[The Telenator]

Most important thing first: Lexicon is owned by Harmon, same as my Digitechs. It is a name you can trust (besides Lexicon was the pioneer in reverbs and delay for years, name used to be spoken in a reverent tone). Of course, I can’t vouch for dropping any unit on a hard concrete floor, but the Alpha is a well-conceived bit of hardware — and two In and two Outs, too, for you and guitarist friend, etc. A 2-channel interface is a good way to get started.

I know nothing about that Laney. Don’t know what’s under the hood, but on most amps, running from the line out is not very good for a DAW interface. Unless it has level control, most are set firm at about -20dB. There may be some other buffer, converter or something on it, but I can see where some of the noise may be coming from. Any time you have an amp or anything running into a PC, try to have ALL on the same polarity circuit, same outlet box. You want to avoid ground loops and such.

Dither. That comes in at the end. Short story: When you go to 16 from higher, every other sample gets dropped and can bring noise into the equation. Dither IS a noise itself, best when way high in the spectrum that you feed into the audio. I record at the most common setting of 24-bit @44.1k, then mix down at the very end to 16-bit WAV and then convert to CDA format if making a CD or 320kbps MP3 for posting online or mailing my Mum a tune. Podium will let you use 32-bit float, like most DAWs now, which is my preferred, but 24 will do, too. Some insist on recording in 96k and so on, but that’s nuts unless it’s a live symphony with huge dynamics. Only 3 people on the planet and a half dozen dogs can tell the difference. Rock and Pop is less needy; some of the most famous rock producers even record in 16-bit — can actually give rock an edgier sound but I don’t do it. Just remember that a setting like 96 is 2 1/2 times as much work for your PC than 44.1.

Friend of mine uses a Laney stack driven up front by a Maxon TS-9 type OD and an average Gibson SG for his metal band. He gets a great sound but that’s far different than the amp you mentioned. Didn’t know they made anything but big stacks. I am impressed by the Laney quality and sound, much like an extra fine Marshall.