Guitar Gear Forum

I'm interested in getting a setup at home for editing, with a pc and some affordable monitors. Mostly using a Line 6 Helix. Nothing overly fancy or expensive. I don't even know where to begin. Can you guys help me out with some suggestions as far as what type of pc (laptop or tower), what hardware (daw), and decent monitors?

I like tower over laptop.

16GB RAM
1 (preferably 2-3) 1TB hard drives
Intel i7 or i9
6+ USB ports and if a couple are USB 3 even better.

As far as DAW, Reaper if you need free/cheap. Ableton Live if you don’t.

You’ll want an interface too and monitors.

Any recommendations on an interface and monitors?

Sorry, I'm new to this.

About a year ago, I bought a pair of Sterling Audio MX8 monitors and have been happy - they sound nice and clear.
They have a 37Hz – 22kHz frequency response which is pretty good for 8" monitors.
Sterling Audio is owned by Guitar Center.
They are normally $180 each... on sale for $140 each at Musician's Friend: https://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-aud ... ir&index=1

Focusrite makes decent, cost effective converters and they come with Abelton Lite and ProTools First.

guess it depends largely on what you're doing.

are you doing full band recording, or just demos with in the box drums and one or two mics? do you need to mix bass and kick? are you doing this for release or just messing around? how loud are you mixing, and in what sized room?

bunch of it is just inputs... how many concurrent ones do you need? the room size and volume thing is more about not creating bigger problems than you're solving-- i.e. 8" monitors in a tiny square room and mixing loud.

if its just you, and it's mostly in the box, with limited space like a bedroom-- i'd grab something like a focusrite 2 channel scarett or an audient and a set of decent closed back cans- i'm a fan of beyer 770 pros 'cause they're real solid studio cans, clear, and rep the bottom end well so you don't overmix bass- and generally give you a decent picture of what things sound like on most systems. perfect? no- but close enough for a LONG travel down the road for mixing and tracking. if you're gonna skip monitors-- don't cheap out on GOOD headphones. i wouldn't recommend cheaping on any monitoring, tbh, but i'd rather spend 2 bills on good cans than 300 dollars on bad monitors, and just skip dealing with the room problems altogether.

if you do go with inexpensive monitors, my fave cheapie monitors have been mackie mr5s which you can pick up used on craigslist all day long for a hundred bux. i stuff the ports with foam, and they've served me super well for on a decade now-- i actually have them living in my living room as they've been rotated out of my mixing room and i just listen to them.

it's hard to give a firm answer without knowing application-- maybe let us know how loud you listen, how much low low end you're working with, in what room, and a rough budget and we could likely get you further down the road. reapers kinda the obvious solution for keeping budgets down, and it's a great DAW regardless. i could pay for a new one, but i LIKE reaper.

I ultimately would be doing editing of my Helix patches and possibly recording just guitar. I'd like the option of getting to gig volume, in order to dial in patches correctly. It's just a spare room in my house.

ledvedder wrote:I ultimately would be doing editing of my Helix patches and possibly recording just guitar. I'd like the option of getting to gig volume, in order to dial in patches correctly. It's just a spare room in my house.

i'm not sure you'd ever hit gig volume in a room that size in your house unless you're using a full sized guitar or PA speaker, tbh, and studio monitors of a small and affordable nature probably aren't gonna get you THAT. doesn't mean they won't represent it at a scaled back version.. but playing at live volume is a different critter altogether than a regular studio monitor's job- and i'd think you'd need two different tools to achieve that.

but anyhow- i'd start with a decent two channel interface so you have the gozintas and gozoutas all hammered-- usb2 should do you fine for basic stuff- and figure out a budget for powered monitors. i would seriously consider a different sitch for your helix stuff at live volume, unless you're playing super quietly live-- but see what's around. you can work with TONS of monitors-- the process is the same, regardless-- you have to learn them, and export sound outwards to other systems for a while until you learn what your monitors do and what translates outwards anyhow. find what you can afford and start learning!

I'm looking at a pair of Kale Audio LP-6 monitors and a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 interface, https://www.zzounds.com/item--KAALP6. Then possible a Laney LFR-112 or a Powercab for rehearsal/live gig stage sound. Unless I can find an FRFR that can get me that sound.

Just checked out the Kale monitors... they look pretty good! 38Hz-25kHz is amazing for 6" monitors!

Do you know anything about the monitors/audio interface included in this bundle? https://www.zzounds.com/item--PRSS13BUNDLE

Converter prices have dropped so, I'm sure you can make some decent recordings with that bundle.

I've never used Eris monitors and the E4.5's, that come with the package, have a frequency response of 70Hz-22kHz.
The Kale speakers, that you picked, are better - they go down to 38Hz... so, if you get the bundle, you will eventually want bigger speakers.
I have 3" Mackies and the 8" Sterlings to A/B between. It's nice to have two different size monitors.

What do I gain from using an external audio interface vs using the Helix as the audio interface?

You can can plug microphones into the interface (A/D Converter) to record vocals, speaker cabinets, acoustic instruments, sound effects.
You can also plug your guitar directly into the interface in case you want to use other software amp and cabinet IRs.
You can also plug keyboard synths directly into the interface.
Some interfaces have more than one speaker output so you can A/B between two sets of monitors with the push of a button.
Interfaces have headphone jacks. From what I read, it's better to monitor off the converter instead of the computer's speakers or headphone jack.

Ok, this is what I have in my cart. I'd like to get some opinions if this is the best way to go for around $2000 before pulling the trigger.

1. Helix LT
2. Powercab Plus
3. Kale Audio LP6 monitors
4. Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 audio interface
5. Sony MDR7506 headphones

hm. id pick a different headphone- but seems like it all suits your needs.

have a look at the beyer dt240 pro or the shure 840 too. the sonys are fine and a studio standard in the way ns10s are studio standards... but that said.. nobody listens to ns10s because they sound good.

newholland wrote:hm. id pick a different headphone- but seems like it all suits your needs.

have a look at the beyer dt240 pro or the shure 840 too. the sonys are fine and a studio standard in the way ns10s are studio standards... but that said.. nobody listens to ns10s because they sound good.

Wow! The Beyer headphones are only $65!

ledvedder wrote:What do I gain from using an external audio interface vs using the Helix as the audio interface?

ajaxlepinski wrote:You can can plug microphones into the interface (A/D Converter) to record vocals, speaker cabinets, acoustic instruments, sound effects.
You can also plug your guitar directly into the interface in case you want to use other software amp and cabinet IRs.
You can also plug keyboard synths directly into the interface.
Some interfaces have more than one speaker output so you can A/B between two sets of monitors with the push of a button.
Interfaces have headphone jacks. From what I read, it's better to monitor off the converter instead of the computer's speakers or headphone jack.

You can do all of that with the Helix too. It has an amplified mic jack, more than enough ins and outs for Monitors, headphone, other instruments, etc. For what you're doing you don't need a separate interface. The USB from the Helix will allow you to control it and use it as the interface.

Thurston wrote:

ledvedder wrote:What do I gain from using an external audio interface vs using the Helix as the audio interface?

ajaxlepinski wrote:You can can plug microphones into the interface (A/D Converter) to record vocals, speaker cabinets, acoustic instruments, sound effects.
You can also plug your guitar directly into the interface in case you want to use other software amp and cabinet IRs.
You can also plug keyboard synths directly into the interface.
Some interfaces have more than one speaker output so you can A/B between two sets of monitors with the push of a button.
Interfaces have headphone jacks. From what I read, it's better to monitor off the converter instead of the computer's speakers or headphone jack.

You can do all of that with the Helix too. It has an amplified mic jack, more than enough ins and outs for Monitors, headphone, other instruments, etc. For what you're doing you don't need a separate interface. The USB from the Helix will allow you to control it and use it as the interface.

Does this also apply to the Helix LT?

I don't think you can do that with the LT version....

Helix LT....


Helix...

ledvedder wrote:

newholland wrote:hm. id pick a different headphone- but seems like it all suits your needs.

have a look at the beyer dt240 pro or the shure 840 too. the sonys are fine and a studio standard in the way ns10s are studio standards... but that said.. nobody listens to ns10s because they sound good.

Wow! The Beyer headphones are only $65!

yeah-- the sonys are a gnarly, ubergrotty presentation. you'll get a lot more mileage out of the beyers in ear training- so LISTEN a lot, and get familiar with your favorite recordings on them, and it'll inform your mixing. the price sure isn't bad, and the cable is replaceable if you ever break it by mistake. i use three different DT's (770s, 150s, and 250s-- the 250's for mixing, the 150's and 770's for playing)- and just know they won't treat you badly, and i can listen with any of them and trust them.

you could do the same with the sony cans, but unless you like gross upper mid hell, i think you'll actually LIKE listening on the beyers, and even though the sonys are a great tool, fuck listening to them.

I actually think I'm gonna go with the Laney LFR-112 instead of the Powercab. It's $300 less and has a lot of good reviews on both the Kemper and Axfx forums.

As far as the Focusrite, I'm basically getting it for $100 with the discount I got from zZounds.

Helix LT, Kali monitors, and Focusrite interface will be delivered tomorrow! I decided to hold off on an FRFR solution until I can read up more on them. And maybe try a few out, if possible.

WOO HOOOO!!!!! Congrats!!!