KVR Audio

yoimjason · Post by **yoimjason** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 5:01 am

I know the answer is probably no, but is there any way to use a laptop as an effects pedal. In other words, is there a way to run a guitar signal (or bass or any electric instrument) unaltered through a laptop, and then be able to apply vst plugins?

Andywanders · Post by **Andywanders** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 5:11 am

Yes...

A VST host like Chainer or Energy XT can do this. But if you want real time control, you will need a MIDI controller as well.

bernhardtjeff · Post by **bernhardtjeff** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 5:11 am

uh, that's a big fat YES. programs like native instruments guitar rig are built for this. there are numerous others. others will chime in.

james0tucson · Post by **james0tucson** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 5:11 am

Of course, but you need a decent sound device if you want it to really work as a realtime filter and have a quiet enough output. The sound device built into your laptop isn't going to do it, and I doubt you want to go onstage with a 1/8" plug.

But there are all kinds of fx, and some that are specifically designed for live guitar play. Myself, I'd probably be happy with eXT and LFX1310 or so.

outsomnia20 · Post by **outsomnia20** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 5:16 am

all you need is a laptop with a soundcard that supports asio 2.0, otherwise your latency will not be as good. most hosts support inputs, just plug in ur guitar and it should work

Sogo · Post by **Sogo** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 5:28 am

I do exactly this.
I run my bass into a cheapass behringer mixer, then both outputs go into my echo indigo IO. I use ableton live and control the patches with a behringer foot controller. works very well indeed.

regards

paul

AndrewSimon · Post by **AndrewSimon** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 6:09 am

Sogo wrote:I do exactly this.
I run my bass into a cheapass behringer mixer, then both outputs go into my echo indigo IO. I use ableton live and control the patches with a behringer foot controller. works very well indeed.

regards

paul

Yeah , that is what you need, an Indigo and the Behringer foot controller.
Ahh... and a solid stripped down operating system optimized for audio.
After all you do not want to reboot windows in mid performance.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=k ... _id/108770

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=r ... id/182469/

This would be nice as well between the guitar and the audio card:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=k ... id/180632/

As far as the FX there is
Guitar Rig
Waves GTR
Amplitube (Amplitube2 comes very soon and it will probably be a killer)

morelia · Post by **morelia** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 6:42 am

yoimjason wrote:I know the answer is probably no, but is there any way to use a laptop as an effects pedal. In other words, is there a way to run a guitar signal (or bass or any electric instrument) unaltered through a laptop, and then be able to apply vst plugins?

I was just thinking about this. I am going to have a jam at a co worker's house (first for years). This is what I intend to try. PLug guitar into Tascam US-122 external soundcard. Setup a few different preset configurations of effexts in EnergyXT. Take line out to my Marshall. Play loud music. Should work. Hopefully won't rattle my laptop to pieces.

mman · Post by **mman** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 8:57 am

Just something I found very useful:

http://www.hermannseib.com/english/savihost.htm

It's a very small (and free) VST Host.

mooninjune · Post by **mooninjune** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 11:46 am

check this guy out

http://www.keithfullertonwhitman.com/pr ... oughs.html

i saw him last night

he does amazing stuff

respirator · Post by **respirator** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 12:05 pm

mooninjune wrote:check this guy out

http://www.keithfullertonwhitman.com/pr ... oughs.html

Amazing indeed. Thanks for that link!

Aural Chaos · Post by **Aural Chaos** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 3:17 pm

You are going to need a preamp or something-if you plug a guitar straight into most soundcards (such as the Echo Indigo,which I have)the signal is much too low.

yoimjason · Post by **yoimjason** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 10:57 pm

Thank you all for your responses. I just have a few more questions about it all.

Will running a signal through a sound card really leave said signal unaltered when all effects are off, or would I have to use some sort of setup with a bypass pedal?

Is there any loss of quality using an 1/8th in. adapter before and after the sound card? What about external sound processors? USB?

james0tucson · Post by **james0tucson** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 11:08 pm

yoimjason wrote:Thank you all for your responses. I just have a few more questions about it all.

Will running a signal through a sound card really leave said signal unaltered when all effects are off, or would I have to use some sort of setup with a bypass pedal?

Is there any loss of quality using an 1/8th in. adapter before and after the sound card? What about external sound processors? USB?

1/8" devices don't tend to last very long in the stage environment.

There probably will be some change of gain, that you might need to compensate for at the output. A bypass pedal would be a good idea, anyway, preferably one that lets you get a wet/dry mix.

jasonsantiago · Post by **jasonsantiago** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 11:16 pm

yes, I do this at live shows. It works just fine, but you'll need good latency on your sound card.

laptop as effects pedal?