Many people buying the Audiobox USB 96 want to record guitar direct, using amp simulations instead of microphones on physical amplifiers. This workflow has become increasingly popular for home studios where volume is a concern, and the Audiobox handles it well with some understanding of the signal chain.

Understanding Instrument Input Impedance: The instrument inputs on the Audiobox USB 96 present a 500 kilohm impedance, which is appropriate for passive guitar and bass pickups. This impedance preserves the high-frequency detail and dynamic response of your instrument without loading down the pickups. If your guitar sounds dull or lifeless through other interfaces, inadequate input impedance might be the culprit.

Active pickups and buffered pedals already output a low-impedance signal, so they work equally well. The point is that the Audiobox does not impose unwanted tonal changes on your instrument signal before it reaches your amp simulation.

Setting Up for Amp Simulation: To get good results recording guitar direct, start with a clean, undistorted signal from the interface. Turn off the Mixer knob’s input blend or set it toward playback, because you want to hear the processed sound from your amp plugin rather than the dry signal. Then adjust your gain so peaks stay well below clipping.

The included Studio One Artist DAW comes with Ampire, a capable amp simulation plugin. Ampire offers several amp models ranging from clean to high-gain, along with cabinet impulse responses and effects. For many users, this covers everything needed without purchasing additional plugins.

Third-party amp simulations like Neural DSP, Positive Grid, and Line 6 all work through the Audiobox as well. The interface simply provides a clean path for your instrument signal. Quality differences in your tone will come from the plugin software, not the interface itself.

Reducing Latency for Comfortable Playing: Playing guitar through amp simulations requires low latency to feel responsive. Audible delay between picking a note and hearing the result throws off your timing and feel. The Audiobox handles this well at low buffer settings.

Set your DAW buffer to 128 samples or lower for tracking. On most modern computers, this results in round-trip latency under 10 milliseconds, which feels immediate to most players. If you experience audio dropouts at low buffer settings, your computer may need optimization for audio work.

Another approach uses the direct monitoring feature. Run your dry signal through the Mixer knob at low volume while monitoring the amp simulation at higher volume. This gives you immediate response from the dry signal while still hearing the processed tone. Some players find this hybrid monitoring approach more comfortable than pure software monitoring.

Recording Practices for Better Results: When tracking guitar, record the dry DI signal even if you are monitoring through an amp simulation. Studio One makes this easy through its input routing options. Recording dry means you can change your amp tone, tweak settings, or switch plugins entirely during mixing without re-recording.

The Audiobox captures enough detail that your dry tracks remain usable through any processing. This flexibility is valuable when you are learning what tones work for different musical contexts. You might discover during mixing that the heavy distortion you tracked works better as a cleaner tone, and having the dry recording lets you make that change.