Delay- better to use pre- or post recording?

R

rjdinsmore

New member
I am thinking of buying a Line 6 DL4. My question is whether it makes sense to do that and record my signal through that or if I should just record the electric guitar without effect and them add them through plugins. In other words, does it make sense to spend $250 ish on it?
Thanks.
 
You could use the pedal to add delay later also... Either way, I wouldn't record the delay unless you could isolate it from the start.
 
IDK, I'm bettin there's more to this than that
I mean, a guitar pedal you wouldn't want to be playing through (too
I ain't buyin it :cool:
 
Hmm. Yeah If you're thing's recordists' (not so much guitar player'-- I could see missing the gist of it
:D
 
For me it wouldn't make sense to spend $250 on a delay pedal when I can just use a plugin. However, what would make sense is if I were planning on playing some shows and I needed a solid delay/looper pedal. Then I'd probably go for it. But as far as studio use goes, I think it makes more sense to use a plugin.
 
guitarplayr82 said:
For me it wouldn't make sense to spend $250 on a delay pedal when I can just use a plugin. But as far as studio use goes, I think it makes more sense to use a plugin.
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Unless you're one of those guitarists that uses it live in the studio as part of your sound/arsenal.
Then I'd consider it and probably buy it as I'd keep it for 20+ years.
 
He's saying a guitarist would buy the pedal. And use it.... Because that's what they do. And that the OP is looking for some external validation to justify his intended purchase of the pedal (I think... I'm not exactly sure of mixsit's frequency)
 
Armistice said:
He's saying a guitarist would buy the pedal. And use it.... Because that's what they do. And that the OP is looking for some external validation to justify his intended purchase of the pedal (I think... I'm not exactly sure of mixsit's frequency)
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Thank you :guitar:
 
Thanks for the translation :) I am a guitarist (though mainly acoustic) and am not looking to gig much. I prefer writing and recording. I guess it does not make sense for me to spend the money on that. Thanks for the replies.
 
But pedals are so much fun and look so neat!! :D On another note, a tap delay pedal can be very useful if you're recording with a drummer.
 
Eventide TimeFactor here. And shame on me I just dial in a bit of 220 x 90ms and haven't even scratched the surface on what it could be doing.

BTW just sorta shooting from the hip back there. Didn't mean for it to make things harder. :)
 
As a rule of thumb, I would say it's best to record your sound as clean as possible, and then add effects or ambience later.

However, if the delay pedal is going to directly effect your performance durin the recording process, then I would say BUY IT!!!

for example: if you need to actually hear a 1/16th note delay, while recording, in order to play a peice with the right feeling, and/ or on time.
^^^

What I would do in the situation above would be to run the guitar cable through a splitter.

Run the clean signal into the first chanel of your interphase.
and the second signal through the delay pedal, into a different chanel.

Basically record both signals at the same time, but on their own channel

That way you can comp a clean signal later, and then send that performance through the delay pedal. or make tweaks and edits as you mix the rest of your project.
 
Having unlimited options during mixing will only suck the spirit out of your recording. Make a decision while tracking, record with the effect as you like it - so that you are stuck with it, and when you mix it's there and you don't have to spend countless hours fiddling with something that doesn't even matter.

I don't understand people who think you have to record everything dry. Eventually you are going to have to make decisions that you cannot change anyway (mixdown). If you like something now, then you shouldn't worry about being stuck with it later.
 
One thing I'll toss in too is I've had sessions where I've started out with the dual' or option' tracks (for security')
And in some cases that can (and has) turned into quite a drag- When the tracks start adding up, 'comps, punch-ins'.. and one or the other set of them might not even be kept?
Tough call sometimes.
 
My2Cent: Don't buy it, and if you think you need one, take a cheaper one. Sounds like you are sitting in the studio writing more than you are on stage.
 
coreytx said:
Having unlimited options during mixing will only suck the spirit out of your recording.
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I don't think that's true at all. But it can be. But so can having one or two options. Or six. Or none.
Unshakeable rules like "will only", by the very nature of not being there when each recorder faces certain decisions, can come across as not being well thought through.
coreytx said:
Make a decision while tracking, record with the effect as you like it - so that you are stuck with it, and when you mix it's there and you don't have to spend countless hours fiddling with something that doesn't even matter.
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Well, sometimes, that's the way to go. I like to make certain decisions early on but there again, sometimes I don't. How very boring of me, but it depends !

coreytx said:
I don't understand people who think you have to record everything dry.
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I don't understand people that enjoy getting fired out of cannons. But some people do !
It's just one way of recording. It's not the only or the best way, just a way. But if it's someone's standard practice, then it's best for them.
I think you'll find that even those who say that sometimes record some things wet.

coreytx said:
Eventually you are going to have to make decisions that you cannot change anyway (mixdown). If you like something now, then you shouldn't worry about being stuck with it later.
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But people do change their minds for any number of reasons. It's part of being a human that grows.
That's why artists want their work remixed and engineers do it or people want to redo their parts. Changing one's mind can be both a sign of weakness {indecision} or strength {the ability to see another point of view as better, or more appropriate, than one's own, etc}.
 
as both a guitarist and producer/engineer i can see a point in buying the DL4 regardless of being a guitarist. this is a very nice sounding pedal, highly engineered (digitally of course).

one plus to getting the pedal - it saves on computation power. ok reverbs use the most but delays can still be CPU hungry (for reverb i use externals now, either guitar pedal or a crappy verb unit but with some playing you still can make it sound great)

you could also run this pedal through a amp, essentially 're-amping' the signal and there is a lot to get from re-amping.

further more, you can trust a guitar pedal not to crash, not to be deleted and it certainly doesn't require downloading or backing up.

the last thing i REALLY like from using pedals or external hardwares. KNOBS! all guys, and come on, don'y pretend not to. we all love playing with knobs!
 
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