[ohmanthisiscool]

Hey all I am staring to get interested in recording. As of now I ghetto record everything through my Crate practice amp into a mic onto my computer. I want to record onto the computer and have the files as mp3's. I dont know anything and was looking at Line 6 pods and toneports. From what I see the Podxt or the ub1 toneport seem like the best bet. I would also like to know if these can be used as stopboxes and I can treat them as a big distortion pedal and run the sounds though my clean channel on my amp for jamming purposes ( I jam alot alone and with friends). I feel dumb asking, but I need some advice so any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks

[techjsteele]

Your best bet is to buy a M-Audio Audiophile 2496 PCI sound card and a Line6 PodX3. The Audiophile is about $100 US new, and they work in Windows or Linux. The PodX3 has bass & guitar models, so you could use the same unit to record both if you so desired, and you could run the unit through your Crate. The Audiophile would give you very decent ASIO latency, plus midi & s-pdif capability.

[ohmanthisiscool]

Is the soundcard just so that my computers stock sound is upgraded? Will the recordings be mp3's that I could put onto a CD? Also the pod x3 is better than the toneports? Thanks

[techjsteele]

Originally Posted by ohmanthisiscool

Is the soundcard just so that my computers stock sound is upgraded?

No, it's primary use would be for audio recording. You could use your stock sound card for gaming, music playback, etc, and still use this for recording.

Originally Posted by ohmanthisiscool

Also the pod x3 is better than the toneports? Thanks

By far! Think of the PodX3 as a PodXT with all of the model packs included, plus dual amp capability. You get all of the recording power of the Toneport, with the flexibility of the PodXT plus some. You could use the PodX3 through your crate for jamming too.

[ohmanthisiscool]

Cool thanks. sorry to keep buggin but the soundfiles recorded from the Pod would be mps'3 that I could but onto a CD?

[techjsteele]

No, you need recording software for that. You could use Audacity with the LAME encoder (both are free), and you could export what you record to .mp3 format. Or, if you already have recording software, you could CDex (also free), to convert audio files to .mp3 if the recording software does not export audio to mp3.

[ohmanthisiscool]

I thought the pods came with software. I use audacity. how do I make them mp3's?

[techjsteele]

They come with patch editing software. As for mp3 export with Audacity, down this file, unzip it, and move the .dll file you unzipped into the plugins folder under C:\Program Files\Audacity. After you move the .dll file, you should be able to export audio in mp3 format under the file menu.

[ohmanthisiscool]

Big help, thanks. But pods let you direct line into the computer so I don't have to use a crappy webcam mic. and yes the quality is horrible BTW.

[techjsteele]

Originally Posted by ohmanthisiscool

Big help, thanks. But pods let you direct line into the computer so I don't have to use a crappy webcam mic. and yes the quality is horrible BTW.

True, pods do let you record direct using the USB port. But, the latency kinda sucks, so that's why I recommended the sound card as well. Also, if you decide to upgrade recording software, and you want to start using VSTi's, then the sound card becomes handy. Buy the PodX3 first, then buy the sound card as your recording needs grow.