Pod

iam looking for a better tone to my recordings, i have a pod 2.0 but i never use it for recording , i use my spider 212 instead. Is it better to have my pod 2.0 hooked up, i never even thought i could hook up pod to pc, thats why i recommend reading any products manuel!!! I use a midi wire from pod 2.0 to PC.
What are good programs i can use like trials that will let me save and mix files, so far i am using the adobe audtion one and its very versitile. Cakewalk( not sonar) is bs! Is sonar a user-friendly program? Will it improve my recordings?

Your recording's are only going to be as good as the harware you use, ie. soundcard, cables, preamps, amps, mic's, guitars, etc... The software just lets you use your hardware to it's full potentiol. If your software is compatable with your soundcard, and you're already comfortable with it, then stick with what you've got. Once you have the best recording you can get, then it's time to make use of the software. If the software (recording program) has built in effects that sound good, I would suggest using them instead of the effects of the POD of Spider. The reason for this is because you can alway's add recorded track, but you can't take away. So, if you wan't some reverb, delay, and a little chorus on a solo, record an uneffected guitar tone (using only the amp and cabinet simmulation), then add the effects using the software. This way, if you don't like the way the chorus sounds, or if the delay is too strong, you can simply adjust them instead of haveing to record the same track over again after adjusting the effects on the POD, etc...

For the POD, if your soundcard doesn't have a 1/4" mic/line input, you can get a 1/4" to 1/8" adaptor and plug the pod's left output into your computers mic input. I use a PODxt for recording and sometimes wish I still had my POD pro, but they're both great for home recording.

Just remember, crap in ==> crap out