Combing with POD x3

  • Thread starter Thread starter shauncore
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shauncore

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First post here.

I've been dabbling in recording a bit recently, and my friend and I are going to look into doing some home recordings.

Right now we are working with:

Pod x3
Apple iMac - 1 GB RAM - 2.4 GHz - 250 GB HDD
AKG K 271 Studio headphones
B2031A Behringer Studio Monitors
Revalver MK III
Guitar Rig 2 and 3
A few VST plugins and VST EQ's
ezdrummer and Superior Drummer II
We have a few sorted condenser mics and a dynamic mic.
Reaper
Acid Pro 7


I still can't get a good sound. Lately I have been recording on my vista laptop (obviously won't provide much quality wise). Haven't gone full force really on the iMAC but I will soon.

I'm just looking for any suggestions to build on our gear to get a much better sound.

I have Pro Tools LE but no digibox to access Pro Tools.

Would getting a Digibox help me out, and could I go POD x3 - Digi - DAW?

Basically I just need help with compressors, preamps, and perhaps mixing boards.

Thanks for the help.

I'm playing on an LTD MH-250 with ESP pickups so obviously I'm looking for a high gain metal/distortion sound with good clean versatility too since I think that the LTD has really great clean tones.

Here is the sound I am looking for

http://www.myspace.com/miserysignals (track two "The Failsafe") that album sounded so awesome tone/recording wise

http://www.myspace.com/betweentheburiedandmeband Anything by them really. They have always had awesome tones to me.


I'm not looking to drop 600 or 700 on one piece of equipment right now though. I'd appreciate it if maybe you could give me a nice range of things pricewise so if I like something that is relatively cheap then I will know what to move up to.
 
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I figured you guys would be all over this. ha guess not.
 
Your question is pretty broad so you probably won't receive many responses. Maybe try posting what you have done so far so people can suggest some things to work on. You didn't mention an actual guitar amp. That is probably where I would start......The source has to rock for the recorded material to be any good.

http://www.myspace.com/betweentheburiedandmeband Anything by them really. They have always had awesome tones to me.
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Honestly....if this is what you are after, you should just go record with Jamie King. He is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet, his rates are extremely affordable and the resulting product will destroy most things you will be able to do on the home front. The band I play in.... http://www.myspace.com/canvassolaris Canvas Solaris has done four albums with him and we are starting our Fifth next week. I am also in the middle of working on another album with him (different band) and he is always a blast to work with.
 
I'm working without the amp because I want a good sound by direct input.

Here is a rough take of something I put together for an example. I know un equalised it wont even begin to sound good, but that is what I am trying to improve on.

http://www.box.net/shared/vmsubobp8b

As for Jamie King, I love all of his stuff. He is probably the best metal producer around and he is totally affordable. I hate how he gets the bad wrap for BTBAM's Alaska when he just produced/recorded it and didn't master it.
 
I know un equalised it wont even begin to sound good, but that is what I am trying to improve on.
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The thing is that it SHOULD sound good before you do anything to it. I am not saying that some post tweaks don't help things out but you have to start with a good source sound to begin with. I find direct sounds much harder to work with but maybe that is just me.

Last I heard Btbam was going to re-release a version of Alaska that Jamie mixed/mastered. They are also headed back into the studio right behind us next month to record a new one.
 
Yeah I heard they were remixing it too, but that interview was a while ago so either they ditched it or something is holding it up since they said they were "remixing it as we speak."

A little purchasing help. I know a guy who is selling these items:


$ 25 DOD RTA
$ 75 Behringer dual-31-band EQ with Lo-Z In/Out
$ 75 Peavey PEQ-231 dual-31-band EQ
$ 75 Aphex 105 4ch gate
$ 75ea 2ea Alesis 3630 Compressor/Limiter/Gate
$ 75 Ashley SC-20 2-way active crossover
$ 75 Electro Voice ELX-1A 4ch 1U rack-mount mixer (Lo-Z in/out)

Any of those things worth buying?

And if I do buy a few of those then I'll end up buying a rack which he is selling a SKB 10U rack.

Thanks
 
shauncore said:
Any of those things worth buying?
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Nope... not for recording... live sound, yeah they'll do, till you can afford better (he says with his head tipped back, nose slightly in the air; just slightly though)
 
shauncore said:
a good sound by direct input..
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Can you say oxymoron, and no I didn't just call you an idiot... Amp modellers attempt to capture the live sound that you imply doesn't sound as good... my first thought when i read this thread was that maybe the sound you had was as good as you could get with modelling... grab that dynamic mic

shauncore said:
un equalised it wont even begin to sound good
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And that is just so wrong... capture the track as accurately as possible during the performance, EQ to sit it comfortably in the mix
 
Well I have heard a lot of excellent recording from a direct input.

My problem is that I can't get a good sound before recording even starts. Hence I was looking for help about equalizers and compressors, and which ones are low priced and awesome, and which ones are high priced and not so awesome that way I don't get duped.
 
Well with the POD x3 it allows dual tone so essentially it is single track layering, but since it records Tone 1 Right Tone 2 Left it will need to be stereo. But yeah it is single track layering.

And as for inputs I can't really imagine using more than 2 but if it isn't much more a 4 or more would be nice.

Preferably a graphic equalizer would be nice.
 
shauncore said:
My problem is that I can't get a good sound before recording even starts.
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And I'm saying that if you don't have a good sound to start with, then equalizing and compressing are just going to add to the hurt... you need to work on getting the track right without EQing or compressing... especially guitar through a modeller/floor board/whatever...

Maybe you need to work on your gain staging... simplify, plug straight into the pod, now how does that sound?
 
shauncore said:
Preferably a graphic equalizer would be nice.
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A Graphic EQ should be used for sound reinforcement at a live venue, not designed for the precision required for the studio...

Looks to me like your best investment would be on a two or four channel fire wire interface... I don't see a sound card listed...
 
Well I'm not sure of the sound card used of the mac.

Here is something I just recorded on my vista laptop with a basic laptop sound card and a few layers with the POD x3.

http://www.box.net/shared/85pnykiuro

It seems like my problem is capturing what the POD x3 creates and sending it to the computer because on the POD it sounds really good but when I record and play it back on the computer it sounds bleh.


And I looked at a Alesis IO26 a few days ago, but it seemed a bit pricey too me especially since I don't know if I needed it or not.
 
I say this with the best intentions possible. I think we have all been in your situation at some point.
Based off the questions you are asking and how all over the place they are........I would recommend not spending any more money until you have done some more reading/research. It sounds like you believe more gear (and not necessarily better gear) is going to yield better results. Recording/mixing is a skill set and it takes practice (more for some than others) but that is the way it goes for almost anything.

on the POD it sounds really good but when I record and play it back on the computer it sounds bleh.
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How are you monitoring it on the POD before recording? MOFO has given you some good advice. Don't worry about all the comps and eqs etc..... If the guitar sound doesn't sound good with just your guitar and the "amp" then it probably isn't going to, no matter what you do to it in post processing.
 
Well when I don't monitor it, the sound the pod produces is great, but when I mute the pods playback and just listen to what the computer is receiving from the pod is sounds lesser quality. The pod just has a basic headphone line it that you can play into and receive. You dont need a computer at all for it. That is the first sound I am hearing. The sound being recorded is what the computer is getting, not what the pod is putting out.
 
I have a Pod XTL and I presume this feature is similar on the X3.

There is an "Output Mode" on the XTL that MUST be set to "Studio Direct" when you're recording direct. The headphones jack is always on "Studio Direct" and so what you monitor from there will always sound good.

The "Output Mode" function on the XTL is not a minor tweak - if you have it set to something else like "Stack Poweramp" and you're recording it direct, it will sound like unusable garbage.

I didn't listen to your clips - not sure if this is the problem - but it's best to cover the basics before getting exotic. Make sure you're on "Studio Direct" output from the X3.
 
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