Is this possible or does aliasing cause serious issues and just make it sound fugly and hissy? I will probably not bother trying this until I get myself a 96/24 audio interface anyway but I am really curious about how valve amps react to digital inputs.

Someone on this board must have tried it before?

In the end a tube amp is just an amplifier. It has some different characteristics when overdriven. People use digital pedals, keyboards, and such all of the time. A signal in is a signal in. If you run crap into an amp it will sound like crap. So it comes down to what you are doing.

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Thanks for the help! I just remember running a korg micro synth into my amp once and it sending like garbage but I guess it is a totally budget synth. Latency will be the real issue to tackle

I think the issue will probably be making sure that in/out levels and impedance all match up nicely. Were you thinking of a valve head/combo or just a valve poweramp?

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Are you talking the Microkorg? That's very strange, because we used to run an Alesis Micron into a 5-watt tube amp and it sounded brilliant, and the Microkorg sounds good on it's own, so i would think running it into the tube amp would yield similar results.

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Well, I have a 100W Sovtek head (basically a russian clone of the 80s Marshall plexi's. sounds just as good for about 1/16th of the cost) and when I ran the microkorg into that there was a huge amount of noise and hiss when I hit any of the keys. Then again, I can't remember if I was running it through my electro harmonix hot tubes before. That may have really brought out those little details and made them over pronounced.

Next question: Does anyone know of any good, low latency 96/24 audio interfaces? Multiple ins and outs would be great but not essential. I am maybe going to be doubling it up for my electronic stuff live and using it for recording. The latency is the most important thing though. It needs to be as low as possible (within my budget) since it is for live guitar work.

I thought at first you were wanting to use your laptop as a guitar processor, and I know all about that.

All you have to do with your MicroKorg is plug the input straight in. If you're not going to be using any distortion, try to find a POWER IN jack of sorts. You'll want to run the signal straight into the power section unless you want to EQ or distort the sound.

As for interfaces, I'm currently using a PreSonus AudioBox VSL series interface. All three models have built-in effects like EQ, compression, phase reversal, noise gating, and some ambient effects for the master buses. They're 24-bit, 96 kHz sampling interfaces with exquisite preamps for the price. I have the 1818VSL and its features are fairly extensive for a USB interface, it even runs on word clock if you need it to.
Another one I've seen used is the Focusrite Saffire Pro 40, which is basically the same thing, except without the effects and it runs on FireWire, meaning if you wanted to you could daisychain them. Even though there's no built-in effects, you get a bunch of Focusrite VSTs that emulate their old studio hardware. So that's a cool option too. Both interfaces cost $500.

I really don't know what to tell you about getting a ton of noise out of the amp before. I'd double check every single connection, and if that doesn't do it, test the MicroKorg on another amp, a solid state amp, and a PA just to be sure. If it's still making noise and you're in the same room, I'd have the electrical wiring inspected, as you may have a problem with the way power is being supplied to the amp or synth. There's a reason it's doing that, I just can't pinpoint it.

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- Ben Reaves

The type of input matters when you're plugging into a guitar amp, thats why you have to use a 're-amping' box if you want to run a guitar signal out of an interface and back into an amp. It changes the impedance (and possibly the level, I think) to bring it in line with what the amp expects, which is usually a low level guitar pickup signal.

If the Korg has an amplifier output that should work, but if you're using the headphone out or something that might be where the problem is coming from.

Also, about interfaces, check some reviews before deciding on one to use with a laptop - some of the firewire interfaces won't work without a power adapter with certain Apple laptops.

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There should be a line output on the MicroKorg. I wouldn't dream of using the headphone out instead. Use the line level output and plug it into the power amp input OR your effects loop return. On a Plexi head, there isn't a power amp in or effects loop, though, so you might have to get a reamp box for it to work properly.

That's just it though: I've never used a reamp box because I've never had a problem reamping anything in my life. I ran guitars straight out of my interface (line level outputs) into my guitar rig for my Clocks cover and it sounded identical to plugging right in.

I'm also nearly ignorant in how signal chains are affected by certain electronic equipment... usually I only deal with digital stuff. But I do know that there's a significant difference in impedance between a headphone output (hundreds of ohms) and a line level output (not hundreds of ohms). Not sure what the difference is between line level and instrument level.

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