2x2 Audio Interface
Arleen Jerdee
Right now is focus is going to get the desktop app up to speed, as that helps to get more eyes on the project and more easily and directly involve the community.
Once that works well we want to come back to 1.14 release development again, we will for sure at least try to get the USB Audio stuff working for it.
PS: The audio-bridge project includes a plugin variant too, for being able to use USB Audio cards through a MOD unit. At least there the audio packet interval is steady, the only issue remains the USB driver quality on Dwarf which also includes the higher-than-desirable CPU usage.
Very interesting. Stable USB audio/midi could be really great for integrating with DAW, web streaming, backing tracks, recording with less noise. That could be really useful. I am still using that experimental audio even if it is unstable.
Modern audio interfaces connect to your desktop or laptop computer via a USB or Thunderbolt port (some older ones use different ports, such as PCI, PCIe or Ethernet). Most interfaces work with both Mac and Windows systems; many are also compatible with Apple iOS devices, although that usually requires an additional adapter.
Steinberg audio interfaces use the USB 2.0 connectivity format, which is supported by virtually all computers. Note that you can use a USB 2.0 interface on computers equipped with the newer USB 3.0 format because USB is backward compatible.
Some basic interfaces provide this feature via a simple switch that allows you to choose between the direct signal and the output of your host application, but in more sophisticated interfaces, such as the Steinberg UR22C, direct monitoring is implemented with a mix control knob that lets you adjust the ratio of the direct sound to the sound returning from the computer. Advanced models like the Steinberg UR-RT series even have digital processing (DSP) built in; all Steinberg interfaces offering this feature come with an app called DSPMixFx for controlling monitoring and adding effects from your computer, iPhone or iPad.
The Steinberg UR-RT2 and UR-RT4 interfaces take things up a notch thanks to the addition of Rupert Neve Designs transformers that can be switched into the signal path on every mic channel. A major designer of mixing consoles for more than half a century, Rupert Neve products are renowned throughout the recording industry. With these interfaces, you can add the legendary Neve sound to your home recordings.
When using the Line 6 POD HD 500X to record straight into your DAW, is an audio interface needed? Sorry this might sound like a stupid question but I recently watched Misha's video on how to record guitar. l saw he used a AxeFX2 for his tones and it seems like it was connected to his Focusrite 2i2 because he was testing it for clipping.
I'm new to audio production so I don't know how the connections really work. I just bought that same audio interface because thats what I thought was needed for guitar recording. I have seen a few studio recording blogs where people use it as well.
Currently I have my guitar plugged into the POD and my POD connected to my computer via USB. So far I don't have any latency and it actually records. Here is how I have it set up:
So my question is if I need to get the POD to the audio interface to the DAW. If not are audio interfaces mainly used to record with mics? I noticed you can [plug your guitar jack into them], so I'm guessing you can record directly into your DAW while having some kind of guitar tone/amp VST added or something like that.
So my question is if I need to get the POD to the audio interface to the DAW. If not are audio interfaces mainly used to record with mics? I noticed you can [plug your guitar jack into them], so I'm guessing you can record directly into your DAW while having some kind of guitar tone/amp VST added or something like that.
Most audio interfaces have input for low z (guitar/bass/etc...) and mic inputs. When they are used with a guitar typically you use a VST or other type of software solution for modeling the guitar amp/pedals etc.... so the POD covers those in one box. The stand alone audio usually also handle most any type of mic so you can mic a cab or vocal etc.... So they are more a bit more extensive for recording say an entire band in tracks but for just guitar the POD works fine. I have both for different purposes. Last time I did some recording with my band, I used my Tascam inteface for vocals and micing up a drum set but used a POD X3 for Bass guitar and my POD HD500x for guitars going straight from the POD to the DAW in both cases.
Even though the POD will work perfectly fine as an audio interface I choose to have a separate audio interface (MOTO UltraLite MK3) that I plug my POD into via XLR the same as I would any recording studio board or mixer. Typically stand alone audio interfaces have a few more features that allow for better control over both recording and playback, more appropriate connections for studio monitors, not to mention better support from the manufacturer since that's their main business. More importantly I don't have to worry if I take the POD somewhere for a gig or practice and it's out of the house for a few days. The sound system on the computer still works the same as always.
When using the POD as interface, it converts the analog guitar signal to digital (A/D) for processing before sending it to the DAW. It converts it back to analog when the signal is sent out the 1/4" or XLR sends (D/A). Something is lost in the conversion (A/D) and re-conversion (D/A). If this were not true enough for MANY people's ears, there would be no analog vs digital effects debate. So, it stands to reason that a further conversion (analog guitar to digital, digitally processed guitar to analog before out the 1/4"/XLR cable to another (not the POD) audio interface where it's converted back to digital for the DAW) would be one more generation of degradation of the original analog guitar signal.
My M-Audio Fast track Pro has a SPDIF input. When I took the POD's SPDIF Out to the interface that way, it removed that second generation of conversion, and SEEMED (to my ears) to be more "lively" than when using the XLR to the interface, Using the POD as interface has the same effect as using the SPDIF send (to my ears), thus (seemingly) confirming my thoughts about the second A/D-D/A conversion.
I think people can convince their ears of anything that want to hear, whether it's logical or not. Mathmatically speaking, once you convert analog to it's digital representation, the uncoversion won't won't restore it to the pure analog representation. Rather it will be the analog representation of the digital source. Any additional conversion to digital of that analog representation will simply reproduce the same 1's and 0's of the original digital source representation since digital operations are commutative in nature as long as the sampling rate remains the same.
The whole idea is the biggest source of signal degradation in this system are the data converters so you want to go thru as few of those as possible. It's probably true, but whether or not you can hear the difference is another issue. I figure if it's true then why go there, so I use SPDIF and only go thru one set of conversions.
You said you have a rack interface which you use WITH the POD via USB? I have a Tascam 16x08 and with my DAWs (Sonar and LIVE) it's either or. Are you running them as an Aggregate Device on an Apple system or....?
You mentioned bit depth changes as a possible modifier of the digital signal. Subtle though it may be to the human ear, wouldn't the analog cable (quality and/or length) from the POD to the interface also influence the result of the second conversion vs the first? Might this be a reason why the POD includes the SPDIF option?
Theoretically any analog signal is subject to interference and potential loss of signal over long distances, so it's certainly a possibility. Low impedence XLR connections are less subject to such things, but the potential is always there. That's the reason for SPDIF. If it were that significant a possibility however, SPDIF would be a much more prominent connection than it is in actual usage and you'd likely see PA loudspeakers for live performances using them. But in reality and actual usage in the industry it's not considered very significant so that's why you don't see it all that often.
You do see it used more often in recording environments however due to the potential for electromagnetic interference caused by equipment. Even there you don't see it used that often in my experience. Granted in a home environment it could be useful in that a fair amount of homes have electromagnetic anomoles due to dirty or unconditioned power. That's one of the reasons I'm a big advocate of using power conditioners for equipment used for recording in home studios. If it were to be a real problem you'd likely hear more than just a loss of signal. More likely you'd hear slight buzzing, humming or some other noise artifact. That's what typically causes someone to opt for SPDIF instead of analog connections.
As I mentioned in my post sound quality isn't a consideration in my case for why I opt to use a separate audio interface. It has more to do with configurability of the preamp stage for recording as well as the ability to not have to have the POD connected into the computer in order to have sound through my monitors or headsets. Very often when I'm mixing or mastering I don't have any need for the POD and I'd rather it be free for other uses. It's also comes in handy when I'm working out arrangements while I play back tracks from the DAW and work out guitar parts to them on the POD. I let the audio interface manage the sound coming from the DAW and from the POD leaving the POD free to be dedicated to processing the patches with no risk of latency.