How to record guitar with CrossWire

What this workflow decides

Recording starts in Audio Setup (Options → Audio Setup, or the AUDIO SETUP button in the top bar): pick the driver (WASAPI, DirectSound or ASIO on Windows), the input and output device and channels, and the buffer size. Smaller buffers mean lower monitoring latency but more CPU pressure — the top bar shows both a CPU percentage and an xruns counter, and any xrun you hear on a take is a buffer size that was too optimistic.

Gain staging is two knobs and two meters. The INPUT node’s GAIN knob (−24 to +24 dB) is the trim: play your hardest part and keep the IN meter’s peak-hold marker out of the red — clipping before the GATE and drive stages is unfixable later. The OUTPUT nodes’ GAIN knobs set what your interface or DAW receives; watch the OUT meter’s dB readout while you match the bypassed level (the global bypass button is the honest A/B).

Where it sits in the graph

Track the core, keep options open: a focused AMP-and-CAB sound with modest ambience records well, and because the same graph loads in the CLAP plugin inside your DAW, the exact rig — wiring, models, knob values — recalls with the project. A session note that says “Rig Seed 2986, DELAY MIX at 4” is a complete tone recall; File → Save... with a descriptive name is even better.

Three practical moves

• Choose the buffer with the meters, not folklore. Start small, play the busiest part of the song, and watch xruns. Zero xruns for a full take is the requirement; the smallest buffer that achieves it is your setting. Changing it later changes nothing about the tone.
• Print the take you monitored. CrossWire’s demo and licensed builds both run full audio fidelity, so what you hear while tracking is the sound. If you want to keep re-amping options, also record a dry DI track in the DAW and run the CLAP plugin on it afterwards — same engine, same rig, decided later.
• Name presets by job. File → Save... with names like “rhythm tight room” or “lead long tail” beats “Preset 7” at 2 a.m. The top-bar preset name flips to “(edited)” the moment any knob moves, so you always know whether the saved version is what you are hearing.

Hear it in a real rig

• Tutorials — 14 recallable rigs to track with, each documented to the knob
• Get the demo — standalone app plus the CLAP plugin, full fidelity