using a combo amp in place of an interface

[uethanian]

so far, i've been recording directly into the 'mic in' on my laptop, without any kind of preamp inbetween. it works, but obviously its not that great. i'm planning on getting a line6 toneport gx soon, but in the meantime...would playing into a combo amp and then plugging the amp's 'record out' into the computer have the same effect? i have a roland microcube that has a lot of built in effects, and it would be convenient to record with it.

[lemur821]

No. Your laptop's sound card is an interface. Yes, you will probably get better sound going through your amp's preamp though.

[uethanian]

hmm maybe i have my terminology wrong...

what i mean: is running a combo amp between your instrument and your computer equivalent to running something like the toneport gx? (barring whatever programs it comes with). will it bring your signal to "line level" (again, not really sure what this means)?

[projectMalamute]

The term interface can mean a couple different things, I believe you mean DI+preamp.

In general it goes like this:

mic/instrument w. DI box -> preamp -> analog to digital converter -> interface -> computer

Many products combine several of these things in to one unit. DI boxes which include a preamp, audio interfaces which include converters and audio interfaces which include converters, preamps and a DI are all common things.

[lemur821]

Originally Posted by uethanian

hmm maybe i have my terminology wrong...

what i mean: is running a combo amp between your instrument and your computer equivalent to running something like the toneport gx? (barring whatever programs it comes with). will it bring your signal to "line level" (again, not really sure what this means)?

No. It's the equivalent of running a preamp between your instrument and computer. The audio interface is where the sound actually gets digitized. If you put your amp in between, it's still being digitized by the computer's sound card, with whatever sound quality that card has (probably loads of extra noise, distortion, and poor bit rate/depth). However, running through a preamp first will massage the signal to play nicer with the sound card.

The TonePort is a preamp and analog-to-digital converter all in one. It's like installing another sound card with a built-in preamp in your computer. The whole assembly will probably give you clearer sound than using your amp with the laptop's built-in interface.