My cheap DIY reamp box a permanent solution to play, recording, and reamp

[jasperoosthoek]

Hi guys

So I've finally bought an audio interface. It's a Tascam US-122MKII http://tascam.com/product/us-122mkii/. There is nothing special about it: USB bus powered, two input channels (one can be switched to instrument), two output channels and a headphones monitor. Actually, this post refers to any old audiointerface with those specs. (I think most of them) 

Playing around with the little box I realized that recording was a bit of a hassle. So I can directly record but then I do not hear my guitar through my amp  . I tried hooking my amp to the line out or headphones out and the result was a lot of noise of my computer powering the TASCAM  . This is because of the ground loop you get that way.. Also using my monitors (hifi amp and speakers) connected to the tascam made the guitar sound awful  .

And I cannot always record using the guitar amp with guitar amp mic (SM57) because of the high volumes required. Furthermore, I also use the interface to amplify my microphone so I can practise singing with headphones. 

So, thinking about this I found out I needed a permanent solution meaning that I can play guitar normally through the guitar amp while recording, use my vocal mic with my headphones, be able to record the guitar directly without changing any cables... This is what I came up with using the transformer of this dirt cheap DI-box http://www.thomann.de/gb/millenium_die_dibox_passiv.htm 



The left channel of the interface just amplifies the vocal microphone. A stereo cable is run from the interface to my reamp box. It the left channel containing the mic sound is sent to the headphones by the reamp box.

The guitar is permanently connected to the right channel of the interface. In the reamp box, the right channel goes to the low impedance side of the transformer taken from DI-box. This is necessary to remove the computer noise. But as an added benefit, it increases the gain tremendously  . A volume pot is needed to control the gain! Recording the guitar is just pressing a button on the computer, everything is always set up.  Furthermore, when I play the recorded sound through the interface it automatically reamps. Then I can replace the vocal mic for the guitar amp mic and re-record the sound through the guitar amp.

This simple little box works well for me. I hope anyone finds this useful!

Jasper