Recording your guitar on a PC computer, Laptop or Mac
One of our most frequently asked questions is how to record a guitar on a PC, Laptop or Mac. There are a range of ways, depending on your budget, from purchasing a simple computer guitar cable to dedicated USB or Firewire solutions or upgrading your sound card set-up:
The Computer Guitar Cable
USB Interfaces for Recording Guitar
Using a Microphone to Record Your Guitar
Upgrading Your PCI Sound Card set-up to Record Guitar
Listening to your results
Stop Press Guitar Recording Special.... If you are looking for the ultimate Guitar Recording Bundle with Accessories, take a look at the with built-in audio interface. These speakers have all the inbuilt kit you need to record your guitars in pristine quality, and are currently shipping with a FREE bundle of Samson C01 Microphone and SR850 headphones worth £74.99. We guarantee this is one box that has everything you need to record, monitor and play!
The Simple Cable
There are several ways of recording your guitar directly onto the hard drive of your computer. If you play an electric guitar, then the simplest way is to connect the headphone/line out from your amp to the line in of your soundcard. All you need to do this is which has a standard jack on one end, and a mini-jack on the other. You can try out how this sounds by using the built-in Windows sound recorder software although better still download Audacity which is free recording software.
You can also experiment by plugging your electric guitar directly into the mic-in socket on your sound card. This will work but it may not give the high quality performance needed for a more professional sound. In general, electric guitars need a high impedance input, but although most computer soundcard's mic inputs have a high impedance, it is not as high as a normal guitar input. This lower impedance can result in quality problems.
To help you find your way around generally if the sockets on your sound card are colour coded then the microphone will be pink, the standard single channel line-out or headphone will be green, and line-in will be blue.
If you have a standard generic sound card, then you may find that the above solution gets you going but the recording quality is not too good. Ordinary sound cards are better at sound output than recording and will often produce noisy low-quality recordsings. You may also find that many laptops and macs do not have any line-in socket at all. If this is the case or you want to make a huge improvement, then we have a whole range of specially designed USB solutions for recording your guitar on your computer
USB Audio Interfaces For Recording Guitar
Although the computer guitar cable is a simple and cheap solution, there are a whole range of dedicated devices which will offer massive improvements in quality. For the guitarist with a slightly bigger budget seeking a higher quality solution, there are a tremendous range of USB devices which have been specifically designed from the ground up to with your recording needs in mind. All of these eliminate the need to use your existing sound card for recording and provide a dedicated external solution with all the hardware and software you need to record your guitar. We are big fans of these dedicated devices, they are easy to use and install, have special inputs for guitar, usually come with a great software package and will massively improve the quality of your recordings.
If you are right at the budget end, and just looking for a simple connection, take a look first at the . This is as simple as it gets - a guitar-USB connector that is just plug and play. Perfect for PC and Mac. Works on an iPad with Apple's USB adapter. And for less than £20 actually comes with Guitar Rig LE software too. The GuitarLinkPlus has been so successful, Alesis have now launched which has a pickup for acoustic guitar, USB connection cable and Cubase LE recording software all in the box.
Many guitarists also want to be able to record vocals, so prefer to look for a device which will successfully record both guitar and mic. We sell a whole range dedicated interfaces especially designed for guitar and microphone to USB recording, and there is something to suit every budget.
The biggest seller in our catalog is currently the
. this can be combined with a dynamic mic for a real budget price and provides
. Another fantastic bundle of products at a similar price point is
Hundreds of LapTop, Mac and PC workstation users have found that the newly updated is the easiest way to record your guitar with professional results. Just connect it to the USB port of your computer and you're ready to rock. The upgraded Fast Track 2 USB has an input for instruments like guitar, bass and keyboards, plus a microphone input for recording vocals or other acoustic sounds. Plus it also comes with Pro Tools Essential Software giving you an entry into the software world of the professional recording studios. This device bypasses your built-in sound card to give a great result, you can listen to it through or , and you can also use it as your default audio output device so that it gives your whole audio set-up on your computer a complete upgrade. The perfect partner for the Fast Track 2 is the , a robust and high quality mic if you want to record vocals too - and because this is the Fast Track 2 you can combine it with a condenser mic like the C01 because it provides phantom power.
We were very excited about the arrival of the revamped . This will let you record two microphones at once - and with providing phantom power you could use either a dynamic or a condenser mic. Or you could plug two guitars in at once. Or one of each. Or if you want to record a keyboard or synth it's perfect for that too. In fact it's like a really souped up Fast Track with more inputs and now that it also comes with Pro Tools we expect this item to fly out. Team it with the for a perfect guitar, vocal and instrument recording kit
Want even better quality, and to record even more. Avid/M-Audio have just launched the sensational to huge acclaim. The first batch has been a massive sellout across Europe, and is their fastest selling product launch ever. Why? Simply amazing hardware, plus Pro Tools software - either the fully fledged M-Powered or SE so there is sure to be at least one package of interest in there!
Another real killer solution for singer/guitarists is the . What can we say? This fabulous product is a really high quality condensor microphone and audio interface all in one. Record guitar and vocals and the same time - connect your guitar to the audio input, just plug he whole device into your USB port, load up the included Sonar LE software and get recording. It ships with a neat desktop stand, and you can purchase an too. The G-Track was highly rated when reviewed on the gadget show a couple of years ago and has become a favourite with guitarists and singers because it is compact, easy to set up and use, but gives fantastic quality results.
If you know that you will want to combine MIDI tracks with your guitar recordings at some point, then there is the which has all the mobile recording flexibility of the , plus even more professional features. You get 2 front-panel mic/line inputs complete with phantom power for condenser microphones, inserts for outboard effects balanced and unbalanced analog outputs, S/PDIF digital I/O, MIDI I/O, and more, so really is a great investment and offers so much more recording punch for the money. A really good long term solution. If that's a bit too much, but you still want MIDI, then the is a good compromise - audio and MIDI for an incredible price plus Cubase recording software. Another great all-in solution, and goes with any of our . If you want digital as well, then the (Express's Big Brother) is a snip at <£100
Using a Microphone to Record Your Guitar
Another option is to use a microphone to record the output of your amp (in the case of electric guitarists), or your acoustic guitar. A dynamic microphone is usually the first choice if you want to record your amp. For real ease, choose a USB mic then you don't have to worry about any other equipment. The is a particularly good choice because you can use it either as a USB or a standard mic, and you can monitor what you're doing with the headphones it comes with.
More information about recording using a microphone can be found in our sister article on .
Upgrading Your PCI Sound Card
It may be that rather than using an external device you might choose to upgrade your sound card. Professional sound cards offer a considerable improvement over the recording capabilities of generic sound cards, and are also have the necessary drivers to reduce latency and help you get the most out of your music software. Plus they also have MIDI in/out as well. The offers pro-quality recording and playback. To record your guitar you will need to use in conjuction with a dedicated standalone pre-amp. A preamp is a device that amplifies the signal from your guitar to make it strong enough to be usable by the computer. The is a fabulous budget pre-amp which will do the job nicely and has the additional benefit of a 2 mic inputs (including phantom power switch if required) for the guitar player-singers among you.
Listening to the results
With all the above guitar recording solutions you can monitor your results using , but sooner or later it is likely you will want to play your masterpieces to your friends and family. Again, will greatly enhance your music making experience, and there are speakers at a range of price points which will work well whichever route you opt for.
Guitar Recording Software
Once you are getting a satisfactory recording from your guitar, then our top selling recording software is great for recording and then adding backing tracks. Alternatively you may well find you can create pro results using any of our especially if you wish to incorporate MIDI tracks too.
If you've found the above interesting, why not follow our Blog - we are continually adding new articles about recording your guitar, hooking up your mic to your PC, connecting your keyboard, and what kind of software to go for. We have a dedicated section on recording your guitar
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