It replaces the amp with an amp simulation. Since it's simulating it in software, it can be waaay more flexible, and give you different kinds of sounds. Yes, I think that would be a good idea.

You can also go into a music store and ask to try one out. That'll give you a better idea of what they do. Try lots of presets! :-)

Oh geez auri, what would we do without you?? :) and this type of interface will be good for recording rock and metal? I think I'll go to Guitar Center soon and check that out. Thanks auri :) And do you think buying it off ebay for a lower price is ok?

I have one of those and it's pretty nice. Getting it set up was a little bit of a pain just because the software I was using (gearbox) didn't install properly. I used podfarm and now I use guitar rig, but podfarm has tons of different tones and sounds you can get and you'll definately be able to find some you like. When you say fuzzy sound I'm not sure whether your talking about the tone of your guitar or feedback, but I was able to get rid of feedback almost entirely, and with all the different amps and effects in podfarm you should be able to get your guitar to sound as bassy or as high pitched as you want it. When the UX1's were new they came with podfarm and gearbox, but since it's used you may have to buy a program for it, I'm not sure. I got mine for free from a friend so I couldn't tell you about the price. The main thing is make sure you have a somewhat fast computer because whatever program you use will probably take a lot of memory and you don't want breaks in your recordings/ computer freeze ups. Originally when I started I was getting some breaks in the recordings and this was fixed by manually adjusting buffer for the UX1 in the control panel. It's probably not important to you, but I've tried rigging it so that the guitar plays into the computer, into podfarm and then goes back out to an amp so that I could get more tone options with my amp, and I got it to work, but the delay from when you hit the guitar to when it comes out the amp was too much to be practical. Like between half a second and one and a half seconds, which doesn't sound like much, but it makes a big difference. Hope this helps!

Wow, thanks a lot Dead Fly! But will recording the UX1 with audacity work? I also have Ableton Live 8 but I'm not too familiar with that program. And by fuzzing I mean my tone. For examp,e if you listen to my Otherworld cover the rhythm guitar is kinda fuzzy and doesnt have a good rock/metal tone. Thanks a lot though :)

Yes the one thing I liked is that it works really well with Audacity once it is set up! I've tried using Ableton Live 8, but it was too complicated for me XD and I think you should be able to get less fuzzy tones. It's got a lot of tones that kind of have that fuzzy metal tone you had in otherworld, but there are a lot of other tones that are really sharp metalish. Not really sure how to describie it, I don't play metal much, just crunchy alternative rock. If you can try one out like Auriplane said I would definately do it.

Thanks Fly, you and auri have been a great help :)

Yay :D

I'd comment on the fuzz tone thing, but I don't really know that much about guitar tone. I think your tone was pretty cool in Otherworld though.

Oh why thank you :) I'm glad you liked the tone :)

uhh...i'm still noob, but by fuzzy tone, i think its cos your gain is too high. Try turning down your bass a bit, i think it might help xP

also, jus cecked out your otherworld cover (makes me wanna do mine ^^) and i think your guitar was a bit out of tune...maybe xP. And also, at parts your guitar was too soft, meaning i couldnt hear you play. sad face T_T

though, i iked that you sang it OwO)b

Not sure what you mean by fuzzy. Your guitar sounded fine in your videos.

Also, if you want to get a smaller/cheaper version, you should consider this

http://cgi.ebay.com/Line-6-POD-Studio-GX-Guitar-Recording-USB-Farm-NEW-/220773295674?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item33671d263a

You seriously enjoyed my singing Shrurikam?? Haha, just kidding, you couldn't hear my real voice anyways :) And about having my gain up to high, that could be a bit of the problem, but I usually always have my bass turned down to about 4 when I'm playing rhythm guitar. And for my otherworld cover, I think I messed up the mixing, that's why you can't hear some of the guitars as well. And CpxAzn, will that do just about the same as the UX1? And thanks for finding that, it will save me a lot of money :)

The only difference I see between the two are the extra inputs, outputs, and one extra knob. If all you're going to do is plug in your guitar and plug in headphones, the GX will be enough.

In case you didn't know, in order to use the device, you need to plug it into your computer. You can set your audio output on your computer to the POD device so that you can play along with a song. This will only capture your guitar and not the song itself when you record. You can add the song back in with your DAW.

Ok, so the GX will plug straight into my computer and work with audacity? And will it give me a better tone for distortion? Sorry for all the questions, I just want to get the right thing :) And CpxAzn, is this what you use, because you get a beautiful tone and sound for your recordings. And in audacity, will I be able to record straight over my drum track and other tracks while listening to them? Your like the electric guitar god CpxAzn :)

EDIT: Also, will it have a variety of different presets and tones? And today I went to a music store and found this: Boss Multi Guitar Effects ME-25 Cakewalk Software Sonar 8.5 for $199. Is this the same thing as the GX, just with more presets and options and bigger? All I want to really do is be able to plug my guitar into one of these, record straight into my computer, and get a good distortion tone for my rhythm guitar :) Also can these pedals do the same thing as Pod X3? Sorry about all the questions once again, I'm just such a noob at this stuff :)

Essay time.

Recording in DAW

The Studio GX works as a sound card so yes you can just plug it in and Audacity will pick it up. I am not too familiar with Audacity, but in Audition, you can record each track, and while you record, you will be able to hear all tracks, like the drums. If you just use your webcam software, you can play the original song through windows media player or winamp if you set your output to the POD, and you will be able to play along, but only your guitar will be recorded..

POD vs Multi Effects Pedals

The POD is more versatile and makes direct recording a breeze than other multi-effects. The main advantage is how easy it is to record with the device, because it acts like a sound card when connected to your computer. If another multi-effects device allows direct recording with USB, then the only difference between the POD and this device would be the latency and the VST/software that come along with it. I use the Line 6 GuitarPort, which is the lame version of the Studio GX, which I wish I have gotten. The difference between the two is that the Studio GX can use POD Farm 2 and also use POD Farm as a VST in your DAW. The POD X3 is very similar to these devices. Some of the amps, cabinets, effects are exactly the same. I use to have the POD XT Live, and I sold it because my GuitarPort was basically the same thing. The difference is that you are missing the foot switches, expression pedal, and things that people usually use while playing live. The GuitarPort/Studio is a lot more convenient because you just plug them into your computer and they work.

What is VST?

Now what does a VST do? It's pretty simple. It's basically just effects, distortions, amps, cabs, etcs that are applied to a track in real time in your DAW. Audacity is a DAW, but I prefer to work with Audition since I am more familiar with using VSTs in them. Something you can do with VSTs that is pretty amazing is when you are recording a song, you will hear the distortion that you are playing, but you can make it record your clean guitar into your DAW. The advantage is this is that you can add or change distortion and effects afterwards at any time without having to rerecord with a different tone because VSTs are being applied in real time on the clean track.

Presets and Tones

About the presets and tones...Studio GX lets you use a huge variety of tones. Let me explain...Line 6 has made their own amp simulations, distortions, effects, etc in their POD Farm, which is available to you through Studio GX. In addition to POD Farm, you can use other VSTs out there, freeware or shareware, so the tones you can achieve are limitless. Just to name a few shareware VSTs, there is NI Guitar Rig, IK Amplitube, Overloud TH1 & TH2, Peavey ReValver, Waves GTR, etc. In my Snow's Theme video, I used Overloud TH1. In most of my videos, I just used POD Farm.

Wow, thank you CpxAzn! You really are an expert in these things :) So I guess my best choice would be to get the Studio GX. It's pretty cheap and sounds like it is very easy to use and record! Thanks again for all your help everyone :)