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virtuAMP FAQ - NemPosted: Jul 4th, 2007 - 3:13:10 pm
Q.

How do I connect my guitar to my computer?

A.

There are two cheap solutions to this question:

  1. Obtain a 1/4" (6.35 mm) mono to 1/8" (3.5 mm) mono adapter. Such adapters are available at most good audio/video stores. A stereo adapter should also do the job. You should then be able to connect a standard 1/4" guitar cable into the 1/8" line-in or microphone input on your computer. Play as usual using either headphones or speakers.
  2. Obtain a microphone and a set of headphones, connect your microphone to your computer's microphone input and your headphones to your computer's headphone output. Play into your microphone.
Q.

Why do my speakers pop when I play my guitar through virtuAMP?

A.

Your computer isn't able to process audio buffers fast enough before receiving the next audio buffer. This is usually caused by a slow CPU or cheap sound card. You can mitigate the effect by trying any combination of the following three settings:

  1. Audio Driver: Try switching between the Windows Multimedia and DirectSound audio drivers. The DirectSound audio driver should provide better priority for audio processing, but requires Windows XP and up.
  2. Audio Buffer Denominator: Try increasing the delay between audio buffer capture and playback by decreasing the audio buffer denominator setting one step at a time. Allow a few seconds to determine effectiveness.
  3. Audio Buffer FPS: Try decreasing the display frame rate by decreasing the audio buffer FPS setting. This will provide more CPU time for audio processing.
Q.

How do I connect foot pedals to virtuAMP?

A.

virtuAMP does not support foot pedals, but you can use your keyboard to toggle effects on and off. To add a shortcut:

  1. Select an effect.
  2. While holding the shift key, press the button you wish to use to toggle the effect (you can assign the same key to multiple effects).
  3. The name of the key you selected should appear in the status bar at the bottom of your screen.
  4. Repeat 1-3 for each effect you with to add a shortcut to.

To remove a shortcut:

  1. Select an effect.
  2. While holding the shift key, press delete.
  3. Repeat 1-2 for each effect you with to remove a shortcut from.
Q.

Why can't the Player/Recorder effect play my .wav file?

A.

virtuAMP only supports 8 or 16 bit PCM, and 32 bit or 64 bit IEEE floating point .wav files sampled at 44100 Hz.

You may use Audacity to convert your .wav files to an accepted format.

You may also encounter problems if the .wav file is opened in another program, or by virtuAMP for recording. Check the log.txt file in your installation folder for detailed error messages.

Q.

How do I improve my sound quality?

A.

virtuAMP is not meant to be a replacement for real guitar amplifiers or professional studio equipment. Having said that, there are many factors that will affect the quality of sound virtuAMP can produce. Your audio card and speakers are probably the most important factors (most computers come with a cheap on-board sound card), and a slow CPU can lead to audible popping as audio buffers aren't processed before they are needed. Upgrading any of these things may lead to a better overall sound.

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Modified: Sep 4th, 2007 - 8:15:19 pm[ 22 Comments ]
Nem's Tools v2.0 © 2006 Ryan Gregg.
Execution time: 0.07963s; Queries: 14.