Guitar - PC interfaces.

[MartinBarre]

My old Line 6 Toneport doesn't work with Windows 10 and it was time I got something a bit more modern anyway so...
I ordered a Scarlett Solo, which is the little brother of the best selling 2i2 and 6i6, but I'm scratching my head here. Why would a guy recording himself in his bedroom need more than one input and output? I had a look on the net and all I can see is people saying "You might want to record more than one instrument at a time eventually, so get the most inputs as you can."
WTF? I don't get it. Who plays more than one instrument at a time? Even Michael Angelo Batio didn't play a guitar and a bass at the same time. Why the hell would you anyway?

Clearly, I'm missing the point here so can someone explain it to me?

BTW anyone got any of the Scarlett interfaces? The good thing about the Toneport was the fact it came with different amp models, pedals and effects and so on so you could just plug in your earphones and sound like whoever you wanted without any hassle. I'm hoping the Scarlett has something similar (better, given it's so much newer).

[Newc]

I think they mean people that might have friends who play, and at least one other could record a track while you were also.

I guess the concept of multi-tracking escapes them.


However, in defense of multiple inputs, you can run one guitar through multiple paths into the interface to save time double-tracking. One miked amp, a rack preamp, probably fed back out of the interface into an fx unit, plus a dry/clean channel (assuming of course you have a suitable signal splitting unit like a Switchblade), then all 4 input signals are routed to separate tracks at once.


Or I dunno, maybe sing and play guitar at the same time running to two different tracks. You'd have one input for vocals and one for the guitar, though they'd both bleed over. Maybe a 3rd to catch the room.

[javert]

Or maybe you simply have several things hooked up even though you only use one at the time.

If you're mic'ing up your cabs, you could of course use several mics.

[MartinBarre]

Hmm. I prefer double tracking "properly", by playing the same part twice as it always comes out slightly differently. Doing it with one performance never sounds as good IMO.

My wee Toneport was the one that only had one input and it did everything I ever wanted it to so hopefully this turns out to be the same.

[MartinBarre]

If you're mic'ing up your cabs, you could of course use several mics.

That's a fair point, yeah. Or if you were recording a full band playing live then you might want a few mics around the room. I can't believe everyone buying these things are actually doing that though, they must be buying the bigger units because, like me, they don't have clue what the deal is so get the extra inputs in case they ever need them.

[toejam]

I still use my Toneport UX1, seems to work fine with Windows 10 for me.

[rjohnstone]

I have an M-Box Delta 44 (4 port) and use all 4 during recording.
The ports are mono, so I need two for stereo recording.
Guitar on port 1/2 and drum machine on 3/4.

[VitaminG]

like Newc said, you might record vocals & an instrument at the same time. Or if you have a buddy over you can both track guitars or guitar/bass at the same time. If you're recording drums, you might have 8 mics up

[MartinBarre]

I still use my Toneport UX1, seems to work fine with Windows 10 for me.

Have you tried playing along to anything? I could get the guitar to sound alright but when I tried playing any songs to jam to they wouldn't work. Had a look on the net and apparently it's a known fault.
Really pissing me off too, I'm watching some live Satch stuff on my Xbox One and really feel like jamming!

[toejam]

No, haven't tried playing to anything. I just played for like five minutes just to see if it worked. I'll have to mess around with it some more later.

[MartinBarre]

Alright, got the Scarlett Solo installed. It didn't come with any guitar amp sims or anything so I downloaded Amplitube Custom Shop (which is free unless you want to buy extra effects and stuff). Will give it a go later on.

I really liked the Toneport - it could be used for practicing by playing songs through it - you could even loop sections which I found really helpful when learning a solo or whatever.

[BayRocker]

I use two ins for recording my stereo rig. One channel is dry, the other with effects. Then I can decide how to mix it later on. Gives me options. As far as many more ins, easy...drums.

[Hellbat]

11 rack is a good inexpensive option for interface, with the bonus of doing some modeling in hardware and potentially coming with pro-tools.

[MartinBarre]

I got the Scarlett Solo setup tonight and finally got Amplitube to work with it and Ableton Live Lite. Sounds alright. No better than the old Toneport did, and it's more hassle and doesn't have the option to jam along with any music you have on your harddrive. That's progress? Why did Line 6 stop making those things?!

[toejam]

Eh, I just tried playing along, but my Toneport wouldn't allow me to upload any songs from CD or any other music files on my computer. That's a bummer. Damn Windows 10!