guitar into a half arsed line six pseudo sampler. if i wanted digital guitar i would buy a midi one and use my roland modules. its quite easy to make a nice usb powered guitar preamp with built in gain and overdrive even add a real tube highgain preamp to it. however i do agree you would need to have a better sound card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dugz Ink Posted March 1, 2005 Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 The best sound card for the least money (right now) is M-Audio's Audiophile 2496 PCI card. That's not a personal opinion; that tests and specs prove it. (Noise floor: -92dB... THD: 0.002%) The only drawback is that it does not have balanced inputs. However, the RCA jacks still provide better audio transfer than the cheesy 1/8" stereo jacks that are on the game-player sound cards. You would also need a seperate pre-amp, which is why I didn't put it on my list. BTW: the Line6 interface is not a MIDI interface, and it's not just a sampler. D~s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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