Signal Routing Question(s) for *Reamping*

Loxley

New member
Hey everyone,

I'm about to embark on recording a new album here at my home studio, and before I make any mistakes I'll regret later, I want to get a better idea of what I'm dealing with when it comes to signal routing for *reamping*. I'm not actually reamping into an amp, but recording my tracks dry and then running them into effects and such later. I have a few questions about the ideal ways to go about doing this.

1. Should I use my Radial Reamp box to convert my line out into instrument level before putting everything into my effects? I'm going to primarily be using guitar effects like a Fender spring reverb tank, Hardwire RV-7 reverb, various fuzzes, delays, etc. - do these all only play nice with instrument level or can they handle line level with no detriment?

2. If I do reamp, I assume the proper procedure is to then take my effected instrument level signal and once again put it back into my mic pre to bring it back up to line level before sending it to my interface, yes?

3. Does S/PDIF come into play when using digital effects, even if they use 1/4" jacks? For example, should I send the S/PDIF out into my Hardwire RV-7, or does that digital signal get lost when coming out of an audio jack? I'm assuming this digital signal only works if the chain is maintained through digital connections into and out of digital devices.

I'm recording into a Warm Audio TB12 mic pre > Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 > Pro Tools 12. Thanks for your help!
 
1. Probably not. You have ways of controlling the signal level coming out of your DAW. Use those. I'd say run it as hot as you can without unwanted distortion from the pedals. Most can handle pretty healthy line level signals reasonably well. The distortion types will obviously be more sensitive to level influencing the actual tone. The reverbs should just sound the same until they distort.

The reverb tank is a question. Is this just a tank that you pulled out of an amp somewhere, with the RCA jacks and such, or is it an actual effects box of some sort. The bare tanks expect to be connected to the amp circuitry, and need some special handling. Details matter, but I would not expect a typical line output to drive it very well. The headphone out might do better, but it really wants a fairly specialized amp circuit on either side.

2. You only need to turn it back up as much as you turned it down. Actually, even that is questionable. You'd have to evaluate how much noise the preamp adds. ITB Gain always adds none, so if the S/N is worse with the preamp, there's no point in using it. I usually just run unity through Line Out > Pedal > Line In.

3. No.
 
The reverb tank is a question. Is this just a tank that you pulled out of an amp somewhere, with the RCA jacks and such, or is it an actual effects box of some sort. The bare tanks expect to be connected to the amp circuitry, and need some special handling. Details matter, but I would not expect a typical line output to drive it very well. The headphone out might do better, but it really wants a fairly specialized amp circuit on either side.

Thanks for your answers. This is a Fender '63 reissue tube reverb tank - an all in one unit that you typically plug a guitar into, then send the out into a guitar amplifier. It's a stand-alone effect.
 
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