Connecting And Recording My Guitar Effects Pedal And Drum Machine

musicman9434

New member
Hi guys,


I am trying to record my POD HD 500 guitar effects pedal and my Alesis SR 18 drum machine. Both have stereo outs. Will I get the best sound quality using the stereo outs on both. I figured the drum machine most definitely but the POD Im not so sure about. Is there a big difference in sound quality?

In any case lets say I do have both stereo outputs connected (drum machine). Do I raise the volume of the source all the way up and pan my left track all the way to the left and my right track all the way to the right?

By the way I wasn't sure if this was the right room....sorry if its not! :)
 
Are you trying to record them both at the same time?
The POD has USB output, so you can use it to record directly this way. It also has a cd/mp3 input, so you could plug the stereo output of the Alesis into it, and then record that way. I suspect the POD only has 2 channel (stereo) USB connectivity, though, so you would be recording your guitar and drum machine onto the same stereo track in your DAW, not 2 separate stereo tracks.
 
Possibly at the same time. I use a digital multitrack recorder and it has 6 balanced 1/4 inch inputs so connectivity isn't an issue. Sorry I forgot to mention that, but I mainly use the CD/mp3 input on the POD with the Alesis for practice only and when I get something going, I use my multitrack recorder.
 
Stereo or mono shouldn't have any impact on sound quality per se. It will just be either stereo or mono. Whether it makes any difference at all depends on whether there's any difference between the information on the left and right sides. Most people want to pan the drums around the stereo spectrum. Guitar though is kind of up to you. By nature the guitar into an amplifier is mono, but if you're adding stereo effects like chorus or ping pong delay or whatever (and you actually want them stereo in the final mix) then your want to go stereo.

...but, that type of processor sometimes has a special mode where it will send the "wet" signal with all the effects on one side and a clean dry signal without any effects on the other. If yours will do that kind of thing you could capture the clean/dry signal for safety or for more options down the road.
 
Recording to a stand-alone recorder DOES make a difference, if you can record up to 6 inputs at once. Do what Ashcat says - record dry guitar to one track and wet to another, unless you really are using a stereo FX sound on the POD. And record the drum machine in stereo.
 
Ok now I get it. Sound quality really is not affected with the guitars it's more a question of stereo effects. Drums, stereo for sure. Interesting tip as well. Thanks so much for your help guys!
 
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