Hi everyone. It is my birthday here this may 22nd, and I am going be the big 18!!! :D Also my graduation of high school is June 3rd. So as you can imagine, I am recieving quite a hefty amount of cash & goodies. Well, I have been purchasing quite a few things latley.
I just bought myself a Boss GT-8 Guitar Effects Board. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: I also picked up a Fender Squire Affinity Strat with a humbucker instead of a single on the bridge. The main point of the Affinity Strat is so I can scallop the fret board. See, my main two guitars can't be scalloped. The jackson has shark fin's, and the Schecter C-1 Has Vine Of Life Inlay on every fret marker. I started scalloping my girlfriends little classical, but it had plastic edges along the fretboard.... so it all cracked to hell ect... But this Fender Squire seems to be coming out pretty nicely!! I'd take some pics of all my new toys, but I dont have my camera right now. The only obvious difference I can see between this 100$ used squire to my USA Highway 1 I used to have is a cheaper looking bridge, toggle switch, volume/tone knobs. Other then that, this thing is practically a strat. It plays pretty good for something I traded a Boss DD-3 Delay pedal and 28$ for. 8) Thats right, I gave the guy a DD-3 Delay, and about 30$. Let me walk out with it, it is pristine. Great guitar to scallop for fun.. :twisted:
Anyways, enough.
Since I bought this new Boss GT-8 I have been completly and utterly drowning in effects. This thing REALLY is a MEAN machine. It is absolutley RIDICULOUS what comes on this GT-8, and how MUCH pure CASH it would cost to replicate its possibilites seperatly.
Ive noticed this thing sounds ABSOLUTLEY fantastic STRAIGHT into my Sennheiser headphones. Much Better then through the 4X12 5150 Im using. Both have there seperate qualities, but running the guitar straight through the GT-8 into my headphones is pure bliss. Its like listening to a CD that you can virtually CHANGE any second you please.
So, Im assuming that running the guitar through the GT-8 into the headphones, would be about the same as running the guitar through the GT-8 into reaper. Ive been using reaper successfully for about 2 yrs now, and couldnt be happier.
However, my Sound Blaster live 6.1 Sound Card that was my work horse for those 2 years, has officailly broken. The mic input on it split, and it wont record without crackling/bad hum. So not only do I need a new sound card/midi device, but I also need one that will SUPPORT Digital OUT coming from the GT-8. Right now I am using a Behringer Eurorack UB802 Mixer as my interface, live wire patch cables, running into a radio shack adapter into my sound blaster live card. But, that set-up is now pointless as I am using a totally different style of hookups. I am pretty un-educated with recording/engineering smarts but I know my basics. However I am coming here looking for an opinion on what exactly I need to purchase that will benefit me in the following:
-Must allow me to record on my laptop & OR Home PC through reaper with no hassles
-Must be able to accept the Digital Out from the GT-8, and run it through the ____________ into the pc/laptop.
Can my mixer work?? Can I just run a digital out from the GT-8 to the UB802, and continue to use a sound card through the PCI?? But in that case, I wont be able to plug n play between laptop and pc. I hear high quality sound card's are obsolete in the recording world. I'd basically just like to be able to directly record from my GT-8 to reaper on my pc OR laptop. Now, reguardless of anything, my soundblaster card still WONT record without fuzz/hum. So I need to replace it if I am going to continue to use my patch/behringer mixer setup.
I am very VERY confused about the whole thing. Please someone just give me a suggestion or two on a PCI Sound Card, or some type of device that allows me to record the GT-8 directly to reaper on either the laptop or PC. With decent quality, but nothing too expensive, Id like to keep with what I have but Idont know what is best.
Thanks for your ideas, Ive got about 2 days to make a full decision.
Thanks
MM
Sing Me A Song Your a Singer, Do me a wrong, your a bringer of evil. - Dio
You could get an external USB soundcard like this. It doesn't have the digital in, but you may be able to find one that does. Since it's USB, you can move it easily to whichever computer you are using at the moment.
Doesn't the GT-8 have a USB output? If you can afford better than the Behr.... stuff, try to avoid it. Check out the M-Audio FastTrack. For $100 it's a pretty decent unit. M-Audio has a history of pretty stable drivers and decent customer support. Since they have been bought out by AVID they have been able to incorporate some improvements. Some better quality replacement parts. Also they are compatible with ProTools M-powered. A nice feature if you can learn the software.
Hey first off:
H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y !!!! :P :P :shock: :shock: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
GRATS on your Graduation !!!!
And Grats on getting a GT-8!!! WOOT!! Don't you LOVE IT?
A few things first:
Sorry for the long post......I'm trying to help as best I know how..... :)
NO THE GT8 Doesn't have USB. The GT10 does not the Eight! You can buy Midi to USB cables though which I would recommend.
GT8 Resource if you haven't found it yet is
http://www.bossgtcentral.com
READ GT8 PRIMER Here: http://www.bossgtcentral.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2946
Pay attention to the "Output Select" section, it will make a huge difference when plugging into an amp.
Also there's a guy "TJAY" that's created a DVD (for a nominal cost) that will help immensely !!
I've tried to follow what you've done and how you want to do it. Let me share my hook up with you and it may make some sense for you.
My first rig with this thing was:
Guitar > GT8 > Phones Out (via stereo/headphone extension cable)> PC LINE IN > Out via my 5.1 speaker system connected to PC
This setup works perfectly and I had it like that for 2 years. No issues :)
I could jam with MP3 Backing Tracks no problem. I only had to adjust levels using Windows "Mixer" to get volumes leveled out. Also I could record with Audacity and hear myself no problem.
Then I was GAS'n for a pair of true FRFR Speakers so I bought a pair of Beheringer Truth B2031A Active Monitors.
And I got a Little 10 channel Mixer.
Currently my rig is this:
GT8 (L/R Outs) to MIXER (With L on Ch 1 and R on Ch 2 Panned Hard L/R Respectively)(though I do mess with the Panning a little bit) > MAIN outs > to Monitors respectively.
PC Recording and Play back via Monitors:
Recording: GT8 (Phones Out) > Line IN on my PC
Playback: Speaker out from PC > Stereo Split "Y" Connection > Two instrument 1/4 Cables > Stereo Track on Mixer (L/R on same Track)> Out through MAIN> to Monitors
I'm not using my PC's 5.1 anymore, instead its hooked up to the mixer via "Playback" above. I decided to do this because I didn't want the BT/recording come through the PC speakers and Guitar coming through the monitors separately. I wanted both through the monitors.
I've never used the SPDIF Connection and don't think I need to really at this point.
LIVE (with guitar AMP):
I change the GT8's "OUTPUT SELECT" to Combo and plug into my amp's loop and/or I'll run the 4CM depending on how motivated I'm feeling.
OR- I don't need an Amp at all. I'll just plug into the House Board/Mixer and run through their Sound System ! :)
I do this at Church and it works great.
Again Happy Birthday and welcome to the GT8 Clan :)
Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing. - Wernher Von Braun (1912-1977)
Doesn't the GT-8 have a USB output? If you can afford better than the Behr.... stuff, try to avoid it. Check out the M-Audio FastTrack. For $100 it's a pretty decent unit.
That's on my list. I only bought the Behr because it was dirt cheap and I wasn't sure if that was the path I wanted to go. I have a mixer w/ USB output (Alesis), but the USB connection died after 3 months. I got buy for awhile w/ the standard 1/4" to 1/8" cables for phone out and audio in, but it just wasn't optimal.
I do have to say, the Behr unit has been bullet proof for 5 or 6 months. The only issue I have is the volume level. It is very low, so you have to turn your PC volume way up.
Hi JWMartin
You should still be able to use the UB802 Mixer.
Connect the GT8 output jacks L and R (6.3 mm= 1/4"jacks) to a line in Channel on the mixer with two 1/4" mono patch cables.
I am doing so with my V-Amp 2 guitar effect unit.
But I don´t understand that you have problems with low output level from main out=tape out on the UB802.
My problem is the opposite. The nominal line output level on the UB802 should be higher than the nominal input line level on PC soundcard Line input. I have put a level reduction potentiometer between the Mixer main out and soundcard line in to compensate for that difference. When the 0dB LED flashes on the mixer i also want to measure 0dB input level in the recording SW.
But I always set the Windows input line level volume control at maximum and then adjust the output level in the mixer . Main mix level knob is normally set to 0 dB.
/Kalle
Tanglewood TW28STE (Shadow P7 EQ) acoustic
Yamaha RGX 320FZ electric guitar/Egnater Tweaker 15 amp.
Yamaha RBX 270 bass/Laney DB 150 amp.
http://www.soundclick.com/kalleinsweden
Yep, I still use the USB mixer every day, just can't use the USB out. I use the Main Mix out to go into the USB soundcard.
I have to turn Windows volume all the way up as well and control the volume at the mixer. The problem I've run into is the volume level will sound fine on playback. I'll render an .mp3 in Reaper, bring it into iTunes and it still sounds fine. If I listen to it on another system (at work, on my iPod, etc.) it is noticeably quieter than other songs.
