OK in my last post about different methods of recording a good guitar sound for the home studio we looked at micing up an amp, using a computer interface/DI unit and software guitar racks.
One of the major issues with using computerised guitar effects instead of your amp is the delay you get while the computer processes the sound and outputs it to your speakers or headhpones. This is known as latency and is a common enemy to many guitarists and sound engineers.
With all this technology available it’s quite possible to get some amazing sounds from your guitar and even make it sound like a different instrument altogether. But even with a very powerful computer there is still the issue of the slight delay from playing the note to hearing back. This makes it very hard for monitoring a track you’re playing along to or even just jamming away using the computer and software effects as an amp substitute.
Enter the ASIO
One way to get the benefit of computerised virtual effects and guitar racks – without having to suffer latency problems is to use an audio interface with stereo outputs that you plug into an amp and some external speakers. Using ASIO drivers your computer will output the sound to the interface which will then output to your amp and speakers (or headpones) with zero latency if you have a good interface.
On the left is my set up at home, you can see my beloved Fender Stratocaster, an old HiFi amp on the right, one of the speakers to its left and on top of that my audio/Midi interface which plugs into a USB port on my computer. Not to mention the obligatory headphones for those 4 am sessions.
Which Interface?
There are a few low budget and high quality audio to USB interfaces and DI (direct input) units you can get. To use this method however you need one with stereo outputs that will plug into an external amplifier and speakers. The one I use is the M-Audio Fast Track Pro which you can see reviewed here (opens in new window). As you can see from the picture below it has stereo outputs in between the effects loop ports on the right and the MIDI in and outs on the left:
To Amp or Not Amp?
Using this method you could do away with the need for an amp altogether. However many will tell you (and I’ll agree with them) that even the most advanced softare guitar effects and racks still cannot compare to the sound of a good amp – especially a vintage one if you’re going for that sound.
But what if you want that amp sound but can’t play it loud enough to get a good recording through a microphone?
Well stay tuned for the next part in this series where we’ll get the amp to output into the audio interface using DI instead of a microphone.
