"High Tech Guitar"

Discussion Topic Question: I'm interested to see if anyone has pulled off running amp Sims on a Netbook. I picked up Guitar Rig Session back when NI was running the free upgrade to GR3. I would love to be able to go to jams and gigs with nothing more than a Netbook, the interface and a pair of powered PA speakers (perhaps a MIDI floorboard too). Actually, if Netbooks are indeed feasible platforms for amp Sims, I would consider attempting a case mod putting a Netbook in the same housing as a FCB1010.


"Discussion Topic Questions And Reply Below"

 

My setup: Guitar > Stealth Plug > Acer Aspire 3100 (Sempron 1800/2 GB Ram) > Guitar Rig 2.
It works great, low latency and spare headroom.
Granted it's not a Netbook but it is a low end older laptop with only a single core and it still does what it is supposed to do.
I use it for solo practice only, but for that, it is perfect.
For recording I don't think it would suffice because of the slow HDD and the same would be true for a Netbook.


Does Line6 PODFarm count as one? I use that and the sounds are quite impressive. I'm more of a hobbyist than a professional (by a long shot), so it may or may not fit your needs. Runs just fine on my laptop, although you have to shut off the wireless card, which is a mild pain in the arse.


I have Guitar rig 2 running on an acer aspire one Netbook with the 1.6 atom cpu, 1 gig of ram, and a 160g HD using a lexicon omega interface (not even usb2.0) and get a modest 8ms latency with asio4all as the driver

it did not like GR3 so much

to to this effectively you need to optimize xp for audio
I switched processor scheduling to background
killed many services and startup items
tweaked the effects and fading menus
replaced the stock antivirus with the new Microsoft one that uses far less cpu

I think a usb2.0 interface will do much better than the omega, I am going to try a few out in the next few weeks

Lenovo has a Netbook with a 34 express card that will accommodate a Texas instruments based Firewire interface card. I believe it would be awesome for live guitar

I use this setup with the Piezo outs of my acoustic and it is the best sounding acoustic processor I have heard

I am adding a midi footswitch and using it live in real time

despite all the negative stuff I've read how it wouldn't work
...or how USB bites compared to Firewire

it works great for me

That is encouraging. What problems do you encounter with GR3? Is it a CPU hit, latency, or something else? On my systems GR3 does not seem to be any more resource hungry than GR2 was.


It depends, what Netbook are you looking at Craig?

The only one I have around the house is an eeePC but that's running on a bastardised Linux distribution and won't be fast enough or able to run any music software I think?

I think if you got a Netbook that had good specs then it shouldn't be a problem. One major factor I was looking at while choosing my laptop (Lenovo T400) was the heat. Obviously it's better to have a laptop or any computer running cooler but when you're using intensive audio apps it's even more important. So, this might be a factor to check out before you decide... obviously along with the other technical specs. But I think the heat is a factor that many overlook.


have a Dell Latitude D630, 1.6 GHZ and 1 GB Ram.
Use a light snake USB 2.0 interface running GTR3 with the headphone out adapted to my amp and it works good for around the house playing.
I haven't tweaked the OS and I get a few cracks and pops sometimes but it works for me.


Lenovo, Asus, Acer, that kind of thing, running Windows. Might be worth waiting until Windows 7 comes out, which I understand was designed with Netbooks in mind...although XP was designed back when "real" computers had the same kind of specs as today's Netbooks, and would likely work well with amp Sims.


vote for a headless Mac MINI Core 2 Duo

Get a used one off eBay for $300

The performance of a $300 used Mac Mini exceeds all Netbooks by a large margin.


Indeed, but then I need to carry a monitor, mouse, etc. I'm looking for a truly portable solution.


I have got guitar rig 3 screaming on my Netbook
and found the source of my audio dropouts was the atheros wireless card.
There is an awesome free tool to test any pc for latency and dropouts
it is found here: http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml

I used a tiny program called DevMgr to create a shortcut to the Atheros in device manager, and put the shortcut on the desktop to disable it before running live audio

The latency asio4all reports is 7ms and GR2 and GR3 add a little to that figure
but it sound like Im standing less than 10 feet from a live amp.

I found the GR2 banks for GR3 on the NI forum
so I have the sound I wanted from GR2
.... with the pristine audio engine of the GR3

this setup completely blows my line6 pod away ....btw

I don't even have to buy a new audio/midi USB interface
my old usb1.0 lexicon omega is working great

everyone that hears this tiny Netbook is amazed at the sound quality
I am still blown away at the clean presets on my acoustic/electric

it took some tweaking
but it works great!!

Thanks for the update, and you bring up a VERY important point: Most laptop users report that disabling a computer's wireless card solves all kinds of weird problems, including latency.

As to POD, Pods are great but they don't have things like tempo-synched step sequencers, which are a big part of my "techno guitar" sound.


ok, this thread peaked my interest, does this work on regular PC's too? How exactly do you get the guitar's signal into the computer? The line in jack?


Right now I use a Johnson j-station straight into my sound card's line in. But I'd like to try this amp-sim stuff out for kicks and giggles.


Gear List:
- Kramer Focus 6000
- Peavey TransFex Pro 212s
- Behringer FCB1010
- Johnson J-station

Soundclick clips
YouTube clips


Your guitar will not be a good match for a sound card's line in. You really need a computer interface with a guitar-friendly instrument input that doesn't load it down, and has enough gain (e.g., Guitar Rig Mobile - cheapest option I know of, $99 or so for interface and lite version of Guitar Rig). Another option would be to use your J-Station the way you are now, but setting it up for a clean sound so that the amp sim software does most of the sound-shaping.

However the type of sound card and its drivers matter. You need one with low-latency ASIO drivers (Windows) or supports Core Audio on the Mac. Without low-latency drivers, you'll hear echoes on your playing from the processing delay of going through the computer.

And now, for a moment of Moderator Spam: My book 21st Century Guitarist answers a lot of these basic questions; you can also follow the link to download a free copy of GTR Solo if you want to play around without actually spending any $$$.

Check back if you have further questions...
__________________
*Check out my podcast at www.cyberears.com

u can use asio4all as a wrapper for the stock sound card and use a mic input

... but there are much better sounding solutions out that use USB or Firewire into the computer with balanced outputs and inputs with the impedance matched for guitars

the lowest latency pro audio interfaces seem to still be PCI card for the PC
and Firewire for MAC


so how does the J-Station sound?
I love the matchless model on the millennium

that has to be the best model of any virtual amp or hybrid I have heard for electric saturated stuff


I would avoid Netbooks with SSD; the SSD in them isn't the fast drives you here about, they're much more like USB flash drives in performance.

As for Netbooks in general; GR3 for example requests a minimum of a 1.4Ghz Athlon and 512MB of RAM I believe; the Atom processor generally benchmarks faster than that if you look at Geekbench benchmarks. The real limitation is if you go with one of the 9 or 10" NB's with the 1024x600 resolution. I'd say the new Lenovo S12 or Dell mini 12 with the slightly higher rez would be a good choice.

I've ran GR2 and Reason off of a 1.3Ghz PIII; despite what many will say, it can be done!
__________________
Court Jester of the Ibanez Wizards
Mesa/Boogie Mob


Guitars:

Washburn N4 alder
Ibanez JS2000
Ibanez RG421 w/ Dimarzio TZ+AN + Ghost Midi
Ibanez SC420
Seagull S6

Rig:
'92 Mesa DC-5 combo
THD Hot Plate
Palmer PDI-09
L6 Echo Park
Boss chorus
Boss SD-1

 

I have the Acer Aspire One and I run a Line 6 guitar port with Gearbox on it. As others have stated, you do have to disable the wireless. I use this strictly for practice with headphones wile I am offshore for 28 days at a time. It works fine for this but there are some aggravating problems. If I am working with a Truefire instructional CD or using the player part of gearbox, I get crackles and the track slows down, even the metronome. I did do all of the optimize for audio tricks but stupid Microsoft updates may have undone my changes, I haven't checked. I'm also not sure if some of the problems may be with the interface and not the computer. I would like to know how GTR Solo works on here. I would get the free trial but I don't have an interface other than the Guitar Port which is proprietary. By the way, do not get a Netbook with solid state drive since they can't run windows at all. Not sure of compatibility of any of these programs with Linux.

Originally Posted by mparsons View Post
To revisit the topic,

My keyboardist quit a week ago, which left me in a bit of a quandary. The orchestra in my music is really important, and without it there is a lot missing. I don't know any replacement keyboardists. I talked to the drummer, and he was fine with wearing phones and having a clicktrack so we could run orchestra to the PA from my laptop.

Then I realized, hey, why not get my guitar tone from my laptop as well? The only thing I was concerned about was the lack of footswitching to change my tone, so I'd basically be limited to a single channel set up... or so I thought!!

It occurred to me recently that I could simply set up Reaper so that my guitar tone would automatically change from dirty, to clean, to lead, to phaser/Flanger/whatever. No more pedal stomping! Except for wah of course

I won't be able to try it out until next weekend's practice, but I imagine it'll work out very well...

I've considered this kind of thing before. A MIDI controlled rig, switched by automated messages from a project in a DAW (complete with click track and whatever else). Seemed like a pretty cool idea to me, although I'd also still like to retain a way to make changes on the fly.
 


I've always felt that while Netbooks have their purpose, their prices are so close to some laptops that you're better off buying a cheaper laptop as you'll get far more for your money.

One of my favorite computer/technology websites has a whole article about how you can buy relatively inexpensive laptops that are far faster than Netbooks for around the same price. Check it out here.

I'd feel much more comfortable running an amp sim (or any music-related software) on a more powerful system. The Intel Atom is great if you want to do the basic tasks for which Netbooks were created. If you want portability and something powerful enough to run music software, one of those $300ish laptops would handle it much more...handily.


 

Originally Posted by anindrew
I've always felt that while Netbooks have their purpose, their prices are so close to some laptops that you're better off buying a cheaper laptop as you'll get far more for your money.

One of my favorite computer/technology websites has a whole article about how you can buy relatively inexpensive laptops that are far faster than Netbooks for around the same price. Check it out here.

I'd feel much more comfortable running an amp sim (or any music-related software) on a more powerful system. The Intel Atom is great if you want to do the basic tasks for which Netbooks were created. If you want portability and something powerful enough to run music software, one of those $300ish laptops would handle it much more...handily.
The size of a Netbook makes it very attractive though, much more portable. Most of the cheap regular laptops are 7 pound shitboxes.

Court Jester of the Ibanez Wizards
Mesa/Boogie Mob

Guitars:

Washburn N4 alder
Ibanez JS2000
Ibanez RG421 w/ Dimarzio TZ+AN + Ghost Midi
Ibanez SC420
Seagull S6

Rig:
'92 Mesa DC-5 combo
THD Hot Plate
Palmer PDI-09
L6 Echo Park
Boss chorus


I recently picked up a new gateway LT3103u for a family member who is traveling and wanted something to browse the net and stick in her purse.

Ill fiddle with it and see if it can run vg99 software as well as some softsynths in a VST shell once I can get my hands on it again in about a week or so. If it can run guitar rig 3 well with the 99 as an interface it may replace my Inspiron 1520 live.

Its an Athlon 64 based lt110 processor, 2 gigs ram, 250 gig hd, dedicated radeon graphics chip, full size keyboard and runs vista (would have preferred xp but oh well).
__________________
www.myspace.com/steamtheory My instrumental prog band.

www.myspace.com/pdfop Jazz/Fusion Group.

Craig: How's the Netbook search going? Also looking at this possibility. I am going with a group to Albania at the end of Sept. and would like to condense my electronics (small pedal board with gr 33) . The software for amp Sims and effects definitely seems doable. My concern is with accessing the synth sounds in the Netbook or laptop without glitches and latency. I'm using a Brian Moore with rmc pickups. Another concern is getting the rmc converted to midi (gi 20?) then into the computer. Hauling equipment overseas is something I'll do if I have to, but how much nicer would it be just to have a guitar, a interface, and a computer. Hope all is well. David


Originally Posted by germanicus2112
I recently picked up a new gateway LT3103u for a family member who is traveling and wanted something to browse the net and stick in her purse.

Ill fiddle with it and see if it can run vg99 software as well as some softsynths in a VST shell once I can get my hands on it again in about a week or so. If it can run guitar rig 3 well with the 99 as an interface it may replace my inspiron 1520 live.

Its an athlon 64 based lt110 processor, 2 gigs ram, 250 gig hd, dedicated radeon graphics chip, full size keyboard and runs vista (would have preferred xp but oh well).
I just read a review on that machine; they liked it. Though it was a general comp review, not an audio specific review. Looks nice though!

Court Jester of the Ibanez Wizards
Mesa/Boogie Mob

Guitars:

Washburn N4 alder
Ibanez JS2000
Ibanez RG421 w/ Dimarzio TZ+AN + Ghost Midi
Ibanez SC420
Seagull S6

Rig:
'92 Mesa DC-5 combo
THD Hot Plate
Palmer PDI-09
L6 Echo Park
Boss chorus
Boss SD-1
Just got my hands back on the gateway and put it through some paces. It performs fairly well for a Netbook. I loaded vg99 drivers, a vst shell, and Korg legacy.

I was able to get Korg legacy cell soft synth working well with the vg99 interface. the vg99 sends converted midi to the Korg legacy, which then outputs back through the vg99's outputs. So its sort like using the Netbook as an expansion sound module for the 99. I need to run the standard tweaks to the OS for audio performance and push the unit harder to see what it can really do. I may try installing M-tron which would be wonderful as I could use this live instead of my larger Dell Inspiron 1520. This Netbook is small enough to mount on the Roland stand I have for the vg99.
__________________
www.myspace.com/steamtheory My instrumental prog band.

www.myspace.com/pdfop Jazz/Fusion Group.
 

I ordered one of these today fully loaded

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xa2...mini-1100_tech

HP mini110

HP Mini 110 XP Edition series
• Black Swirl
• Genuine Windows XP Home with Service Pack 3
• Intel(R) Atom TM) Processor N280 (1.66GHz, 512KB L2,
667Mhz FSB)
• 1GB DDR2 System Memory (1 Dimm)
• FREE Upgrade to 160GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
from 16GB (Solid State Drive Flash Module)
• Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 950 with a 5-in-1
Digital Media slot
• 10.1" diagonal HD LED Anti-glare Widescreen Display
(1366 x 768)
• HP Mini Webcam with HP Imprint Finish (Swirl)
• Wireless-G Card
• Broadcom(R) Crystal HD Enhanced Video accelerator
with ArcSoft TotalMedia(TM) Theatre
• HP Color Matching Keyboard
• 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
• Microsoft(R) Works 9.0
• HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope
a bit over $400


Its very small

I'll post the horror story after it arrives in 2 weeks


But is might run a tightly programmed DAW like Reaper Audio rather well -

Certainly perfect for Editing the VG-99 live at the gig.

this guy is dual booting WinXp or Win7 / OS X on this machine!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbYEGGhpttE

http://www.geardiary.com/2009/01/21/...and-windows-7/
http://www.geardiary.com/2009/08/18/...ook-in-tandem/
And here's how to overclock it

http://www.hp2133guide.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2421


http://www.brightsideofnews.com/news...t-netbook.aspx
__________________
www.futureguitarnow.com
I did a bunch of tweaks to improve performance on the gateway. Im pretty pleased with the results. I installed Gmedia's M-Tron (an amazing softsampler of classic Melotron sound bands) and it words extremely well even with the samples being stored on the internal 5400 rpm drive. The thing that was a pain is my copy of m-tron was on cd's so I had to buy an external cd rom to install this, maybe I could have just mapped another cd rom drive on the network but oh well.

Ill see if it can handle some effects running at the same time as the sampler next.
__________________
www.myspace.com/steamtheory My instrumental prog band.

www.myspace.com/pdfop Jazz/Fusion Group.
Originally Posted by Polaris20
I would avoid Netbooks with SSD; the SSD in them isn't the fast drives you here about, they're much more like USB flash drives in performance.

As for Netbooks in general; GR3 for example requests a minimum of a 1.4Ghz Athlon and 512MB of RAM I believe; the Atom processor generally benchmarks faster than that if you look at Geekbench benchmarks. The real limitation is if you go with one of the 9 or 10" NB's with the 1024x600 resolution. I'd say the new Lenovo S12 or Dell mini 12 with the slightly higher res would be a good choice.

I've ran GR2 and Reason off of a 1.3Ghz PIII; despite what many will say, it can be done!

I've had no problems with SSD drives and Netbooks so far. As for the speed, it surprised me a lot! Ultra fast


The mini PCIe-based SSDs? The throughput is terrible, usually like 15MB write, 40MB read.

A regular 2.5" SSD usually gets 150MB write, 200MB read.
__________________
Court Jester of the Ibanez Wizards
Mesa/Boogie Mob

Decent Article on using a Asus Eee PC

http://createdigitalmusic.com/2008/0...-3-linux-tips/


The Asus Eee PC is unlikely to be your first choice of laptops for music. But it’s small, it’s cute, and it’s ridiculously cheap. Some CDM-reading computer enthusiasts are biting, as we found out in March when we asked you if you had turned the Eee PC into a music box.

On the Linux side, you’ve got lots of options. Best among these, CDM reader Dan Stowell has put together a comprehensive tutorial on using SuperCollider, the powerful, free sound synthesis engine. You can even add custom GUIs using a free Java-based tool. There are also plenty of DIY environments for music working nicely (Csound and Pd included, as well), meaning the Eee can very quickly become a programmable, dedicated sound machine and synth for the price of the cheapest closed-box, name-brand piece of music gear.

Linux also supports various music tools that lend themselves to a lower-end machine, like music tracker MilkyTracker. Check it out in videos on the Eee: Eee-PC MilkyTracker Xandros, more. (Thanks, emrox!)

The surprise is, full-blown Windows software holds its own. From the NI forums, a group of intrepid Guitar Rig 3 users have fired up XP and have a pretty usable, self-contained Guitar Rig computer:

http://www.native-instruments.com/fo...ad.php?t=65745




Guitar Rig on Eee PC [Native Instruments forums; thanks to Jahmal Tonge for the tip!]

The trick is, you do need modded video drivers to make use of 1000×600 resolution, thus accommodating the user interface. Forum members also suggest avoiding the newer Atom model as they believe it will be slower. Then again, while this proof of concept is tantalizing, I’d probably hold out for more-powerful mini PCs coming out — and the fact that music works this well on this machine means it only gets better from here.

Computer Music Magazine did do a review of the Eee, and were a little more practical about the Eee’s downsides (though the resolution hack here helps at least with that problem). But then, the other way of looking at this is that the Eee is just the beginning. Plenty more budget mini-laptops are coming; already machines from HP and others close the gap with “conventional”, pricier laptops. Linux distributions may soon target these configurations (Ubuntu has promised a “remix”), and Microsoft has committed to keeping XP and Vista going on these machines, as well. And that means the price divide with computer music is getting erased fast.


www.futureguitarnow.com
Guess I'll be the guinea pig. Just picked up an Eee PC to function as a location recording machine. I'll try to install some apps and see waht happens...

www.frugalguitarist.com
Works for me.
I have an Eee pc (1.4 ghz atom, 1g ram, 4g flash hd) that I use with either a line6 ux2 and fcb1010 or i use the rig kontrol 3. I have been using GR3 for live performances for several months now... not a single complaint at all. I use windows XP sp2, stripped right down to the bare essentials. I don't even have GR3 installed... I boot it from a SD card. I get 7ms of latency without any sound glitches. To further add to my laziness, I sometimes use a Line 6 Variax 600 instead of bringing the Jaguar, Strat, and ES around with me. Keep in mind, this machine's sole purpose is to run GR3. I picked it up off ebay for 180 bucks. Not a bad price for complete portability. Anyone who says you can't use a netbook running windows to gig with simply isn't trying to make it work.

Installed the demo of Peavey Revalver last night on the Eee to take it for a spin. While stability was an issue using my interfaces lowest latency (1.9 ms), it worked much better at higher rates but at that point the latency could be felt and was a bit dissapointing. I should mention that the Eee is dead stock with only 1 GB RAM and a slow 5400 RPM drive and no tweaks to XP to improve performance. With some tweaks and upgrades one might be able to get it to work, however stock it's not a good partner to Revalver. I didn't try Amplitube and my experience is that app is even more resource hungry than Revalver.


Tascam 1641 USB 2.0 interface. I can get just under 2ms latency (that might be one way, the driver is reporting 1.9 ms latency but it does feel more immediate than the 4ms setting on the EMU 1616m, it's going on the chopping block) in stand alone mode on my main box which feels completely
Visit www.frugalguitarist.com

Try loading it up in REAPER, it has a great true latency calculator that will let you know your full I/O path latency. Could give you a hint as to why it sounds good one way and not so good another.

It's not too surprising that the little EEE can't really swing a powerful modeler, though - there's a heck of a lot of calculatin' going on, especially when the latency is that low. They're handy little things but you need the power that a more robustly spec'd laptop would provide to take the studio on the road, I think.


Originally Posted by Agreed
Try loading it up in REAPER, it has a great true latency calculator that will let you know your full I/O path latency. Could give you a hint as to why it sounds good one way and not so good another.

It's not too surprising that the little EEE can't really swing a powerful modeler, though - there's a heck of a lot of calculatin' going on, especially when the latency is that low. They're handy little things but you need the power that a more robustly spec'd laptop would provide to take the studio on the road, I think.

The Eee meets Revalver's specs but that's just to basically function, not guaranteed to function well! Honestly, we're probably only 6 months to a year away from a next generation Netbook which will handle any of the big amp sim apps. Intel just released the ATOM Z550 which clocks at 2 Ghz. Add 2 Gb RAM that's getting close the specs of my desktop and met the specs of my old laptop which cost nearly 4 times what I paid for the Eee...

www.frugalguitarist.com


I use Gr3 live with CubaseLE on XP, which also plays back a minimal stereo backing, and hosts a Korg Wavestation softsynth which i occasionally switch to throughout the show, via a MIDI'd controller keyboard (2/3rds of our show i play guitar)

Our vocalist also runs live through the system on her own virtual track complete with FX (comp,delays,verb).

Our stereo backing track is a single 55min wav file with markers appointed along the timeline, and the tempo track in cubase is 100% synced to the tempos of each song.

All my GR3 patches change automatically, and so do the vocalists (and so does the wavestation) ...... and every effect throughout the show is auto tempo synced.


The only catch is ..... i use a desktop/tower and small lcd monitor with an Echo Mia PCI card.

The vocalist and i plug into a Mackie VLZ (i'm DI'ed), She is hard panned left and i am hard panned right, we leave the mackie via the Alt Bus only and enter the Mia via inputs 1 and 2 respectively.

We go through cubaseLE>plugins, where the entire signal is dual-mono'ed, and spat out the Mia's outputs 1 and 2, into a stereo channel on the mackie which is outputed to the Master Out only ....... which feeds the to the Engineer out at FOH.

It takes me less than 10mins total setup time, and the total round trip latency is 10ms ..... the singer doesnt notice it, nor do i, nor does the FOH engineer or the crowd.

The system is kinda clunky looking but is totally bulletproof and runs smooth as silk all night every night for hours on end if needed.

EDIT: We are filming our next show, and ill throw a youtube link up, if only to clarify my post above


Theres no question really about desktop systems or even moderate laptops being capable of running soft modellers/samplers/synths live. You can get 15inch dual core cpu laptops with 4 gigs ram for $399 now.

The netbooks are nice due to their small size (i can put mine in a gig bag) and greater battery life, hence the thread on topic.


I tried it with vista running on a dell 10" mini. Atom based. Way too slow. I dumped and reloaded ubuntu on it. However, recently, I reloaded Windows 7 on it and the performance is at least 2-3 times what it was under vista. I suspect it may stand a chance, I'm just not sure what the latency would be.

- derek
Gear:
Current Main Guitars: Carvin Fatboy II, Carvin CT-4, Fender, Jackson, Peavey Bass, Pan Classical, and the wonderful Gretsch Showdown.
Current Amps: Carvin V3, Orange Crush 30R
Effects: Line 6 Pod X3 Pro, Boss DS-1
Keys: Korg M3 88
Software: Logic 8, Sonar 7, P5, Battery, Garritan Orch, Dimension 5

ebay linkage
 

Well, I don't think technically it was spec'ed properly to run vista. I spent way too much time getting it optimized only to run, very fast, back to ubuntu.

My wife has been using it with windows 7 for two months and it has yet to crash on her (which is a pretty decent feat in and of it's self).

I will say it runs Ez Dummer without issue, however, as a sample streamer the requirements are far less than that of an amp sim. If Line 6 would recognize pod farm on my pod x3 pro I could test that on there, but apparently, the free pod farm was only meant as a gesture.

 

- derek
Gear:
Current Main Guitars: Carvin Fatboy II, Carvin CT-4, Fender, Jackson, Peavey Bass, Pan Classical, and the wonderful Gretsch Showdown.
Current Amps: Carvin V3, Orange Crush 30R
Effects: Line 6 Pod X3 Pro, Boss DS-1
Keys: Korg M3 88
Software: Logic 8, Sonar 7, P5, Battery, Garritan Orch, Dimension 5

ebay linkage
 

If Line 6 would recognize pod farm on my pod x3 pro I could test that on there, but apparently, the free pod farm was only meant as a gesture.

Try Line6 GearBox

When i get time - I will try my Line6 Toneport Gold w/ Gearbox on my HP Mini 110 with Hi res (1366 x 768) HD Screen, 2GB RAM and WinXP and report my results.
 


I just got GTR3.5 up and running on my Acer Aspire One netbook.

Seems to do just fine, although there IS a little bit of latency using the ASIO4ALL drivers and the native sound card. But that's to be expected.

My GOOD portable audio interfaces are either Firewire or PCI cards, and the Aspire doesn't support Firewire.

Looks like I might have to break down and get a little USB I/O box. But hey, if it works with no detectable latency, then I could conceivably just take a midi footswitch, my netbook, and a powered monitor to gigs.


Originally Posted by Lava
Now if only SOMEBODY made a cheap USB pedalboard/audio interface. Native Instruments and IK Multimedia totally miss the point with their expensive pedalboards. Seriously, why the hell aren't there any $100 pedalboards? The midi controller world has a glut of good cheap stuff - c'mon M-Audio, Digitech, Behringer, get hip to the needs of modern guitarists!

I was thinking about this as I woke up this morning and thought of what would be a REALLY killer product for ME.


A powered monitor/PA speaker, with a two channel mixer, an XLR input for channel one, and a 1/4 instrument in for channel two.

But wait, I'm not finished...

It would also have a USB port, to send and receive digital audio to and from a computer, and the two input channels could be toggled to go straight to the USB port, left and right channels. The converters would have fairly flat frequency response, and would ideally be 24bit for low noise.

Finally, let's add to this box a midi input that ALSO gets routed to the USB port, so you could use any midi controller on your software with the system.


It's such a narrow market that I can't imagine one of these boxes appearing in the near future, but it sure would be a sweet product for a guitar player with a computer-based rig.


Originally Posted by SevenString
I just got GTR3.5 up and running on my Acer Aspire One netbook.

Seems to do just fine, although there IS a little bit of latency using the ASIO4ALL drivers and the native sound card. But that's to be expected.

My GOOD portable audio interfaces are either Firewire or PCI cards, and the Aspire doesn't support Firewire.

Looks like I might have to break down and get a little USB I/O box. But hey, if it works with no detectable latency, then I could conceivably just take a midi footswitch, my netbook, and a powered monitor to gigs.

Well, I plugged in the cheapest little USB device I had, a Behringer UCA202 ($29), and I managed to get my latency down to 6ms with no glitches, which is fairly playable.

Maybe once I do some optimization, like getting rid of unnecessary services and such, I might be able to get it down to 3ms.

This is the full GTR3.5, btw, with dual amp sims and all stomp boxes on "go".

I'm starting to believe that I could actually gig with this little Acer netbook!

Oh, I wouldn't trust the Behringer to be noiseless in various live environments. I'd get a better interface before actual gigging. But the fact that it's playable with this cheap little plastic I/O box is very encouraging.


Amp Sims and a Netbook? I think post #13 is a good start

Personally, You get what You pay for, While Post #13 suggested a Mac mini
(which is not as portable as a Netbook) Mac's are (in my opinion and using Mac's since the late 1980's though not always for music creation) and have used PC's as well (our house has 3 Mac's and a Lone PC running Win XP Pro) Mac's are so much more efficient, user friendly and heck, use Garageband (along with a miked amplifer and effects ) or run a Line 6Podxt into Garageband and you can do alot, I use a Atomic Reactor Amplifier and (individually) use Podxt (with model packs) a Vox Tonelab (desktop unit) Roger Linn Adrennalin II (now a III with a dual chip update and new faceplate through Roger Linn's site) or use individual effects as well, E-Harmonix Stereo Memory Man with Hazari, A Boss SL-20 Slicer, Seymour Duncan Shape Shifter and just getting used to a Electro-Harmonix Super Looper 2880 and Footswitch (I researched looping devices (dedicated) for over a year and kept coming back to EH) Mix things up Amp Sims are great to me (if I had the $$ I would update or add a laptop Macbook the white "non-aluminum model" is rumored for a drastic price drop without spec changes and if a student thats $949.00 (now) and I have heard $600.00 range (still higher then Netbooks yes.. but a 2+ ghz processor 2GB ram and Nvidia Graphics (and Ilife 09 included with Garageband and Logic 9 wether express or full version those have both dropped in cost by 50% in the past year+, I am a desktop person as I like to load ram and have a large HD laptops are nice though for onstage use I agree depends on how, where, when you want to use the computer and applications and tons of freeware (either platform) but get anti-virus running day one (I do not have any anti-virus programs on our Mac's for the past several years (I was wasting money, on the PC You Bet its on there! There is no right or wrong answer alot of excellent opinions and if lacking sources go to the amp sim forums Line 6 has a decent one(used to be great) not sure anout the others Apple.com has tons of support and user forums for evry product they make and made in the past,

Best Of Luck!
Peace and Hope

dwwave


Famous Laptop Users?

Just as an aside, I have a vague recollection that either John McLaughlin or Pat Metheny used a laptop during their performance on the Clapton Crossroads DVD from the 2004 benefit.

 

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