Preamp or vst chain ?

D

dmgcodevil

New member
Hi. I have the following equipment:
Preamp: Engl E530
Sound card: audiobox itwo
Guitar:JEFF LOOMIS JL-7 FR
I don't have an ability to record guitar using cab and mic therefore I'm gonna to record it in-line by connecting gutar directly to sound card.
So far I heard about two ways to record guitar:
  1. connect guitar directly to sound card and use following plugins in the following order: overdrive (TSE 808) -> amp sim (LePou LeGion) -> cab sim (LePou`s LeCab)
  2. connect line output from Engl preamp to sound card and use only cab sim.

First approach sounds promising, also it's possible to change overdrive or amp sim at any point if you wish. I'm not sure about second one, I even don't know if anybody using such schema. Can I get some benefits from preamp and don't screw up the sound or it's fool's errand? Is there anybody who has experience with second approach, could you share your experience ? Thanks.
 
Split the signal before the preamp and record both. If you like the sound of the preamp then you're done, if not then you can reamp the dry signal with a sim.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
Split the signal before the preamp and record both. If you like the sound of the preamp then you're done, if not then you can reamp the dry signal with a sim.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice, but in general, is it correct chain: preamp -> card->cab sim, is it sufficient or I have to put something in between ?
 
With all those nice amp/cab simulators I don't see a point on record electric guitars with a real mic/amp. I used to do that several years ago when this is the only way of get a decent guitar recording, but since I met the stunning impulse technology I abandoned the classic style for good.

Nevertheless, it's important to mention that it does NOT replace the use of a real preamp. While the amp/cab simulators has the objective of bring the necessary dynamics and timbre of a guitar recorded with a mic, the actual preamp has the mission of amplify the weak signal of your pickups. Of course you can bypass a preamp by plugging your guitar directly into the computer soundcard (I have made it when I didn't have a separate AI and a preamp) but using a real preamp will increase your signal and will enhance your sinal/noise ratio.

So, from my point of view the ideal thing would be:

guitar -> preamp -> AI -> amp/cab VST

:guitar:
 
YanKleber said:
So, from my point of view the ideal thing would be:

guitar -> preamp -> AI -> amp/cab VST

:guitar:
Click to expand...
I think you're talking about a clean/flat preamp here though, right? OP is talking about using the preamp out from a guitar amp, which will presumably includes most of the overdrive and coloration you'd get out of the amp itself. He probably won't get the effect of power amp distortion, or the filter action of the speaker/microphone combination, but it will be at least partly redundant to an amp sim.

But I disagree to an extent with your premise. Most of the time, a guitar doesn't really need any gain going into the interface on the way to an amp sim. What it needs is to see a good high impedance as the first thing you plug into. Many modern interfaces and mic pres have an "Instrument" input or a switch/button to change one of the inputs to a Hi-Z input. Many of those inputs include about 10db of gain when set for instrument input, but that can be too much for some hotter pickups, and will end up clipping something. That's not always a huge deal if you're just going to distort the thing more with an amp sim, but...

I record all passive guitars (and basses) through a simple buffered-bypass guitar pedal (pretty much anything that doesn't specifically say "true bypass") into a line input (and sometimes a mic input, if I run out of line holes and can find a TS>XLR cable) at unity gain. The AI's noise floor is almost always way lower than that of the guitar itself unless there's something really wrong.

All that said, the big thing that recording direct can lack is the sustain/feedback that you get when the guitar is in the room with the amp. There are ways to fake it, but the best way to get it is to make sure that there is an actual speaker blasting actually loud as you're actually playing the part.
 
Guitar sims are okay and i used them for years, but ultimately i got an amp. You're better off with a small amp and a mic. Trust me. I tried every which way.
You will never get rid of the fizz on distorted sims or the 2D of the clean sims. They just suck in those regards. They are okay in a pinch, but I don't think you'd want to listen to them forever, nor would any fans of your music. I'm in an apartment and sims are necessary evil but kind of suck. Sorry. If you have no choice and need to use them, gain state them absolutely precisely, EQ the fizz (distorted) or shrill (clean), and put reverb on it for depth, but those will never sound quite right. A good preamp will help them out.
 
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