Retire my Bass Pod Xt and get an interface?

[BrentSimons]

Hey Guys,
During this quarantine thingy I've been messing around with Garageband and did a few basic recordings for my siblings. Just bass covers really and I have been using my old trusted Line 6 Bass Pod Xt as an interface into my Mac Mini . I've been looking at some of Focusrites interface offerings and wondered if there would be discernible increase in sound quality? Certainly not the quality of my playing! Reduction in latency maybe? I'm currently using the amp models in the Pod to reduce the draw on the Mac but I've been checking out plug ins as well.
My needs are pretty basic and there are a few interfaces in the $100-200 range.
Thank you,
Brent

 

[mikewalker]

I'd say 'no discernible difference'

 

[DigitalMan]

You can always disable plugins on the Mac during tracking and just activate them for mixing/post processing if there are resource concerns. The only question is if the sound of the plugin changes the way you play.

 

[equill]

The best way of cutting down the audible latency while recording that I know of, is using an interface with hardware monitoring.
That splits/duplicates the signal, so a copy is sent straight to the outputs.

True to my sig, I've only recently started using this; it works nicely.
I also discovered that it's easy to forget that you moved the "blend" knob, and then wonder why echo is suddenly a problem on video-conferences, and why the mic didn't seem to switch off at the end of the call...

 

[GlassToMouth]

From someone who used to own the Line 6 Bass Pod XT Live, I feel I get better results with a dedicated audio interface. This could also be chalked up to the experience I've gained since moving up to an audio interface. For me, the connectivity is the biggest benefit. Being able to swap easily between reference monitors, internal or external headphone amps, direct monitoring, live monitoring, etc. I feel modern VST's have outclassed Line 6's older hardware for accuracy and clarity as well. But there's no flies on that Line 6. It treated me well.

 

[BrentSimons]

I'd say 'no discernible difference'

You can always disable plugins on the Mac during tracking and just activate them for mixing/post processing if there are resource concerns. The only question is if the sound of the plugin changes the way you play.

The best way of cutting down the audible latency while recording that I know of, is using an interface with hardware monitoring.
That splits/duplicates the signal, so a copy is sent straight to the outputs.

True to my sig, I've only recently started using this; it works nicely.
I also discovered that it's easy to forget that you moved the "blend" knob, and then wonder why echo is suddenly a problem on video-conferences, and why the mic didn't seem to switch off at the end of the call...

From someone who used to own the Line 6 Bass Pod XT Live, I feel I get better results with a dedicated audio interface. This could also be chalked up to the experience I've gained since moving up to an audio interface. For me, the connectivity is the biggest benefit. Being able to swap easily between reference monitors, internal or external headphone amps, direct monitoring, live monitoring, etc. I feel modern VST's have outclassed Line 6's older hardware for accuracy and clarity as well. But there's no flies on that Line 6. It treated me well.

Thank you guys for your insight!
Stay healthy.
Best wishes,
Brent