Line 6 studio GX?

Discussion in 'Guitar Gear Talk Forum' started by marooned, Sep 1, 2010.

  1. marooned

    marooned New Member

    Just wanted to know if anyone on the forum has experience using this device and how good or bad it is. Basically, I was looking at doing some basic recording at home (guitar, bass, vocals) and was initially looking at the UX2. Then I came across this one for half the price on bajaao. Since I will only be recording only one thing at a time and will be using a Shure SM57 and not any condenser mic, I’m not sure if the UX2 would add that much value apart from maybe using the two inputs to record with 2 different mics (one for the amp, and one ambient). Right now priorities are sort of prohibitive for me to go for an overkill.

    I’ll mostly be recording acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, vocals and sometimes some percussion instrument. I might also want to mic the amp sometimes. Would welcome your thoughts on this and any other suggestions for a cheap and easy to use home recording solution.
     
  2. flood

    flood New Member

    head over to freq20.com and post your qiuestion there too, it's possible someone on those boards will have used it there, or know more about it.
     
  3. ambush

    ambush _RASTA_man_

    It'll do fine. You don't need to go for something targeted at guitarists, you can buy any audio interface and use free amp models or cracked softwares.
     
  4. ambush

    ambush _RASTA_man_

    Strike that. The GX doesn't have mic inputs?
    I that case how do you plan to record the mics. If its through the same input as your guitar input, it wont sound good. You would need deicated XLR input for the mic.
     
  5. rickkkyrich

    rickkkyrich Guest

    i have an M-Audio fast track MKII USB Audio Interface.. its a 2 input 2 output device... its really good for both mic and guitar for home recording... its expensive in India though i guess...
     
  6. ultrabot90

    ultrabot90 Like fishes need bicycles

    Rickkky, DO specify which Fast Track. Yeah your sig says it, but still. Careless talk costs lives, and a Fast Track Pro is the worst thing anyone can be mistaken into buying. ;)

    The UX2 is like a lifetime investment unless you plan to record drums later on. I'd buy one myself if I had a decent laptop. The trouble with the low end one is that the build quality suffers too. "Buy cheap, buy twice." UX2 is better value, better features, nice price...
     
  7. marooned

    marooned New Member

    @flood thanks for the forum tip, hadn't come across it before.

    @ ambush the GX uses the same input for instruments and mics. Is an XLR input necessary and how is it better?

    @ ultrabot have you used the UX2? even i'm more inclined towards it but was having second thoughts as i dont want to buy features that i never use.. like most of my current equipment, but it seems like a better deal from what you say..
     
  8. ultrabot90

    ultrabot90 Like fishes need bicycles

    Correction.

    Today I chanced to read an awful lot of damning stuff about UX2. =(

    Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but this is what I gathered -
    1. You can't process two instruments at the same time, only two mics or one instrument and one mic. Curses, I was thinking of one for using two guitars.
    2. It seems like an incredibly glitchy piece of kit (I knew it was too good to be true...decent zero-latency interface for 10k? No way.) from the hundreds of complaints about it. Line6 is aware of it and has put out many driver updates, but it hasn't worked out so far. Buzzes, pops, clicks, noise, problems with the cable or with the power or with the drivers...If computer modeling for guitars is so complex and has me working on the pc more than playing guitar...do not want, I'm happier with lugging an amp around.

    I got a feeling no interface under a specific price margin is actually worth buying...disillusioning. >_>

    I may be out of touch or something, though. I've never used an interface, or a laptop for processing,, I've simply been researching and looking for a budget one for quite a while. Others may present a more accurate picture. Freq20, as flood sez, is a better bet.
     
  9. marooned

    marooned New Member

    cool, been going through that forum for a bit now.. will post a query soon..
     
  10. ambush

    ambush _RASTA_man_

    If you have a PC you can go for a PCi interface. Get an m-audio 1010.
    If the GX can take mic input. its not a problem, you just need to buy the right cable.
     
  11. marooned

    marooned New Member

    @ambush dont have a PC, one laptop and a netbook..
     
  12. rickkkyrich

    rickkkyrich Guest

    dont use 1/4" connector for mic ... XLR is much better in terms of quality.. Go for UX2 it'll be really good.. i'd have bought the same if i had the budget..
     
  13. ambush

    ambush _RASTA_man_

    I checked out the GX and it doesn't seem to have a mic input. Only the guitar input.
     
  14. rickkkyrich

    rickkkyrich Guest

    well it has got one input port which can be used both for guitar and mic...one instrument at a time can be recorded.
     
  15. ultrabot90

    ultrabot90 Like fishes need bicycles

  16. ambush

    ambush _RASTA_man_

    Guitar inputs wont work for mics, unless you have a switching mechanism to change the preamp from DI to Mic-preamp when you plug in the mic.
     
  17. ambush

    ambush _RASTA_man_

    https://www.panasonic.com/business/toughbook/fully-rugged-laptop-toughbook-19.asp
     
  18. marooned

    marooned New Member

    @ ambush i think it mentions somewhere that it has 6 pre amps for vocals built in.. though i dont know if that's what you meant..

    @ ultrabot interesting, but much more than i'm looking at at the moment :)
     
  19. ultrabot90

    ultrabot90 Like fishes need bicycles

    Ambush, nice laptop man.

    OP, while you have a wide range of choices depending on your budget, keep a few things in mind.
    -It should be a Firewire (FW 800 is better than 400), PCI, PCIe, (PCI and PCIe are not the same) or USB 2.0. And never buy a USB 1.1 instead of USB 2.0 - if it says 'xyzinterface usb 2.0', then it's 2.0. If not mentioned, assume 1.1. If it's USB 2.0 they ALWAYS mention it (because it IS that much of an improvement).
    -Read lots of reviews, google for '<interface name> problems', see if it's drivers are stable, see if it suffers from bad quality in general - see what the community says.
    -Mic inputs (XLR - 3 pin) are for vocals. To use a guitar through that, you need a DI box.
    Instrument/line level inputs (TS/TRS/1/4") are for things like guitar and synths.
    Quite a few interfaces have a combo jack, in which you can stick in an XLR or a line level (TS/TRS*) jack.
    TS/TRS inputs also come in a Hi-Z variety, which means high impedance stuff like guitar will sound somewhat better through those.

    *Folks - If it says 'line in (balanced)' on an interface, does that mean one can't use a (guitar) TS in there?
     

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