Stompbox Loopback Question

[TheStorm]

first, before I forget, "Stompbox Loopback" is a GREAT name for a punk band, isn't it?! you heard it here first, folks...

OK so i've read enough articles that strongly recommend that i record my guitars "dry" (a clean signal going into the computer) - and enough of you guys have backed the articles up - that i've started recording that way. i record the guitar track clean and apply effects later. (or, if it's not too CPU-intensive and/or i can live with the latency, I'll add/monitor the effect on one channel but record the clean signal on another.)

i do use v-amps, and i really have been trying to do without my outboard stomp-boxes, especially because of the noise they can introduce, not to mention that it really does away with your choices for FX if you change your mind on a certain sound after you've recorded it with outboard effects.

Anyway, on certain tracks i often find that i want to apply the output of a couple of my multi-fx stomp boxes (not designed for this type of recording).

this is probably a simple question, but how do i do it? i assume i route the speaker output of my Audigy soundcard to the stompbox, then loop the output from the stompbox back into the "line input" port.

is that right? i don't want to try it unless you guys have done it, just in case i nuke something. seems like that would work, though. Obviously there would be some latency since you're going both in-and-out on the card, but since it's pre-recorded i could just adjust its position later.

is this right? or am i missing something? or should i just give up on the outboard effects altogether, unless i want to record clean? any ideas? any help at all would be most appreciated.

[whyterabbyt]

Yeah, thats all you need do, generally; out from the soundcard, thru the effects, then back in. Record to a new track then you dont lose the original, and you have control over a wet/dry mix.

However be aware that you'll incur twice your soundcard's latency as an added delay, so you'll have to slide the effected track backwards to meet the original timing.

One thing you might wanna do is insert a little obvious drumhit at the start before your recorded audio, then use that as an obvious 'marker' for how much to slide the track back.