I'm in need of a good quality audio interface so I can record guitar and I need some suggestions. I've checked out maybe a handful of different ones and I'm liking the features of the Guitar Rig Kontrol (hardware component). Has anybody here used it before and can you recommend any others that provide awesome results?

Guitar Rig is excellent, but to fully use it like a processor you'll need the Rig Kontrol too(which i don't have). the effects are impossibly versatile, and they sound all good apart from the wah pedals, but overall it's an incredible program, i don't really know what i would do without it. it's my only platform for recording or playing on my electric guitar. check out my recordings thread here in the Musicians corner, every guitar line you can hear there is done through my jackhammer pedal straight to guitar rig and i dare to say it sounds far better and clearer than many, MANY albums from the 80-90's.

Written by Valentin B on 11.04.2010 at 18:57

Guitar Rig is excellent, but to fully use it like a processor you'll need the Rig Kontrol too(which i don't have). the effects are impossibly versatile, and they sound all good apart from the wah pedals, but overall it's an incredible program, i don't really know what i would do without it. it's my only platform for recording or playing on my electric guitar. check out my recordings thread here in the Musicians corner, every guitar line you can hear there is done through my jackhammer pedal straight to guitar rig and i dare to say it sounds far better and clearer than many, MANY albums from the 80-90's.

First of all, nice recordings man and the quality is really good too!

There's a few videos of people on YouTube demo-ing the Guitar Rig Kontrol and when set up properly it sounds awesome. Since you're recording via an interface, have you had the issue of Guitar Rig buzzing and hissing? I've had this myself and have come across various forums where people claim to have the same problem. The only way for me to quieten it down is to drop a noise reduction module on top of the rack and set it between 12 to 1 o'clock but this affects the sustain. I'm thinking it might be the fact that I'm playing it using a cheap guitar and cable and that I'm connecting it to my mic input as many others claim that they have no such problems.

Written by Archetype on 12.04.2010 at 08:32

Written by Valentin B on 11.04.2010 at 18:57

Guitar Rig is excellent, but to fully use it like a processor you'll need the Rig Kontrol too(which i don't have). the effects are impossibly versatile, and they sound all good apart from the wah pedals, but overall it's an incredible program, i don't really know what i would do without it. it's my only platform for recording or playing on my electric guitar. check out my recordings thread here in the Musicians corner, every guitar line you can hear there is done through my jackhammer pedal straight to guitar rig and i dare to say it sounds far better and clearer than many, MANY albums from the 80-90's.

First of all, nice recordings man and the quality is really good too!

There's a few videos of people on YouTube demo-ing the Guitar Rig Kontrol and when set up properly it sounds awesome. Since you're recording via an interface, have you had the issue of Guitar Rig buzzing and hissing? I've had this myself and have come across various forums where people claim to have the same problem. The only way for me to quieten it down is to drop a noise reduction module on top of the rack and set it between 12 to 1 o'clock but this affects the sustain. I'm thinking it might be the fact that I'm playing it using a cheap guitar and cable and that I'm connecting it to my mic input as many others claim that they have no such problems.

thanks for your comments on my demos

as for the hissing, do you have a line-in input? i use it through that and it works fine for me, the only problem is that i get a bit of hiss when i turn the gain up a lot(on the pedal). the fact is, you're gonna have to live with a bit of hiss because completely without hiss you're gonna have far less sustain. also, when recording clean parts make sure you turn the noise gate thing off, it sounds much more natural without it.

as for cheap guitars/cables, i have lower middle range cables, a lower middle range guitar and a mid-range distortion pedal, and it sounds just fine(given, i know how to work with the program since it's the only thing i've been using at home for my electrics for like 2.5 years)

i'd say that even with a cheap guitar like you have(though mine isn't a lot better) you can get a great sound if you 'know where to massage it' if you know what i mean.

Written by Valentin B on 12.04.2010 at 09:31

thanks for your comments on my demos

as for the hissing, do you have a line-in input? i use it through that and it works fine for me, the only problem is that i get a bit of hiss when i turn the gain up a lot(on the pedal). the fact is, you're gonna have to live with a bit of hiss because completely without hiss you're gonna have far less sustain. also, when recording clean parts make sure you turn the noise gate thing off, it sounds much more natural without it.

as for cheap guitars/cables, i have lower middle range cables, a lower middle range guitar and a mid-range distortion pedal, and it sounds just fine(given, i know how to work with the program since it's the only thing i've been using at home for my electrics for like 2.5 years)

i'd say that even with a cheap guitar like you have(though mine isn't a lot better) you can get a great sound if you 'know where to massage it' if you know what i mean.

I do have a line-in input but for some reason I can't get any signal on it. I checked the volume and recording settings etc. but I just get some quiet static.
I think I'll just continue playing around with it like this until I can afford the Kontrol interface. Thanks for the help and advice man!

Exhumed, if you can avoid doing direct in then do it. I suppose it comes down to a few things though, how much noise you can make, how much money you have and what kind of amp you have (or how happy you are with your amp, which is actually more important than how "good" it is).

You could go the Tone Port/other guitar direct line in method with amp modeling and all the other extra digital effects or, you could take a more analog approach. There are some decent mixers out there that are also an interface, the two more affordable options being Behringer (cheapest) and then Yamaha - perhaps more though. Both Behringer and Yamaha offer mixers with a USB out put direct to your computer, enabling you to utilize one mic or more depending, some even have built in effects ie: reverb, delay, flanger and so on. I believe these range from about $150 up to $300 US (roughly). Of course, you could go a slightly different route if you have an ok sound card, and connect a line from a regular mixer (be it a cheap Mackie, Behringer, Yamaha or even an old 4 track cassette mixer) that only has a few channels and connect it to your sound card via a 1/4" to 1/8" converter (they're pretty cheap) and record through a mic that way. The latter being of lessor quality but, still nice and organic.
If you don't have a mic, you'd definitely want to get one of those, one dynamic will do it for guitars and vocals when recorded seperately. Hell, a dynamic will even work on a bass guitar but, it won't capture all that nice low end like a bass mic would but it's not bad, and some people even get away with using say, a single Shure SM57 as a strategically placed overhead to capture an entire drum set with yielding good results.

The possibilities are vast man, it all depends on what you want. I started out with a Tone Port GX to record guitar and the odd vocal takes but, I just wasn't satisfied with digital amp modeling, and even with programs like Guitar Rig 3 and Amped 2, it just doesn't compare to the real thing. Amp modeling on good amps like VOX that have a preamp are a different story.