Setup for recording

[torkolort]

Hi,

First let me say I have very little experience with pretty much all the technical aspects of musical equipment. Although I've been playing guitar for 7 years, unfortunately I do not have the patience or time to learn and understand how everything works. I am one of those guys who just want to plug in and play. This, together with the fact that I am very particular about what kind of sound I want, is not a very good combination...

I mainly play Dream Theater stuff which requires good sound. I've owned a Mesa Boogie Nomad which didn't do it at all. For a couple of years I've been using a Line 6 PodXT Live. It was better, but I was far from satisfied. When I saw and heard what the Axe-Fx could do I just had to buy it, although I knew it would be a technical challenge. I have just received the Axe-Fx and so far I'm really happy.

So, the only recording I've done earlier is through the PodXt, using Steinberg Cubase studio. My younger brother has more experience with all of this than me and he insists on buying a Mac and to use Pro Tools. I know he's right, but I'll have to wait as I cannot afford this at the moment. My question is, what do I need to record directly to my computer? Can I hook it up to the PodXt and use that as a recording device or do I need something else?

Since I am such a noob, I will probably be asking some weird questions here from time to time, so I apologize in advance
Thanks!

 

[godprobe]

First, congrats on the Axe and welcome to the forums!

Second... you're right -- a lack of patience and time combined with a bar set rather high is not a good combo. Ummm... good luck?

Third: http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm

A *slight* *smidgeon* more: nothing wrong with Cubase or ProTools. The XTL can be used as an interface, but it is not going to get you the quality you're after -- for that, you'll end up spending more money and I'll again refer you back to the Tweak's Guide linked above, particularly the section on audio interfaces.

 

[torkolort]

Thank you!

And there goes my life...I guess I just have to put myself together and start from scratch...oh well gl me!

 

[torchlord]

I suggest making the tweaking easier by going through all the presets on the axe, and if i found a preset that i liked the distortion on it i started with that as my bassline. Then you can go through and listen again flipping through each patch and find lets say a reverb on a patch that you like then go back to your destortion preset, then put a reverblock in your signal chaing. Then hit the recall button on the front of the axe, and go to the effect page, switch the location to the preset that you liked the reverb on, and then under the retrieve section scroll down and retrieve the reverb from that preset. This should speed things up.