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I'm trying to decide what to buy for my new guitar - a sound card (around 100$) to connect to the PC, or the Marshall MG10G practice amp.

I'm not really into buying effect pedals for now, a guitar and an amp all-at-once are pricey on their own. So I thought, that a sound card would be better. But.. can I buy an amp, and somehow connect my PC to it, so it'll think that it's a pedal? Via guitar rig or something. That way I'll have the benefit of a good sounding amp, while keeping the prevelege of having any effects I want through PC software.

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    If you are interested in effects, why not buy a multi-effect unit and practice with that, instead of an amp?
    – Нет войне
    Mar 10, 2019 at 19:30

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You can do that, but it's so much better in many ways to spend the money you would spend on an interface ("sound card") and software on your first decent pedal.

Computers and software have gotten much better over the years, to the point where professional shows are running a lot of computers for virtual instruments and effects, but the professional shows are spending a lot of money on powerful computers, powerful software, and great-sounding interfaces. It's more affordable to get quality sound via pedals, at this point. Plus, learning how to use pedals and connecting all the cables and power supplies, etc. is a great way to learn to understand what's going on inside music production software, since the software generally is meant to be a virtual version of what we would do with physical pedals and cables.

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  • That's perfectly reasonable. With a PC, you can't get the same sound you'd get with a dedicated effect pedal and that makes sense. The thing is, I can't allow myself to spend that much more money on pedals for now. I'm already quite a bit off the limits of my budget, because I wanted to go with a squire at first, but stopped on an Ibanez. I think, I'll get a decent sound card first. Some time later, I'll get myself a decent amp with a few effects.
    – almarc
    Mar 10, 2019 at 19:09
  • @almarc Maybe I don’t understand your question. Are you asking about using a computer instead of an amp, or instead of pedals? I guess it doesn’t matter much. Either way I recommend not trying to use a computer unless you have a lot of money to spend. A cheap amp and cheap pedals are going to sound and work much better than a cheap interface and cheap software. And the hardware is much more durable than a computer and if your hard drive crashes one day, you can comfort yourself by playing guitar.
    – Todd Wilcox
    Mar 10, 2019 at 19:29

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