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#278806 - 31/07/10 01:32 PM
guitar-usb cables? ey?
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Bobbb
Be Nice (I'm New!)
Registered: 30/05/06
Posts: 19
Loc: the north
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So I'm googling about for ways to record my guitar on my computer good since just plugging it into the sound card sucks.
I come across several instances of this sort of thing:
http://www.lindy.co.uk/usb-guitar-cable-5m/6104.html
just a guitar to usb cable.
But...then I come across actual audio interfaces...and they seem to cost 50 quid.
So I'm wondering. Are these cables any good whatsoever? Or would I need to be spending big money for a proper interface to record my guitar on my computer?
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#278809 - 31/07/10 05:07 PM
Re: guitar-usb cables? ey?
[Re: Bobbb]
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Gilles C.
Professional Forumite!
Registered: 09/04/10
Posts: 409
Loc: Dunstable, UK
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USB's slow so you're bound to get noticeable latency; audio delay if you like. If you're using a desktop PC, get a decent PCI audio interface with an ASIO driver. I use a Terratec DMX 6-Fire in a WinXP machine (see below) but you may find something cheaper. I also had an E-mu 0202 once, which was OK for a USB device. The latter comes with decent bundled multi-track recording software such as Cubase LE and Sonar LE.
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#278811 - 01/08/10 07:06 AM
Re: guitar-usb cables? ey?
[Re: Gilles C.]
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Bobbb
Be Nice (I'm New!)
Registered: 30/05/06
Posts: 19
Loc: the north
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I'm not getting your meaning by audio delay. It takes time for what you play to record? As I wouldn't see bother with that, as long as it records.
Or it records bits at dodgy times?- two notes played together don't come together?
Would this simple usb wire allow for simple recording?
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#278812 - 01/08/10 08:39 AM
Re: guitar-usb cables? ey?
[Re: Bobbb]
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DaveBass
Old Timer
Registered: 30/10/02
Posts: 6423
Loc: The wilds of Surrey
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As Gilles says, latency means delay. If you play a note and it comes out of the speakers half a second later, that's severe latency, and it can prevent you from playing in time!
However, latency is always present to some extent. Since sound travels through air quite slowly, at a speed of roughly one foot per millisecond, even small distances can introduce significant latency. If you're standing 10 feet from your guitar amp, you'll be experiencing latency of about 10ms just due to that. So small amounts of latency are inevitable, and acceptable.
Unfortunately latency is additive, and any digital buffering adds to the time delay. A buffer is an area of memory which can be thought of as a pipeline: the signal is fed in at one end and comes out of the other end a while later. Buffers are needed for technical reasons; for instance a processor needs to do a number of different jobs and it has to keep swapping between them (even with multiple cores). Buffering then acts as a temporary store to prevent data loss. (An elastic pipeline!) Audio data loss typically shows itself as pops or crackles or break-up, so there's a tradeoff between sound quality and latency.
The USB connection itself should easily be fast enough to cope with audio. At 44,100 stereo samples per second and 16 bits (CD quality), a bandwidth of about 1.4Mb/s is needed. USB 2.0 is specified up to 480Mb/s, though it'll be a lot slower in practice, maybe only 50Mb/s, but that's ample for audio.
But you also need to take into account that the PC itself needs to handle the data flowing through its USB ports and it may not regard this as a very high priority. It has more important things to do! If there's a lot going on, your audio data can potentially sit in a buffer for some time before the processor gets around to dealing with it. Other interfaces, such as PCI and PCI Express are designed for much faster reaction times, so as Gilles says, it would be best to use an external soundcard with a PCI-type plugin. But they can be expensive.
I haven't used a USB guitar lead but one problem I can see is that there's no way of setting the level. If the design has a decent safety margin, so it can handle big signals without clipping, you'll effectively lose bits if your guitar puts out a low level. For instance if there's a 12dB margin, which is reasonable, this corresponds to a factor of 4, equivalent to 2 bits. Instead of 16-bit resolution you'll only be getting 14-bit, which is lower quality.
In general with technology you get what you pay for, and personally I'd be suspicious of the £20 USB guitar lead as "too good to be true". But you could try it and see!
Dave
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#278857 - 03/08/10 01:41 PM
Re: guitar-usb cables? ey?
[Re: Bobbb]
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The Tiggs
Professional Forumite!
Registered: 08/04/10
Posts: 355
Loc: Derby
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Most folks use a little box like a Line 6 Pod or a ALesis Io2. These plug into the USB which is well fast enough for single or dual channel audio input (provided you use the drivers (software) provided). Latency on multi-tracking is not a problem either since the boxes have zero latency (hardware) monitoring (check your chioce has this feature - its essential). Get a box 'cos your gonna want to adjust levels and plug a mic into it too!
Edited by The Tiggs (03/08/10 01:43 PM)
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#278966 - 07/08/10 08:54 AM
Re: guitar-usb cables? ey?
[Re: The Tiggs]
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Bobbb
Be Nice (I'm New!)
Registered: 30/05/06
Posts: 19
Loc: the north
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I'm not sure about fitting something into my computer. I do have a tower but fitting stuff to it is a pain, its in a hard to get to place.
I'll have to look into usb interfaces. What should I be looking for a decent cheap one in those?
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#278977 - 07/08/10 11:35 AM
Re: guitar-usb cables? ey?
[Re: Bobbb]
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Gilles C.
Professional Forumite!
Registered: 09/04/10
Posts: 409
Loc: Dunstable, UK
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Anything audio should run on an ASIO driver so make sure it comes with one. As far as I know, it'll give you minimal latency (see above posts). The Tiggs' suggestions make sense to me.
_________________________
Fender Telecaster Standard (MIM) Vintage V100HB (Les Paul style) £48 Squier SA-105 acoustic Behringer X V-Amp Marshall Valvestate 80V
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