Can i get decent sound from this setup?

[bendeho]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this forum and to the whole home recording game so i'm a little confused as to what sort of equipment is needed to get a certain 'base' sound quality to my recordings. I'm primarily interested in getting lead/rhythm guitar sounds that sound good, drums i'll most likely use samples/sequencing. There will be vocals too but i guess i'm more interested in solving my guitar sound issues first.

This is my setup:
-Decent PC (p4 2.6gig, 1 gig ram etc)
-Tascam US-122
-Cubase
-Behringer V-amp 2
-Sm 58 vocal mic
-Samick electric guitar (strat ripoff )

Now before i got the v-amp i was running my guitar straight into my us-122 and using VST effects (like simuanalog guitar modelling plugins) and it sounded "okay" but it like i had to preamp the signal so much it was getting noisy and the effects sounded muddy and tinny.

I was under the impression that the v-amp would solve that problem, and allow me to get some solid sounds from the guitar. Well it kind of has. Some of the sounds are cool, but they are still not as 'rich' as i'd like i guess. I've tried having 4 channels of the one sound and panning them 1) left 2) half left 3) half right 4) right. This spreads the sound out a bit which is nicer but it still doesn't have the same quality i'm looking for.

Now for my questions:

1) I was told that (especially with digital) i should avoid clipping altogether. Does this mean that if i ever see a red light i should be doing a retake? Surely this means that to be 100% in the green i'll be sacrificing a lot of detail i'd otherwise be getting since the average level will be quite low?

2) I find that cleaner sounds tend to come across better with the v-amp -> tascam setup, distortion sounds like crap, not meaty at all. Does this mean i'm stuck with just avoiding all distortion or are there ways around it? Any other particular techniques for getting good sounds out of what is clearly no perfect setup?

3) This question might be slightly cubase specific but i think it should be fairly basic nonetheless. When i have a heap of channels with varying levels setup in cubase, and i want to mix them to a pleasant proportional volume, what is the best way to do this? I have been just adjusting volume but if i have any too high they start to distort. Should i be working out the highest level channel, setting it to -4, and then basing the others proportionately lower volumes? Or should i be destructively gaining (posititively or negatively) each channel so they are all at the default -4db volume. As you can see i'm a little confused about the technical theory here.

4) I might be walking into something here but is there anything i can get/buy that will significantly improve my sound quality without breaking the bank? I'm told a large diaphram mic would be a big improvement over the sm58 for vocals but that is about all i know of. Maybe a mixer with quality preamps before i go into the v-amp?

5) This reminds me, what would you say is better: a quality line preamp which goes into the us-122 for software plugins, or a v-amp to the us-122?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions you can give guys. I know this has dragged on a little so i'll stop now.

Thanks!

[Massive Master]

My goodness... You're going to need to catch up on your readin'...

Starting with #1 - Getting *good* levels means keeping the detail - Not losing it. If you're working in 24-bit, you can PEAK at -47dBfs and STILL have more resolution than a 16-bit CD. Headroom is good room. Don't ever forget that, and anyone who tells you differently doesn't understand. That being said, shoot for a "nice" level. However, you should be able to set a level, look away, and be 100% confident that the signal isn't going to clip. If you're getting peaks down at -3,6,9 - That's fine. When mixing, you're never going to be able to have them louder than that anyway, so you're saving trouble.

In short, a lot more damage is caused by "hoarding bits" than the freaky fallacy of "hotter levels = better sound."

#2 - Yeah, most direct distorted guitar sounds tend to suck. Experimentation is the only way out of that one. Or a speaker cabinet...

#3 - Same guidelines apply as tracking - "Good" levels that aren't too hot. If you start low, you can always select all channels and nudge it up.

#4 & #5 - Perhaps. Yes? No. If it sounds better to you.

[HangDawg]

One of the things I've noticed when recording my J-Station (for scratch tracks only) is you have to back off the gain alot, just like you're micing an amp. Too much gain = thin fuzzy sounding track.

[bendeho]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Massive master: do you think you could clarify something for me. When you say 'select all levels and nudge it up' do you mean with volume or software gain or what?

[Rokket]

Originally Posted by bendeho

Thanks for the replies guys.

Massive master: do you think you could clarify something for me. When you say 'select all levels and nudge it up' do you mean with volume or software gain or what?

The gain on your software when you are recording. That's what he's referring to. It is always better to have them as loud as you can when you are recording (following his tips for setting your levels), and you can adjust them when you mix. It sounds better to lower the volume of one loud track then it does to bring the volume up on 12 quiet ones. Having to bring the volume up introduces track noise (hissing and other noises) that is harder to compensate for. If you have the levels set right when you are recording, you don't have to worry about it as much.

[Massive Master]

I just meant that during mixing, if you go through a whole tune and your peaks are too low (-10 or what not) you can just select all the faders together and nudge them up a dB or two and see where it leads you (nudging them all up 10dB won't work, by the way).

[Dogman]

[ Headroom is good room.

Just to reiterate the headroom thing. I am fairly new, and always tried to mix at 0 db, then read some stuff from Massive Master, and a few others about headroom, and keeping things well below 0 db, and giving yourself room to play works very well. You can always turn it up later, but if it's too hot, and you have some undesireable artifacts in your sound from this, very hard to fix later.

Just my opinion, so just take it for that. Hope it helps a little.
Ed

[bendeho]

Thanks for all the replies people.

This is the sort of thing i'm trying to work out, it sounds like i'm better off using as little gain as possible on the tascam and pumping as much sound as i can from the v-amp. I guess it isn't an ideal setup (no live amp sound, no mixer before the tascam device) but i just thought i'd get better sound than i'm getting now.