DI box or socket?

[Putty]

I'm starting to get into the whole recording side of things and have so far blown up two sound cards on my computer (possibly unrelated). It got me looking around as to the best way to record using what I've got.
At the moment I'm running a cable from the line output on my ashdown t15-180 into a 3.5mm adaptor and into the line in on my soundcard. I've read a couple of places that ideally a DI box is needed somewhere between.
My amp has a DI socket on it, will running a cable from there to my line in on the computer serve the same purpose as using a seperate DI box?

[Stewart]

You won't need a DI box if you're using the DI out from the amp, but you will be 'unbalancing' the connection when you go from differential (the XLR connector) to single-ended (the mini jack) - which will lose you a bit of gain, and its inherent noise-defeating properties (so don't use longer-than-necessary cables)

The main thing is to ensure you don't overload the input of your sound card
Many will have some form of control panel with metering

Bear in mind that 'line level' typically means 100-250mV for 'domestic/PC purposes' and 775mV for 'Pro Audio'

[Putty]

Thanks for the answer Stewart, exactly what I needed to know

[Putty]

Ok, got everything setup now. DI out on amp to line in on my external soundcard with 30cm cable. It's working great (better sound and nice to have stereo for once) but I'm getting a very annoying constant high pitched tone which I don't get if I use the standard line output on the amp.
Any ideas on how to get rid of this other than post recording noise removal?
Thanks again for the help

[Stewart]

[quote name='Putty' post='1013667' date='Nov 5 2010, 07:28 PM']Ok, got everything setup now. DI out on amp to line in on my external soundcard with 30cm cable. It's working great (better sound and nice to have stereo for once) but I'm getting a very annoying constant high pitched tone which I don't get if I use the standard line output on the amp.
Any ideas on how to get rid of this other than post recording noise removal?
Thanks again for the help[/quote]

There's no stereo involved from the DI output.

Start by checking the wiring.

A good place to get wiring details is here:
(There are a number of variables, including whether you have single or twin shielded cable. At the 3.5 mm end you should probably choose left or right only, but you might be OK running L + R from the same signal)

[url="http://www.rane.com/note110.html"]Rane Interconnect details[/url]

Make sure the Ashdown and computer are sharing the same mains supply - run them from the same 4/6/8 way mains adaptor - along with any other audio devices you have attached to either the amp or PC (like powered speakers..)

Otherwise it's just a matter of elimination...

If you have/can borrow another amp/combo (or perhaps active monitors) then you can use your DI out through that and see if you hear the same noise (make sure the PC and any other unused gear is off for this) - if so it's virtually guaranteed that the Ashdown's producing the noise (might be a fault or a 'feature'....)

If not, keep swapping things out / turning things off - networking/wireless gear, modems, TVs, radios and game/computer gear are often 'noisy'

Good luck!

[mrtcat]

If it helps I use one of these and really get some nice results.

[url="http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Light_Snake.html"]http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_sp...ight_Snake.html[/url]

Used to use a sans amp into an external soundcard which was very very good but with so many really good software bass amp simulators I really like this option. I've been using a free sample piece of software that i picked up a few years back from Ampeg.

Sadly none of it makes me play better tho

[Putty]

Turns out the high pitch tone is a feature of the Ashdown amp, having to use my old behringer for now.
By recording in stereo I meant that the line out only used the right channel which meant recording onto a stereo track then splitting it to mono and deleting the left track which gets annoying after a few takes.

It's nice to hear something good about the lightsnake cable, I had considered it but was put off by a couple of bad reviews. Do they work with passive basses?

With regards to bass amp simulators I'm using a fantastic free VST called [url="http://tinyurl.com/22kgs5s"]Free Amp 3[/url], it's got some good presets and I'm starting to fiddle about to make my own.