spinynorman Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 I used to have a Thinkpad and just plugged the bass straight into the mic/line input to the soundcard, which was fine for playing along with mp3s, though not so good for the rare times I wanted to record. Then I bought an HP laptop and plugging straight in doesn't work well at all. So I bought an M-Audio FastTrack with PCTools. It all installed ok, but even with everything turned up max there's very little volume from the bass. To get round it I'm using a Behringer mic preamp I had lying around, but I'd really like to keep the number of boxes and leads to a minimum. Any suggestions for alternatives, preferably not mega expensive (up to £100 would be ok)? Or am I doing something wrong with the FastTrack? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiamPodmore Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 I use a Lexicon Alpha, but like you, i occasionally have problems with the volume being too low, and have to resort to a Behringer BDI21 for a bit of extra grunt, but on the whole it's been a brill little unit. The cover below was done with one (Running audio into one channel and bass into the other) Liam [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIaEoqz5qCs"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIaEoqz5qCs[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Get a DI to go into the mic input on the interface? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 A Zoom B3 is another option that gives you lots of toys to play with also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraightSix Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Or try a little mixer - they can be had cheap nowadays and it opens up all sorts of other avenues like recording with low impedance mics etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spinynorman Posted March 22, 2012 Author Share Posted March 22, 2012 I have put a Behringer Mic100 in front of the FastTrack and it works, though it does add noise. It also doesn't have a power switch, so it's always on, whether I'm using it or not. I've also taken a line out from a practice combo, which is ok, but I really wanted to get rid of that and free up the space. Long ago I had a VAmp, which was fun, but I spent so much time playing with the settings I never did any practice. So amp models or effects units are out. I suppose I'm just very disappointed with the FastTrack. What I envisage is a bass amp head with a headphone socket and USB interface, but I doubt such a thing exists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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