Problem using Spider V 60 as a USB interface.

[Antmax]

I am really liking my Spider V but have started making videos and recordings for practice and come across a problem. Maybe I have overlooked something or it's a shortcoming of the amp and  a feature that Line6 might potentially be able to add in a firmware update.

 

I use Rocksmith for fun and Yousician in my practice regime. I have started recording myself to see how well I actually perform from a spectators point of view and potentially share with friends on youtube.

 

The ASIO functionality works pretty well, I can use the Spider V as an interface with my PC. Backing track volume can be adjusted with Master Volume and I can mix in my guitar with the Equalizer volume.

 

The problem is when I try and record the USB output. I only get the guitar sound, no backing track. 

 

All the interfaces I have used have either a mixer knob of a 50/50 mix button that mixes the guitar with the backing audio passing through the interface. 

 

The only solution I have come up with is to use the headphone jack to output the full sound to my computer or interface but that makes the Amp speaker redundant. I use a splitter to split the headphones to a Marshall Woburn which I use as a CAB instead.

 

Am I missing something? Is there a way to mix the computer audio with the guitar and record on the computer via USB like an interface?

 

 

I thought I'd ask here before I try posting on the Line6 ideas board. It's a small thing that could potentially be added as a menu toggle in a firmware update. Send all audio through USB for recording. 

 

Would be nice to get rid of clutter and just have a power cable and USB cable to PC with Wireless G10 and no other stuff.

 

EDIT:

 

I submitted the idea to Line 6 which can be voted on at: http://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Spider-V-USB-Audio-OUT-option-to-mix-Computer-and-Guitar-output/864553-23508

[guitardad123]

I am really liking my Spider V but have started making videos and recordings for practice and come across a problem. Maybe I have overlooked something or it's a shortcoming of the amp and  a feature that Line6 might potentially be able to add in a firmware update.

 

I use Rocksmith for fun and Yousician in my practice regime. I have started recording myself to see how well I actually perform from a spectators point of view and potentially share with friends on youtube.

 

The ASIO functionality works pretty well, I can use the Spider V as an interface with my PC. Backing track volume can be adjusted with Master Volume and I can mix in my guitar with the Equalizer volume.

 

The problem is when I try and record the USB output. I only get the guitar sound, no backing track. 

 

All the interfaces I have used have either a mixer knob of a 50/50 mix button that mixes the guitar with the backing audio passing through the interface. 

 

The only solution I have come up with is to use the headphone jack to output the full sound to my computer or interface but that makes the Amp speaker redundant. I use a splitter to split the headphones to a Marshall Woburn which I use as a CAB instead.

 

Am I missing something? Is there a way to mix the computer audio with the guitar and record on the computer via USB like an interface?

 

 

I thought I'd ask here before I try posting on the Line6 ideas board. It's a small thing that could potentially be added as a menu toggle in a firmware update. Send all audio through USB for recording. 

 

Would be nice to get rid of clutter and just have a power cable and USB cable to PC with Wireless G10 and no other stuff.

Tried that myself the other day. It will not stream both the input source and the amp source. I'm not sure if that is a USB problem or other. I just run like the other amps and record the live amp into a sperate mixer which has the other source music on its own channels. For video, I can mix that as live or add a blend of live and direct board sound. Headphone sound is kind of buzzy. I don't care for it. I've used Senn 280, 7506 and ATH50's and they are about the same, so it's not the headphones.

[Antmax]

Tried that myself the other day. It will not stream both the input source and the amp source. I'm not sure if that is a USB problem or other. I just run like the other amps and record the live amp into a sperate mixer which has the other source music on its own channels. For video, I can mix that as live or add a blend of live and direct board sound. Headphone sound is kind of buzzy. I don't care for it. I've used Senn 280, 7506 and ATH50's and they are about the same, so it's not the headphones.

 

Yeah, I noticed that with the headphone out being noisy too. I was really hoping to be able to replace all my gear in the study (interface, cables, and Marshall code) with just the Spider + G10T. I'm so close it isn't funny.

 

I just need the Spider V to be able to mix the guitar with the backing track coming through USB and record it. Then all my other gear can go to the small studio in the back of the garage.

[fflbrgst]

If you have the backing track on your computer already, why do you need to record it again?  Just put the backing track onto a track in your DAW (not familiar with the s/w you name), and record the guitar to a new track.

[Antmax]

If you have the backing track on your computer already, why do you need to record it again?  Just put the backing track onto a track in your DAW (not familiar with the s/w you name), and record the guitar to a new track.

 

The software uses licensed tracks in it's own proprietary format or user created content streamed from their servers and synced to the scrolling tabs. So the output is from the computer. When you use an ASIO interface like the Spider V there is no computer track. The computer track goes direct to the amplifier with the volume controlled by the master volume and your guitar is mixed in with the EQ volume.

 

Unfortunately because only the guitar is output and there is mixed output feature there is no way to capture the backing track.

 

Yousician is a pretty cool guitar teaching and learning tool that's becoming quite popular it critiques your timing accuracy and uses ASIO for lower latency. 

 

An example of the type of thing people do with an interface:

 

 

Rocksmith is a video game that works in a similar vein only with less emphasis on timing and more about having fun.

 

With OBS (free broadcasting software) you can do the whole lot in one take without any mixing and editing using a DAW if you have a interface that lets you mix the computer and instrument audio. I know Presonus interfaces do.

[Antmax]

For anyone that's interested, I decided to submit a suggestion to Line 6 Ideas at:

 

http://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Spider-V-USB-Audio-OUT-option-to-mix-Computer-and-Guitar-output/864553-23508

[fflbrgst]

Can you not record the audio streams first into a DAW?  You would not be able to record your guitar at the same time using the amp because most systems only allow you to use one soundcard at a time, but you should be able to use your internal soundcard to stream the backing tracks and record.  Then play that back through the amp while recording your guitar to a new track.

[Antmax]

Can you not record the audio streams first into a DAW?  You would not be able to record your guitar at the same time using the amp because most systems only allow you to use one soundcard at a time, but you should be able to use your internal soundcard to stream the backing tracks and record.  Then play that back through the amp while recording your guitar to a new track.

 

The problem is that the software streams the licensed backing tracks, there are no audio files you can playback. It's also quite convenient to not have to add yet another piece of software to the loop. You already have Web cam, music app, broadcasting software that acts like a daw. 

 

Also in my particular example with yousician the timing of the backing is critical because it is synced to the app which analyses your guitar note and chord playing accuracy and timing in realtime. It really needs ASIO for low enough latency to critique your accuracy.

 

At the moment I'm just using the headphone jack and splitting the signal to a CAB which defeats half the point of the amp. If it wasn't for the G10t wireless I guess I could just do away with the amp and use Bias FX or similar instead. But I do quite like the lack of clutter of the spider V, wireless and only 2 cables coming out of the computer. Instead of half a dozen with various pedals and interfaces hanging off the side of my desk.

 

Anyway, was just a suggestion to maybe add a mix toggle in the firmware that shows up in the amp settings menu (if it's possible and they just didn't think to add full speaker output through USB)

 

Presonus Audiobox iOne has a direct button that mixes the Computer and instrument audio 50/50. the iTwo has a Mix knob that mixes PC playback and instruments.

[itsmrbrooks]

I don't have your exact issue, but I found that after jamming to some backing tracks on YouTube, I wanted to record my improv and practices.

 

Like you, I was unable to record the backing track + guitar; only guitar would record on PC.

 

So, what I ended up doing is this.  Open whatever recording software you're using for recording, and create a track that records your guitar.  Plug in some headphones to your amp, play your backing track, and press record.  Congrats, now you've got your guitar recorded on your PC, but no backing track.  Bummer.

 

Create a second track, and insert the audio of the backing track.  Sync up the start of your playing with the start of your backing track and give it a shot.

[fflbrgst]

Antmax - I can understand you wanting to do the 'live recording', unfortunately, that is not an option.   You can certainly record the live stream backing track with recording software, though, any DAW allows you to 'record what you hear' -i.e. the audio coming through your soundcard.  You can then save that as any format you like (MP3, WAV...), and play it back and record your guitar track to it - the only software you would be using at that point would be the DAW.

[Antmax]

I figured out a way with a utility called ASIO Link 

 

 

http://odeus-audio.com.au/

 

It's not ideal because it's quite confusing, you get a window like the one above for each asio app you use and there aren't any decent tutorials. Its like a switchboard that lets you mix audio streams between multiple ASIO apps and windows sources and combine them into a single audio stream.

 

It creates it's own playback and recording devices that you can hook up the output to combine the window audio playing through the Spider Speaker with the guitar into a single low latency output the broadcasting software can use. How low the latency is depends on your setup.

[alandeanavery]

So you're saying you can play along with a source, without it bleeding into your downstream recording track?

That's more of a feature than a bug.

[Arvindkumar]

Also when I use USB to record the guitar, the stereo effects are not coming through, its sending mono signals and when I have an effect that creates stereo pan effects, its not sending both channels, any idea how to resolve this ? 

[silverhead]

47 minutes ago, Arvindkumar said:

Also when I use USB to record the guitar, the stereo effects are not coming through, its sending mono signals and when I have an effect that creates stereo pan effects, its not sending both channels, any idea how to resolve this ? 

Check your signal path to make sure that there are no mono FX blocks following your stereo FX. If so, the mono block will output a mono signal defeating the incoming stereo signal.

[Arvindkumar]

Thanks for your response. how to do I check that ? I am just connecting the USB from Line 6 to my iMAC garageband and have nothing inbetween.

[silverhead]

The simplest way is to use the Spider V Remote application to view/inspect your preset.

[Arvindkumar]

Actually when I use the phones out in the amp, I can listen the stereo effects clearly, but when it goes through the USB port to the iMAC's garage band, it becomes mono when I record or listen to the monitors. is the USB output capable of transferring stereo channels ? has anyone tried this before ?

[silverhead]

Have you created a stereo track in GarageBand for recording? Are you using the stereo USB output from the Spider (probably USB 1+2) as the record input source?

 

Yes the Spider supports stereo recording.

[Arvindkumar]

Input source shows as just Line6... in Preferences->Audio>Input. Where should I select USB 1 + 2 ?

Garage band doesnt give me an option to create a stereo track, I am assuming it creates a stereo track by default... 

[Arvindkumar]

finally I understood how to get it :) selecting 1+2 matters when I create a track :)

Many Thanks !!!! :) :) :)