software

Well, having just moved into an apartment I'm looking into a headphone capable practice amp. I was considering a Line 6 POD, as I've owned them before and know what they can do, but it looks like all the features I need and then some can be had via the Guitarport. So, GP owners, is it worth $100?

Guitarport = AWESOME!! I'm surprised the price tag is so low. After I got one I sold both my pod XT and Vox Tonelab. Sounds just as good, cheaper, and upgradable.

I think the guitarport is an excellent value. It is cheap and has very usable sounds. Latency can be an issue with a slower computer, but overall it rocks.

Mike

Check out my clips (link in sig), all guitars recorded through guitar port

Do you need a PC with a good soundcard to get the most out of Guitarport??

The Best 100 Bucks I ever spent ! A truck load of gear inside your PC.
You have to tweak it a lot to get your sounds, But there in there ! If you
A/B it with your Fav. tube amp it will come in 2nd, But I've fooled many
people with sharp ears. I say `Yay' !!

does it come with recording software, or do you have to buy that as well in order to lay down tracks. What about backing tracks?


Originally Posted by JimbojsrDo you need a PC with a good soundcard to get the most out of Guitarport??Connects through USB .


Originally Posted by beandipdoes it come with recording software, or do you have to buy that as well in order to lay down tracks. What about backing tracks?

There's a package (~$200) that comes with RiffTracker. Otherwise, you need to buy software.
Overall, I think it's pretty cool. One thing to keep in mind is that you can use the GuitarPort service with a variety of L6 products such as the POD XT Live. Depending on your needs and budget, your money might be better spent getting a different L6 device that's compatible with GuitarPort.com

So if I plan on recording with this thing, I need to buy the Guitarport package, instead of just the guitar port?

The GuitarPort is just a standard audio device in widows, so you can record to any application that records. You could look in the Goldwave or N-tracks or other cheap or free recording applications. It is really pretty cool. You just plug your guitar into the guitar port, plug the guitarport into a USB port, and you can record your brains out. I've done some pretty convincing demo material and tv/radio type stuff with this setup. It is fast and easy, which is a great thing when you need to crank out some tracks.

Mike

Another happy GP user. I haven't used my 1x12 practive amp in ages.

The RiffTracker software that comes in a package is very simple to use and navigate. It offers ok mixing abilities. It also comes with the Instant Drummer demo, which, for what it is, is very capable of replacing your drummer during the creative process. Of course, most everything is upgradable.

The only thing I do not like about the RiffTracker software is that it's unorthodoxed in the way you go about recording: you lay down individual sections of the song (number of measures per section is dictated by the length of the riff). Then you drag and drop your riffs into a song, so you don't ever record anything from start to finish (unless you know ahead of time how many measures the entire song is). The plus side is that it allows you to flush out ideas very quickly by rearranging parts by dragging and dropping. Just push play to hear the new arrangment. Even though the parts are recorded seperately, the program puts them together very seemlessly.

IMO, for ~$190, you really can't beat the package deal of having the Guitar Port and the RiffTraccker if you view it as a writing tool and practice tool.

At its core it's basically a POD, except it uses your computer to do the modelling, whereas a POD has its own little computer. I can see it being an issue if you don't have a very fast computer, but for the money it's a great thing.

Actually, I'd wait for one of the 2 new quot;Tone Portsquot; they've got coming out at the end of the year which are going to be 24bit/96kHz, with instrument/mic inputs, phantom power, and guitar, bass, and vocal preamp modeling.
The guitar port is 16 bit, but it's a bit of a quot;one trick pony.quot; The Tone Port seems to be geared to be an all around USB interface, probably with a higher quality sound than the GP (tried running a mic into a preamp and into the GP, and didn't like the sound).

Brett