Direct vs mic
- Thread starter Mindkor
- Start date
rob aylestone
Moderator
Depends what sound you want to record - the sound of the instrument or the sound coming out of the cab?
CoolCat
Well-known member
depending on the room and setup...
Smaller setup (when sitting in the same room with the amp and mics and/or sims) DI/SIM seems best using the studio monitors and not closed back headphones to setup the tone.
When you use speakers to set up the sound and tones , imo, its less work later. Spending a bunch of time setting up the sound in closed back headphones is almost worthless because it then sounds so different later when mixing through studio monitors.
if you have the bigger setup (the amp and mic in another room and eng in control room) a mic and amp would be my pick.
that was always frustrating to get a great tone through the closed back headphones and then at playback it was like shit..thin..required a makeover and massive work.
Smaller setup (when sitting in the same room with the amp and mics and/or sims) DI/SIM seems best using the studio monitors and not closed back headphones to setup the tone.
When you use speakers to set up the sound and tones , imo, its less work later. Spending a bunch of time setting up the sound in closed back headphones is almost worthless because it then sounds so different later when mixing through studio monitors.
if you have the bigger setup (the amp and mic in another room and eng in control room) a mic and amp would be my pick.
that was always frustrating to get a great tone through the closed back headphones and then at playback it was like shit..thin..required a makeover and massive work.
Try it. Just try it and compare. You should to get your answer.
I couldn't be convinced either. My gear is great for plugging in too and to me it sounded good enough. It idd a good job.
But after mic recording tests i was convinced that sounded better.
Not saying plugged in is bad. You can get good results with that too and i still do it sometimes.
While plugging in has advantages too. For instance if you don't have a good space/room for it, if you have to many nearby neughbours, or record late in the evening or night, or if you lack a good mic.
But still, i can't grab the body mic gives the sound if plugged in. No cabinet plugin reproduces that (and i have enough of those).
I prefer mic recording. (also if i play over Mesa)
BTW. Metallica = Mesa = mic recording
I couldn't be convinced either. My gear is great for plugging in too and to me it sounded good enough. It idd a good job.
But after mic recording tests i was convinced that sounded better.
Not saying plugged in is bad. You can get good results with that too and i still do it sometimes.
While plugging in has advantages too. For instance if you don't have a good space/room for it, if you have to many nearby neughbours, or record late in the evening or night, or if you lack a good mic.
But still, i can't grab the body mic gives the sound if plugged in. No cabinet plugin reproduces that (and i have enough of those).
I prefer mic recording. (also if i play over Mesa)
BTW. Metallica = Mesa = mic recording
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WarmJetGuitar
New member
Personally I only like sound of DI if I need a ultra dry in your face fuzzy sound for instance like the one on "Revolution" with The Beatles. Can be good for that ultra clean 80's funk/disco sound too.
Matter of taste - and practical stuff too I guess.
Don't really agree with the poster who said that DI is a nessecity if you're in the same room as the amp with open headphones... just a matter of tweaking the tone patiently, slower workflow for sure but usually worth it.
For tracking guitar and other loud sources I love the AKG K271 MKII headphones, they sound brilliant, fairly neutral and most importantly for this task closes off the outside world really well and are loud as f*** without distortion.
Get it as for neighbours nearby and such but in that case re amping the signal is a viable and efficient option. Also if you're all spontanious about developing ideas then it can come in handy and you can tweak your tone later.
Havn't heard any amp sims that really impress me but TBH don't have much experience with them either, all analog recording here
Matter of taste - and practical stuff too I guess.
Don't really agree with the poster who said that DI is a nessecity if you're in the same room as the amp with open headphones... just a matter of tweaking the tone patiently, slower workflow for sure but usually worth it.
For tracking guitar and other loud sources I love the AKG K271 MKII headphones, they sound brilliant, fairly neutral and most importantly for this task closes off the outside world really well and are loud as f*** without distortion.
Get it as for neighbours nearby and such but in that case re amping the signal is a viable and efficient option. Also if you're all spontanious about developing ideas then it can come in handy and you can tweak your tone later.
Havn't heard any amp sims that really impress me but TBH don't have much experience with them either, all analog recording here
cavedog101
Well-known member
Always take both. The DI becomes your safety net. Since it is a true representation of the performance what could it hurt. For what its worth....If you listen carefully to almost every major release these days you can hear the clean DI track under the cabinet mic'd track.