Question Bass to PC/Mac??

[Grand Wazoo]

To all you knwoledgeable audiophiles out there, please advice me:

I would like to be able to connect a straight 1/4" jack to a pc or mac possibly a device that connects via usb, for recording / practicing purpose, I've got a Cubase software but no means of plugging my bass or guitar in the computer, any idea what I can use? Can you recommend something you have experience with?

Many thanks in advance

 

[Duarte]

At home I use an Mbox into protools on my PC, and at school on the Macs we use an M-audio DI box into Logic. Both are good, and M-audio stuff is very cheap. An Mbox however will set you back about £200.

Both use USB and have different multiple inputs, and phantom power.

 

[Frantic Slayer]

To all you knwoledgeable audiophiles out there, please advice me:

I would like to be able to connect a straight 1/4" jack to a pc or mac possibly a device that connects via usb, for recording / practicing purpose, I've got a Cubase software but no means of plugging my bass or guitar in the computer, any idea what I can use? Can you recommend something you have experience with?

Many thanks in advance

well Santa just gave me a Pod Studio UX2 for Christmas and it works like a charm! I love it! Im using on a mac now with garage band, Im sure it works with just about any program though.

heres the link:
Line 6 - POD Studio

 

[Grand Wazoo]

well Santa just gave me a Pod Studio UX2 for Christmas and it works like a charm! I love it! Im using on a mac now with garage band, Im sure it works with just about any program though.

heres the link:
Line 6 - POD Studio

Great!! Thanks to both, I fancy this Line 6 one, please tell me does it work well with your SR5? i.e. No unwanted distortion, overtones and such? It says there you can select 5 simulated bass amps and cabs, have you tried them and are they any good?

Thanks for your reply.

Fran

 

[the unrepentant]

Yeah, those line 6 ones are supposed to be really good. M-audio or alesis USB interfaces are good too.

 

[UKFIN]

Starting out i'd use the line 6 tone port . It works great with garageband/protools.

Our demo was recorded that way with great success. Tone ports are relatively inexpensive

 

[adouglas]

Silent practice is great. I do long to make real noise from time to time, but the wife and neighbors are a lot happier when I don't.

I use an IK Media Stealth Plug. Simple, gets the job done and it comes with a plug-in for recording. Fairly cheap, too. The only hardware is a cord, so it's easy to keep it in your case or gig bag.

The interface is a bit too gimmicky for my tastes (they insisted on making everything look like an amplifier), but it works okay.

The software can play MP3s so you can practice easily with headphones. I don't use that feature, though...I set up a practice playlist in iTunes and listen to that while playing through the Stealth Plug.

I'm a fan of Line6 gear too...but a caveat based on owning both a BassPOD xt and a POD LiveXT. To really get the most out of this stuff, take the time and effort to really dig into it and learn how it works. As is true of most electronic toys for musicians, the POD series is loaded with a pile of preset sounds that are fun to play with in the store and for about five minutes after you get home, but are pretty much useless in the real world.

You'll find usable sounds, but if you learn how to roll your own presets the things are really awesome.


Additional caveat... I have no experience with the Tone Port.

 

[Grand Wazoo]

Thanks for all your replies I have jumped in head first and bought a Line 6 Pod Studio UX2

They will deliver it Monday

coooool

 

[Bass Control]

I use an M-Audio MobilePre into Logic or GarageBand when I'm at home. The band uses M-Audio's ProFire2626 into Logic for recording.

 

[fly]

M-audio or alesis USB interfaces are good too.

i use both of these......and they are sweet..........

 

[oli@bass]

I use an IK Media Stealth Plug. Simple, gets the job done and it comes with a plug-in for recording. Fairly cheap, too. The only hardware is a cord, so it's easy to keep it in your case or gig bag.

+1

However, I found the sound quality a bit lacking, compared to a Fasttrack Pro I had borrowed from a friend. But as adouglas said, the Stealth Plug gets the job done.

 

[the unrepentant]

Thanks for all your replies I have jumped in head first and bought a Line 6 Pod Studio UX2

They will deliver it Monday

coooool

Awesome, i'm really GASing for one of them! My birthday is on sunday though and i may have some sort of interface waiting for me, i'm not sure yet.
A UX8 would be awesome though

 

[Hellboy]

If you´re on Mac and are planning on using Logic, I´d highly recommend a Apogee Duet sound card.

Apogee Electronics: Products: Duet

Best sound card out there. It has the best A/D - D/A converers on the market. Encredible sound quality. Beats everything in this price range. Even MOTU and other high priced devices. I use Apogee Symphony/AD-16X/DA-16X sound cards in the studio. Same converters in a Duet sound card. Very, very good. Pro quality. Sorry if I sound too positive but these things are top of the line and the Duet is affordable.

Sincerely//Jan

 

[Grand Wazoo]

If you´re on Mac and are planning on using Logic, I´d highly recommend a Apogee Duet sound card.

Apogee Electronics: Products: Duet

Best sound card out there. It has the best A/D - D/A converers on the market. Encredible sound quality. Beats everything in this price range. Even MOTU and other high priced devices. I use Apogee Symphony/AD-16X/DA-16X sound cards in the studio. Same converters in a Duet sound card. Very, very good. Pro quality. Sorry if I sound too positive but these things are top of the line and the Duet is affordable.

Sincerely//Jan

Hey Jan, many many thanks for your suggestion, I personally don't have a mac but a pc, my son has a mac but its full of muck, i.e. he downloads so much crap from free game websites and stuff that his computer is virus ridden as most kid's pc's are these days. But thanks a lot for the advice.

 

[Grand Wazoo]

It's here!! Arrived at work this morning!!!

A very nice surprised when I got to work this morning was to find a parcel on my desk... and there it was:

My new Line 6 Pod studio UX2 all ready to rock and roll

 

[strummer]

Cool!

This thread inspired me, so I went and got myself a Tascam US-122L, a sound card for USB that seems reasonably competent, and I got Cubase with it. Then, if I can just start working on it I'll talk to Jan about some serious computer studio stuff

 

[Frantic Slayer]

wow awesome! I would like to say 2 things

1 im glad you got the Pod studio its great! the bass amps and cabs it comes with are great, and you can always download more using Line 6 Monkey (i think thats what its called) they have a bass expansion pack.

and

2 if you have a mac try playing along to the apple loops for practice, it tells you what key the loop is in, and i think it will even tell you if its recommend for a major scale/mode, or a minor scale/mode, or both. Have fun!